Chapter 2
2
BLAKE MARTEN
“ G ive me permission to hunt them down.” I leaned across Riordan’s desk, getting right in the king’s face, and I didn’t give a good goddamn if my behavior was unseemly . As far as I was concerned, I was the fucking paragon of fucking self-control right now.
“You know as well as I those three fucks are waiting to attack and the longer we delay, the more dangerous they become.”
Valaine, the sadist with a penchant for knives.
Collum Lazarov, the twisted fuck who wanted to be king.
And Silas Silverwood, the slayer with God-knows what plot up his sleeve.
Riordan’s newly manifested power clogged the small study—a heady mix of pent-up violence and skin tingling energy that should have given me pause.
But I was beyond caring. Out of fucks to give , as the humans liked to say.
“The longer you drag your feet, the higher chance they’ll solidify their positions. There are at least three royal houses already allied against you, Rohr.” I sucked in a breath, fingers itching to wrap themselves around his throat and squeeze . I didn’t know what was worse .
That our enemies had spent the last two weeks organizing themselves against us, or that Riordan didn’t care.
“House Arcanis, House Morvayne, House Drakehart.’ I ticked them off on my fingers. “Any of them could be harboring Collum right now. Let me do my goddamned job, Riordan. Let me hunt Collum and Valaine down. Stop this before we’re drowning in blood and bodies.”
“Don’t forget Silas Silverwood and the rest of those assholes.” Riordan said softly. “Since you’re so focused on tallying up my enemies.”
“ Our enemies . Our fucking enemies, Rohr.”
“A list that grows longer every day.” My king—my friend—muttered before he tipped back in his chair. “I need you here, Blake. Let them organize. If they come for me…” he shook his head with a maddeningly cavalier chuckle. “ When they come for me, I will crush them to dust with this new magic.”
I clamped my teeth together so hard my jaw ached.
I was fighting to keep myself under control. My mate was somewhere in this castle, I was ramped up on bloodlust, and Riordan was being an absolute prick.
“Your power,” I said carefully, “is tenfold what it was before Tyrell died. And yes, the day we’ve waited for is finally here. Tyrell is gone and all our plans have come to fruition.”
He cocked his eyebrow. “But…?”
“But even the unkillable Laurent is in the ground, killed by a broken knife wielded by a newborn vampire. His own goddamned pride was his downfall. We have to be careful; we have to be smart. My job is to keep you alive long enough to rebuild this kingdom you claim to love.”
“Such brotherly concern. How touching .” Fury rumbled in my chest, my knuckles aching where they were braced against the desk. That little sneer at the end chilled me to the bone, reminding me of Tyrell.
“I’m your friend, Riordan. Your only friend. Not so long ago, you would have remembered that.” My self-control was shredding, and I couldn’t stop the warning from grating up my throat. “This new power…ever since that night, you’ve acted different. Colder. More distant.”
I wanted to yank him out of that chair and pound the truth into him, but restraint—never my strongest suit—was called for right now. “Even Nash has noticed. Admit it, when Tyrell’s magic transferred to you, something else did, too.”
“I don’t know what you mean.” Rohr reclined lazily in his chair while above his palm, a sphere of fiery blue-white magic formed, but now those flames were streaked with red. Oh, he definitely sounded like Tyrell, that same dismissive, autocratic tone I’d despised my entire life.
I grit my teeth hard enough to crack.
I hadn’t suffered and bled and fucking lost everything, just to watch my friend end up exactly like the monster we’d spent decades suffering under. I bore the marks of that suffering on my soul, and I’d be good and goddamned if I would allow Tyrell’s twisted magic to corrupt the one friend I had in this world.
I’d already lost my mate, I wasn’t losing Rohr.
“Put that fucking shit away.” I hissed. “I have no desire to see you become the very thing we both despise.”
Riordan flushed, red climbing up his throat, gaze narrowing until I could barely see his eyes.
He was powerful enough to crush me.
And for one fraught moment, I thought he might, rage vibrating around us as I took a breath and counted to ten. Rohr was not the enemy, even if it was getting harder to tell.
“I’m making my rounds. Every estate, every castle, every manor house, and when I am finished, you and I will have a civilized conversation about the future.” I gave him the same cutting glare I’d given him as a kid. “Because this path you’re on…you’ll end up exactly like him, you know. Alone and twisted in this castle, surviving on depravity and torment because that’s all you’ll have left.”
I didn’t look back, my temper unraveling in a seething tangle as I paused at the door, “Make sure you’re feeding Evangeline. And it wouldn’t hurt for her to see the sun once in a while. You can be a fucking prick to me all you want, but don’t punish her for a future she never chose.”