Chapter 10 #2
"The rampager? Trust me, I’m familiar." She turned to Volik. "Remind me to ask for hazard pay next time. I could’ve lost my head over that hunt in Lunar City."
None of this was making any sense to her. Cyrus sensed her confusion, his hand twisting in the dark ropes to lace with hers.
"Asura," Cyrus said sharply. He knew her name? "Let us go. I’m done with all of it. You will never see me again."
"Like we haven’t heard that before," Volik said, but it wasn’t bitter, just tinged with a fond exasperation. Like friends.
Rin’s eyes tracked over the room: the polished oval table, the plain walls, and the flagpole in the corner.
She’d nearly missed it at first. The flag hung limp, curled in on itself, but she saw it was the flag of Sibeth, with a smaller one next to it, bearing the crest of the Galactic Peace Treaty, granting off-planet travel and entry to Earth for non-Earthen citizens.
This was the Sibeth Embassy.
"Cyrus…" Rin spoke lowly. "Why have they taken us?"
It was the succubus who answered. "Why else? To bring the runaway Prince of Sibeth home to his father."
Cyrus had to get him and Vesperin both out of here before he was taken back to Sibeth.
Asura and Volik weren’t a danger to him—at one time, they’d been friends.
And maybe he’d tumbled in the sheets with them both a few times, too.
He hoped Vesperin didn’t figure that out.
It was the nature of his kind to revel in the pleasures of the flesh.
Sex didn’t mean anything—but he found with his Soulbond, it did.
The bindings were loose on his wrists, and he tugged, trying to get free.
"I am not going back to Sibeth," Cyrus growled, his incubus magic sparking in the air, red glimmers flashing like warning signs to the two before them.
Vesperin was quiet, her pretty eyes wide, face pale.
In her struggle, the neck of her fleece top had slipped down her shoulder, revealing her delicate collarbones.
Asura and Volik’s eyes both raked over her with appreciation.
Cyrus growled again, tasting their interest. They couldn’t have her—she was his.
Why shouldn’t they know? He forgot why it was a bad idea to show weakness.
"She’s mine. Stop looking at her," Cyrus spat.
He felt Vesperin stiffen next to him at his words.
"So she’s the reason you fled Sibeth, then?
" Asura purred. "I understand. We all have a weakness for pretty things, but we thought you’d be back by now.
Get bored like you always do." She stalked forward, her heeled knee-high boots clicking against the dark floor as she rounded the large desk in the center of the room.
"Let us go," Cyrus demanded. When they both ignored him—Volik’s eyes finding Asura’s—he added, "That is an order from your Prince. Let us both go."
Asura sighed. "Go ahead, Volik."
Volik stepped forward, reaching for Cyrus’s binds, but he narrowed his eyes up at the male. At one time, Cyrus had enjoyed his lips and touch, but now the feeling of his hands on him made him want to shrink back. Nothing could compare to his doll.
"Untie her first." Cyrus jerked his head to Vesperin.
Volik obeyed. When Vesperin was untied, she didn’t stand; she immediately turned to Cyrus, waving away Volik’s hands as she reached behind Cyrus for his binds. This close, he smelled her fear, worry, and—
Soft hints of arousal.
Cyrus couldn’t stop the grin that broke free.
He savored the glimmers of her arousal for strength as she reached behind him and untied the rope.
Her touches were soft and hesitant as her fingertips brushed over his wrists.
The ropes slipped to the ground. Before she pulled away, he leaned into her ear. "You can tie me up later if you want."
She inhaled against him as he pulled away. Her eyes were wide still, but he easily recognized the lust clouding them. Good. He’d rather her be wanting than scared.
He took her hand and stood, facing off with Volik and Asura.
Their eyes dropped to their entwined fingers, interest sparking there.
He knew what they were thinking. It wasn’t the first time they’d been ordered to hunt him down after he disappeared, chasing after a conquest or something to fill the void in his Soul—that could only be filled by the girl by his side.
"How long have you been searching for me?" Cyrus demanded.
Volik inclined his head to Asura, deferring to her.
"Your father put out a bounty three months ago. Of course, we were the ones to pick it up. We’re used to your ways, after all," said Asura. "But not this time—this time, you’ve been different. He wants you to come home, to Sibeth, Prince Cyrus. He won’t stop until you return."
"I will never go back there." Cyrus was done pretending Vesperin was anything less than she was. Let his father try to hunt him down again. He would be ready, and he had more help this time. Three hundred years ago, it had just been him, and he’d been young—a mere princeling.
Now, he would bow to no one but his Soulbond.
"He wishes to speak with you," Volik said.
Asura ran her fingers through her wild curls, giving them her back as she walked to the plain wall.
She pressed a button on the table, and a lifelike hologram was projected onto the wall.
A male stepped into view, sitting with regal grace upon the high-backed chair.
His red hair was styled to perfection, purple eyes matching the amethysts in his crown.
Even as a hologram, a sensual sort of grace radiated from his father.
"Cyrus," King Soltren boomed, his voice filling the meeting room, coming from hidden speakers all around them. "Enough with the games, son. I have been lenient, have I not? I have allowed you your"—his eyes flicked to Cyrus’s side, finding Vesperin—"distractions. But it is time to return home."
Cyrus inhaled, feeling lightheaded. He loathed his father. Vesperin squeezed his hand, and he looked over at her, feeling strength pool inside him at just a glimpse of her. She nodded at him, trusting. "I am not coming home, Father."
His father’s jaw tightened, and Cyrus recognized the look—it always preceded his punishments, the pain of someone dear to him.
He tried to remind himself he was planets away.
Asura and Volik would not harm him. He was sure of it.
As if to assure him, Asura drew his attention where she stood off to the side.
She placed her fist over her heart, tapping once.
A signal of respect. Volik mirrored the action.
His father couldn’t see them where they stood. If he did, he’d order them killed.
Cyrus rolled his shoulders back. He was a changed male. No longer an irresponsible prince who spent his days trying to forget, between the legs of males and females alike. His father seemed worlds away from the problems he faced on Earth, with his Soulbond.
He had a purpose now. And the choice was simple.
It came to him as easily as breathing.
"And you, girl?" As his father spoke to Vesperin, Cyrus realized he may not have remembered her from the time before—she did look different after all, with her hair and eyes. He wondered if his father even remembered her to begin with, or if she was just another face in the long line of those he’d hurt to teach him a lesson.
"Who are you, some bitch that drew his eye?
" his father continued. "Whatever he’s paying you, I can give you more. Name your price."
Cyrus’s lips were etched in a snarl—he’d never let anyone talk about her that way, but she spoke before he could.
"I don’t owe you my name or obedience. Everything Cyrus has done, he chose himself. I don’t have to know you to see that your son is a far better man… incubus"—she corrected, cheeks warming as his father scoffed—" than you will ever be."
The smile on Cyrus’s face was one carved with pride.
His father regarded her for one moment longer, then turned his purple eyes away, done with her, deeming her inconsequential. It stung Cyrus; he wondered how it made Vesperin feel to face the scrutiny of a king as he had for centuries. He wished he could’ve protected her from it forever.
Cyrus did not shy away from meeting his father’s stare. He saw the brief flash of shock on his carved features. He hadn’t expected it.
"I abdicate the crown, Father."
Everything stilled.
Vesperin drew in a sharp breath, but he didn’t let himself look at her. This was between him and his father. Later, he’d beg on his knees for her forgiveness for keeping this from her—the fact that he knew he was being hunted by Sibeth bounty hunters.
Cyrus continued, "I will issue the formal declaration, and the Embassy will receive my seal. The galaxy will know your heir has relinquished his claim. I will ensure every news outlet on Earth and beyond will know that their beloved Prince Cyrus is no longer theirs. I am no one’s.
" He thought of Vesperin, but didn’t dare say that in front of his father.
"You have no hold on me any longer, Father.
I do not need nor want your crown. If you kill me or send more of your bounty hunters after me, they will know it was you. "
"What about your coin?" his father sneered.
"The royal vaults will be closed to you.
Sibeth will be closed to you. I will ban you from our airspace.
You will never be allowed to return home—Soul memory runs deep.
Whatever life you are on, I will ensure the Soul called Cyrus Soltren is born to nothing. You will have nothing if you abdicate."
"I have something far more valuable than prestige." Cyrus held it in his hand.