Chapter Sixty
“ P rincess.” He trails his cold fingertips over the twists of scar across my collarbone, along my shoulder, and up my neck. My mind wars with my body as I lean into him, despite his sudden coldness in both touch and tone. “You’ve certainly made your feelings clear. It’s time I return the favor.”
Confused, I step to the side, trying desperately to make space between us. The leaves crackle underfoot as if in warning. All my senses heighten as I ready myself for whatever is to come next.
He takes a stride forward once again. My sight blurs at his rapid movements. I shake my head to clear my clouding vision.
He isn’t. He couldn’t be. He’s so warm and passionate.
I knew he was one of the Ancients, but he’s here to warn me about what’s happening to Ombretta, he’s not the one responsible for the horrors my twin has been living through. He can’t be one of the very leeches he’s warned me against. Has he come for me now because my sister is wasting away? My thoughts race to catch up with the pieces I struggle to mash together.
All the small observations pull together now to paint a vivid image. The way he always said he needed me; he can’t live without me. I thought he was being sweet, but he meant it literally .
My entire spine tingles with the realization I’ve let yet another snake into my garden.
Still in denial of what our entire relationship has been, I say, “But there’s always been something between us.” I try and fail to put into words the pull I’ve always felt when he’s near. The familiarity I feel, like I’ve known him all my life. The comfort I’ve felt in his presence, in his arms.
“It’s not me you're drawn to.” He grips my neck, roughly dragging his fingers down my skin, across my collarbone, where dried blood continues to flake from all night. Pulling his fingers away, he lifts two fingers up so I can see the blood he’s wiped from my skin. And then licks them, his eyes flutter close to relish the moment and emphasize I’m no threat to him. “It’s the blood. Ombretta’s blood coursing through my veins draws you in and keeps you coming back. I told you, you had no idea what it’d mean if I took your blood. Now you know. Ombretta and I are forever connected. She’s a part of me. Your Faeness can sense her in me. That is what you’ve been drawn to all this time. Not me.”
I struggle to push strength I don’t feel into my next words. “You can’t mean that. I thought—”
He cuts me off again mid-sentence, “I know what you thought.” His words turn colder with each word he spits out. “You thought I had feelings for you. That I was here to carry you off into the sunset. That we’d arrive in the north and you and I would live happily ever after. With Ombretta safe by our side.”
My head cants to the side. I guess that’s exactly what I thought would happen. I just hadn’t put it into so many words yet. But he’s right. And it hurts. I’m not sure what hurts more, though—the truth or the betrayal.
I curse myself for how stupid that sounds now .
I had hoped that once we made it to the north and could pull my sister from whatever dangers she was in, we could remain there—safe and happy. Then, when the time was right, and Ombretta was strong enough, we’d set off toward the Fae lands together.
But I suppose that’s not what Thaliya, Patton, and Baylor had in mind. Not if they spent their lives watching and waiting. Not if they’ve been training me for something bigger than all of us this whole time.
That’s definitely not what Gryphon and Licia had in mind when we set off on our adventure—a quiet life up north. I know they would’ve been devastated if, after all we’ve been through, all we’ve learned, that was the future I chose.
Channeling strength from all those who believe in me, I square my shoulders and widen my stance, making myself bigger than I feel. “Well, you seem to know an awful lot about my future. What then, exactly, were you planning?”
“Ah, it seems the Princess has found her voice,” he taunts as he circles me—a wolf circling its prey. “Although I’m not sure it’s her own,” he continues slowly, reveling in the fear rolling off me that I’m so desperately trying to hide and failing.
He smiles a roguish sneer, seeming to have even more to share. “My dear Princess, Ombretta is not the meek Fae in distress you’ve come to believe. She’s, in fact, a queen in her own right. She’s the ruler of the north. And if she has her way, soon the entire kingdom. She has quite the score to settle with all those who’ve wronged her, you know.”
Still trying to reconcile what he’s telling me with what I’ve been told these past weeks, my thoughts piece together slower than I need them to. I speak carefully, knowing I haven’t got it quite right yet. “So she’s learned of me and has asked I join her?”
His laugh cuts the darkness, and a chill runs down my spine. I have even less of a hold on the current situation than I first believed. “Don’t you see?” He grips my throat, not restricting air, just asserting dominance. “You are to replace her.”
“As Queen of the North? That doesn’t make sense.” And it doesn’t match the triumphant tone in his voice. So triumphant, I wonder if Licia or Gryphon can hear him. Or if Baylor is close enough.
“No, Princess. As a decadent meal. Only the finest dining for my queen.”
Not able to follow his twists and turns, I stare at him. In shock. Silently begging either my brain to comprehend faster or my feet to turn and run, now. Really, anything at all to happen besides this.
He mistakes my inability to move as an invitation to continue. “Queen Ombretta, your dear sister, is tired of allowing herself to be drained by the Ancients. She’s had her fun and now she’s done. She’d like someone else to take over in that respect.”
“So when you said she was strong, this is what you meant.” The statement rises and bubbles out despite the slight pressure he’s started to apply around my air supply.
“Exactly, and unfortunately for you, we’ve grown accustomed to a very specific vintage, you see. Your Fae blood gives us a strength we’ve not seen in centuries. Those of us who share her, heal almost instantly and are currently nearly invincible. And as Ombretta is growing weary of being our plaything, I’ve assured her I’ll be able to find another. And since the realm is currently rather low on Fae, especially royal Fae, it must be you.”
Those last three words hit me, each one a striking blow to the chest. Now I see. I’ve swiftly gone from a royal Fae fated to return the kingdom to her people, to the very bottom of the food chain. Thaddeus isn’t even close to who I thought he was. Who I had hoped he would be.
The revulsion of me so easily trusting him, of being with him, must roll off me in waves because the calculating smile that’s grown wider with each revelation quickly falls from his face.
“So, you do hope to whisk me away, just not in the dreamy and romantic way of most bedtime stories.” I try to match his venom, but my words are as much laced with anger as they are of fear.
And he can tell.
“Yes, in fact, we’ll be leaving now. I know you’ll do this for me. For us. You always say yes.” He trails his fingers down my arm, the icy touch burns across my skin. He’s been grooming me all this time? Playing with me to figure out just how far I’d go to make those around me happy? Rage boils within me. “I don’t think we should make Ombretta wait any longer to be reunited with her dear sister, do you? And the Ancients are all eager to meet you, as I’m sure you can imagine.” He nods his head again, just as he had back at the fire.
I realize that was the moment when he made his decision to follow through. That perhaps he’s not as set on this decision as he seems. Maybe I can sway him. The vitriol he spits isn’t all his own. Perhaps there’s a part of him that I’ve touched.