Page 14 of Henrikk’s Masquerade

Asher’s anger dissipated as he glanced down at her in confusion. “You are?”

“Yes, of course I am! It’s been too long. You never visit anymore.”

Asher’s jaw muscles tensed. “I was banished by our father, as you well know.”

Melody gave a titter that was a little too high pitched. “You know he didn’t mean it.”

Asher took a little too long to reply, his frown deepening as he tilted his head at her. “He stated I was no son of his and made you heir to the estate.”

Henrikk straightened. This information was new.

Melody made another attempt to laugh off his comment, less convincing than the first.

Asher’s nostrils flared, giving Henrikk another glimpse of the smouldering fury within. The sight made heat erupt in his core, and he wanted so much to go to Asher and provoke him, to discover just how deep that wound went. To feel the fury of those large hands as they gripped his arms and shoved him against a wall.

“You shouldn’t pretend that the past is trivial or unimportant,” Asher chastised sternly, but he was looking at Henrikk as he spoke.

The formidable expression he gave Henrikk took his breath away. Asher’s eyes, once earnest and hopeful, now blazed with a chilling intensity, like icy blue flames had sprung to life. That powerful gaze gripped Henrikk, and he was no longer an amused spectator enjoying the conflict he’d created.

Instead, he felt uneasy, as if he’d awakened a dragon, unleashing a force he did not understand. The atmosphere pulsed with danger, and Henrikk’s palms felt sweaty against the frosty bannister.

Henrikk suspected that Melody’s presence was the only thing stopping Asher from attacking him.

But even she could not ignore the icy tension. Some of her bubbliness had died down, and her smile was strained as she said, “You mustn’t be upset with me, brother.”

Asher glanced down at her. “I cannot forget past grievances.”

“That doesn’t mean you should hold onto them,” she retorted, crossing her arms.

“There is no place for me in your world, Melody.”

“But it seems there is a place for me in yours,” she chirped, her voice becoming animated again. “I was so honoured to receive King Henrikk’s letter inviting me here. An invitation from the king? My goodness, you can’t imagine how ecstatic I was—but anyway. That was not even the best part! His Majesty wrote a great deal about you.”

“He wrote to you about…me?” Asher’s gaze, which had focused on Melody, now snapped back to lock onto Henrikk’s and stayed there.

It gave Henrikk goosebumps, and he was sorely tempted to shove the vampiress aside and shove into Asher in an entirely different way.

“Yes!” Melody continued. “He—His Majesty—explained how terribly sorry you were for all that you said, and how our estrangement has plagued you all these years.”

“He has, has he?” Asher looked at Henrikk as he spoke, his voice dangerous as it resonated in the air between them.

The prolonged eye contact heated Henrikk’s blood, making his skin tingle with excitement as his hardening cock twitched.

It was all he could do not to smile as he said, “I am gratified to have played a modest role in bringing about this family reunion.”

“Gratified indeed,” Asher muttered.

Melody grasped his hands. “King Henrikk has been ever so generous. He’s promised to release you from the Royal Guard so you can go home and help father manage the estate. Especially as I’ll be needed here.” Her chest swelled with self-importance at the last part, and Henrikk rolled his eyes behind her back. An instant later, Melody’s expression softened as she regarded her brother. “Won’t that be wonderful, Asher? You can apologise to Father, and then everything can go back to the way it was. Except, you’ll have to make do without me, since I’ll be living here in Wintermaw Keep after the wedding…”

She glanced towards Henrikk and blushed shyly. The sight of her pink cheeks did nothing for him, not when he was as hard as a rock for her brother.

He wanted to make her leave, but he was endlessly curious as to what Asher would do next. The family drama had been entertaining, but it was not the explosion he'd hoped to orchestrate, and he was a little disappointed that Asher had managed to contain his anger so well.

Asher slowly pried himself out of his sister’s grasp. “I’m afraid there has been a misunderstanding.”

Melody blinked. “Pardon?”

“I am not apologising, and I’m not going anywhere. The manor is not my home anymore.”