Page 96

I yelp. “Meera?”

Her wide eyes become teary. “Eden! Oh, thank fuck!” She swoops in for a hug. “I have to get you out of here. Those princes. They’re fucking insane. You don’t understand, they⁠—”

“I understand,” I cut her off, not wanting to waste any more time. Really, I don’t think I’ll ever understand what the princes are capable of, but those letters were a start.

“Oh, Meera,” I cry when I notice her arms are just as scarred as her face. “They said they’d sent you home.”

She shakes her head, leading me down the stairs. “I’ve been locked in one of the guest rooms this whole time, but don’t worry about me. Just worry about us getting out of here. I’ve already found a horse for us. I was just coming to find you.”

I nod shakily. This whole time she was here, in a bedchamber…

“This way.” She squeezes my hand before my tears start to fall, pulling me down a passageway.

36

CASTOR

“Please, s-sir, I don’t know anything about that family! I don’t know why they found my gloves in there or my hair. I never—” Another burst of my flames interrupts the fool as he screeches on the floor. Burning skin stinks up the room again. It’s disgusting. Thank fuck this is the last one. Lux owes me big time for making me deal with his prisoners too.

“I won’t ask you again,” I speak in a bored tone when my flames settle. “What poison did you use to murder the Daysons?”

“I didn’t—” Flames smother him again.

I leave him a writhing mess for perhaps a little too long. When my fire slows, he doesn’t move.

“Shit,” I grumble, reaching for a water bucket. Father will be pissed. But then my rat-like prisoner twitches a little, and I let out a relieved laugh. “What poison did you use?” I lower the bucket. “Just tell me the type and this will all stop.”

He wheezes. “Foxglove.”

“Foxglove?” I repeat.

When he nods, I step back. “See? That wasn’t so hard now, was it?” Fire explodes over him before he can reply. His screams are swallowed by the roar of my flames until nothing is left but a pile of ash.

Before I leave, I open the window and splash water over the embers. I’ve had to pay for too many destroyed bedchambers to not be careful anymore. Servants can clean ash, but you can’t fix burnt antique beds by scrubbing at them. I learnt that the hard way.

After closing the door behind me, I wander to the room Father is staying in.

It’s early, so hopefully he’s not completely drunk. But the snow outside seems to be getting heavier by the minute.

He always drinks more when he’s cold. He says it’s because his wife isn’t around to warm him anymore. Not that he ever slept beside her much. You could say I’m living proof of that.

I knock on the door and wait for his low grunt before I push it open. His room is no different to the bedchambers we’ve been keeping his prisoners in.

A large bed has been pushed against the wall while a wardrobe, dresser, and a desk stand opposite. There’s a window too, but unlike his prisoners’ rooms, his is unlocked and propped open to allow the morning air in. Also unlike their rooms, he has his large collection of whores sprawled out on the bed with him. The blonde whore from the Spirits’ Night party brings a glass of whisky to his lips while two other women kiss his exposed chest.

“You’ve dealt with the last prisoner?” he asks gruffly.

With my hands clasped behind my back, I nod. “Lux was busy with his mate, so I finished his tasks for him. The Daysons were poisoned with foxglove, which I believe there is an antidote for. Their son may still live.”

“Nemesis will be pleased.” Father grins. “He liked that boy.”

“He liked his mother and father more.” I frown. I’ll miss them. They rarely came to the manor, but every time I’d visit the faerie court, they were nice to me. They didn’t care about our reputation or what we do for their Lord.

“Yes, but there are bad people in this world.” Father strokes the blonde whore’s arm fondly. “That is why Nemesis granted you and Lux the titles of prince, and we have this manor. Because we deal with the bad people.”

“Lux and I do,” I remind him, folding my arms. Or at least Lux did when he wasn’t so caught up with Eden, the female I should be caught up with too.

At least I have this as a distraction.