The Alien’s Vicious Starflash Manor (Empire of Frost and Flame #2)

Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

IVRAEL

L ater that morning, I find Lara and her sister in the guest suite, both wearing dark silk robes.

The blue ribbons around Lara’s wrists catch the light from the Caixlights overhead, reminding me of my power over her.

Over both of them.

But mostly, over Lara.

At the sight, need surges through me, and my cock twitches. As I compel myself not to react, fighting to contain my inner turmoil, a touch of frost spreads beneath my feet and the temperature in the room drops several degrees.

The way Lara’s robe clings to her curves doesn’t help my control.

“We need to discuss your introduction to court.” Through sheer force of will, my voice remains steady.

Lara’s eyes narrow. Her arms cross over her chest, drawing the silk robe even tighter. “So you’re willing to talk about it now? Okay. What introduction to court?”

“Prince Jonyk is hosting a peace summit with the firelords. All noble houses must be represented.” I pause, studying her reaction. “You’ll both need to attend.”

“Like hell we will.” Lara’s chin lifts in that defiant tilt I’ve come to know well over the past year. The one that makes me want to grab her and?—

No. I slam those thoughts away. She is a means to an end. Nothing more.

The scent of her hair—honey and stardust and summer warmth—drifts up to me, and I have to fight to keep my hands from threading through those golden-red curls. To keep from yanking her head back and claiming her mouth with mine.

“What does that have to do with us?” Izzy asks.

“Everything.” I rest my hands on the back of a chair. “You carry royal blood. The last direct descendants of the true royal line.”

Izzy’s eyes go wide. “That’s not possible. We’re from Texas.”

“Your mother was more than she appeared.” I glance between them, forcing myself to focus on Izzy’s confusion rather than Lara’s allure. “Her family fled Trasq, hid on Earth. But the blood of Caix kings runs in your veins.”

“So it was our mother.” Lara’s voice trembles slightly.

“But…we’re part human, too. Right?” Izzy frowns. “From what Lara tells me, the Ice Court isn’t likely to want a part-human queen.”

“The court will accept you,” I say, forcing ice into my tone. “They’ll have no choice. Not once they see what you can do.”

“We can’t do anything,” Izzy protests. Lara, however, gives me a thoughtful frown.

“We’ll be working on that, too,” I say. “Your powers are your birthright.”

“And if we refuse?” Lara asks, but she already knows the answer.

“You won’t.” I flex my fingers again, and both ribbons around her wrists constrict slightly. Not enough to hurt—just enough to remind her of her bonds.

Lara whimpers, though whether from pain or fear or something else entirely, I can’t tell. In any case, at the sound the blue ribbons around her wrists pulse again and she gasps.

“You have to submit.” I smile, letting frost coat my lips as I imagine all the ways I want her to submit to me. “After all, what other choice do you have?”

Lara stares up at me with wide eyes, and despite the distance I’m maintaining between us, I swear I can hear her heart pounding.

“Besides,” I murmur, barely conscious of what I’m saying, “the court must accept you before my plans can proceed.”

“Your plans?” Izzy steps forward, positioning herself slightly in front of her sister. “You mean your plot against Prince Jonyk?”

I blink as she cuts off my visual line to Lara.

Smart girl. Too smart.

I move to my left, and the ribbons around Lara’s wrists pulse with blue light as I exert a subtle pressure, drawing her two steps closer to me. Her breath catches, and something hot flares in her eyes before she looks away.

“I need to go get Kila,” she says, her jaw tensing.

The fact that she tells me as much lets me know she’s capitulating, though. No surprise, given the way I spent the past year training her.

“The raya? You want it up here?”

Lara nods, anxious energy practically radiating from her.

I couldn’t believe she thought she should bring a raya upstairs into the manor proper. I was probably the only Icecaix noble who’d ever had a raya in any part of the house for any reason other than to watch it suffer.

I’d bought the half-dead thing off a traveling peddler out of some misplaced sense of... I’m not sure what. Maybe pity? Not knowing what else to do with it, I’d brought it home to Adefina, assuming she would make sure its death was as painless as possible.

Instead, she and Lara had nursed it back to health, and Lara had bonded with it.

I shake my head. “Not now. You can deal with your pet on your own time. After today’s court lessons.”

Lara’s expression falls, but Izzy narrows her eyes as she glares at me. “Why should we agree to participate in your lessons at all?”

“Izzy,” Lara hisses, “don’t.”

“Don’t what? Piss him off?” She raises her eyebrows, never taking her gaze off me. “Why not? What are you going to do to me? Hang me in the courtyard? Beat me? I don’t think so. Not if you need us to work with you, you won’t.”

The room’s temperature plummets as rage burns through my veins.

Frost explodes across the floor in jagged patterns, climbing the walls like crystalline vines. Both sisters shiver, their breath visible in the suddenly arctic air.

“You’re right, of course.” I force the words out through clenched teeth. “I won’t harm you. But there are other ways to ensure compliance.”

I flex my fingers, and the ribbons around Lara’s wrists drag her forward another step. Her eyes widen as she fights against the invisible pull. The sight of her struggling sends a pulse of heat through my body.

“Stop it,” she grits out. “Using me to control Izzy is low, even for you.”

“I’ll do whatever necessary to achieve my goals.” But I release the pressure on the ribbons, hating how her words sting.

Hating even more how my body responds to her proximity. To the way her chest heaves with each angry breath.

To the satisfaction her submission brings.

My cock aches with the need to take her.

“And what exactly are those goals?” Izzy demands, drawing my attention away from my desire for her sister. “Other than overthrowing your prince?”

I stride to the window, needing distance from Lara’s intoxicating warmth.

I’ve been thinking about how to answer the Evans sisters inevitable questions, how to convince them to participate in my plans.

“Prince Jonyk plans to expand his dominion. First the firelords, then the rest of the known galaxy.” I trace a finger along the frost-covered glass, watching out of the corner of my eye to see if my lies strike home. “He’ll get to Earth soon enough. Your world will be conquered. Millions will die.”

“And putting one of us on his throne will stop that?” Lara’s voice drips skepticism.

“Yes.” I turn back to face them, carefully maintaining my mask of cold control. “But first, you must learn to navigate the court. One wrong word, one misplaced courtesy, and everything could fall apart.”

That much is true, at least.

“So we just... what? Learn to curtsy and smile prettily while you plot treason?” Izzy’s tone could cut glass.

“Among other things.” I let my gaze drift to Lara, remembering how she’d learned to move through the kitchen with unconscious poise over the past year. “You’ll need combat training as well. The court is a nest of Artuvian vipers.”

Lara shivers, but not from cold this time. I’ve seen enough of her reactions to know the difference. “When?”

“The summit begins in seven days.”

“Seven—” She chokes on the words. “That’s impossible. We can’t learn everything in a week.”

“You must.” I move closer, drawn by the flutter of her pulse at her throat. “I’ve arranged for instructors. The seamstress will arrive today to begin your wardrobes. And I’m hoping Lady Uanna herself will join us soon.”

“Uanna?” Lara’s eyes narrow. “You sure are asking for a lot of help from her, in particular. Don’t you know anyone else who can help?”

“She serves a purpose, nothing more.” I pause directly in front of her. “As do you.”

“You bastard.” Lara’s close enough that I can feel the heat radiating from her body. “You planned this all along.”

“Yes.” I don’t step back, though her proximity makes my blood burn. “And I’ll do whatever it takes to see it through.”

“Whatever it takes?” Her voice drops to a whisper, and suddenly I’m achingly aware of how close her lips are to mine. “Even if it means forcing us to play your political games? Even if it means using us like pawns?”

“Even then.” The words come out rougher than intended, and frost creeps up the walls in delicate patterns that mirror my spiraling control.

Her eyes flash with equal parts anger and something darker, something that makes my cock throb against my breeches.

“I hate you,” she breathes, but her body sways toward mine as if drawn by an invisible force.

“Good.” I reach up and brush a strand of hair from her face, letting my fingers trail across her cheek. Her skin burns against mine. “Hate is safer than the alternative.”

She flinches as if struck, and something in my chest tightens painfully. Before I can analyze the sensation, Izzy speaks.

“Fine. We’ll try to learn how to curtsy the right way. But I have conditions.”

“You’re not in a position to make demands.”

“No?” She glances pointedly at her sister. “I think I am. You need both of us, right? So either we both agree, or neither of us does.”

Clever girl. Damn her. I incline my head slightly. “Name your terms.”

“No more threats. No more using those ribbons to control Lara.”

“Absolutely not. Otherwise, there’s nothing to stop you from reneging on your agreement.”

The ribbons pulse with power and Lara’s wrists jerk slightly before I force the magic back under control.

“Okay, then. Kila stays with us. In our rooms.”

“The raya can visit. But it sleeps in the kitchen.”

The sisters turn and stare at each other wordlessly for a long moment, and I’m briefly convinced they’ll make more demands.

Goddess. I can’t stay in here much longer. Lara’s scent permeates everything, and it’s all I can do not to drag her across the hallway and into my room.

Into my bed.

“Deal.” Izzy holds out her hand like I’ve seen humans do in business transactions.

I stare at it for a moment before taking it. Her skin feels blazing hot against my perpetual cold. Like Lara’s.

Like the fire that burns through my veins whenever I’m near her sister.

Speaking of which...

Lara steps closer, and my entire body tenses in response. “I have a condition, too.”

“Oh?” I try for casual disinterest, but my voice emerges rougher than intended.

“No more lies.” She tilts her head, studying me. “If you want us to help you, you tell us everything. No more hidden agendas.”

My chest constricts at her words. If she knew my true plans...knew what I intend to do with their blood...

“I’ll tell you what you need to know.” It’s the best I can offer without destroying everything.

She holds my gaze for a long moment before nodding slowly. “I suppose that’s the best we can expect from the Ice Court.”

The bitterness in her tone cuts deeper than it should. I step back, trying to rebuild my walls of cold distance. “As I said, Lady Uanna’s personal seamstress, Madame Evangeny, will arrive to begin creating your wardrobes shortly.”

“New clothes?” Lara glances down at her robe, again drawing my attention to the way her breasts push against the silky fabric. I close my eyes briefly, fighting the urge to go to her, to pull her into my arms and?—

Cursing under my breath, I turn away, sweeping out of the room before I can do something foolish like kiss her.

The door closes behind me with a decisive click, and I lean against it for a moment, letting the cold seep back into my bones.

Through the wood, I hear the sisters begin to argue in hushed voices.

I push away from the door and stride down the hall, frost trailing in my wake.

In less than a ten-day, they’ll be presented at court. In less than a ten-day, everything changes.

I just pray I can maintain my distance until then.