Chapter 33
The Dragon King
By the gods.
I’d almost killed her. Worse, the Fates-damned woman had actually given me a scare. She was so fierce, yet the human body was fragile. I’d pushed things too far this time. She wasn’t used to the unquenchable hunger that I faced every day, hadn’t learned how to restrain herself as I had.
Damned fool. What was it about her that made me want to push her past her limits? Why did I delight in stoking her anger? Was it because she made me feel more alive than I had in centuries?
No one dared defy me—not even Locke. Not like her. She did it as easily as breathing. She stood tall when she should’ve cowered, lashed out when she should’ve submitted. It was infuriating, and somehow dangerously enticing. I couldn’t help but chase her fire.
The temptress eyed me coolly. “The answer to all of your questions is no. I wasn’t sent to spy or set up a resistance to your rule—though I wish I had been.”
I raised one eyebrow at her. “But you admit to being an insurrectionist before.”
She tensed ever so slightly, then reined in her emotions like a practiced charlatan. “I led the castle hunts and passed information to the resistance. That was all. The movement was disbanded when my sister took the throne.”
I leaned back in my chair, relaxing now that the usual color had returned to her cheeks. “Intriguing for Cassius to send someone with such…useful skills.”
“He didn’t send me. I came here of my own accord—which brings me to my question: why did you set your beasts upon the Bloodvale?” Her voice was as sharp as a blade touched with fire. “Was it to spread misery, or to soften us up before you invade?”
“I had nothing to do with that, nor did I know about it.” I kept my face an emotionless mask. She was wrong about my sending the beasts, but far too close to the truth.
Two years ago, I’d hired an army of mercenaries to invade the Bloodvale and take back my throne. I was a fool to trust them. Locke had sent half the gold in our treasury as a down payment, but as soon as it was delivered, General Sarkis and his bloodthirsty men had disappeared without a trace.
Treacherous bastard. If I ever caught him, I’d stake him through the heart.
“But they’re your beasts, under your control,” Belle pressed. “Are you truly claiming that you didn’t know?”
“I only control those within my domain,” I said, instantly regretting letting the information slip. “The beasts ravaging your home are none of my concern.”
It was a lie. I had a duty to the Bloodvale still—but that was more than I cared to tell her.
“You’re a heartless bastard.”
“I am.” I leaned forward to press my question. “Why did you come here yourself? You’re royalty by law. You could have sent warriors or rangers to gather the answers you seek.”
“Because unlike you, I’m not willing to sit back and watch people suffer,” she said, her voice dripping with accusation. “Beasts attacked a family near my manor. They were kind, generous people, and your creatures tore them to shreds. I vowed to stop it from ever happening again.”
“Noble, but very foolish.” I kept my expression bored, but the thought of Belle cornered by one of the beasts made the monster within me rise in fury.
She glared at me. “Could you control the beasts in the Bloodvale?”
“Perhaps.”
“What would it take?”
A dangerous smile played on my lips. “What are you offering, princess?”
She froze, but the flutter at the base of her throat betrayed her. From where I sat, I couldn’t scent her emotions over the aromas of dinner, but I knew it wasn’t fear. I’d seen the way she looked at me, even though she tried to mask it with hate.
Hell, was she actually considering it?
Wicked thoughts consumed me, but I pushed the fantasies away. I wasn’t that kind of monster. If I ever took the little siren to my bed, there’d be nothing between us but need.
Wanting Belle was a trap. “If you’re unwilling to answer that question, perhaps I should ask another: how did your sister meet the King of the Bloodvale? Court life would never bring him into contact with a peasant.”
Relief from the redirection flashed over her face. “A bloodsucker attacked her in the forest, and the king saved her life. She began working at the castle, and they fell in love.”
I scoffed at the idea. “That’s a beautiful story, but not one I’m inclined to believe.”
“You have extreme difficulty believing the truth. Why is that?” Her lips twitched, and anger blossomed along the sharp ridge of her collarbone, snatching my attention.
Her skin was porcelain, with the barest hints of color where the sun had kissed, and fuck if I could focus.
I wanted to know what other expanses had been laid bare to the sun.
I shouldn’t want those things. Not with this woman.
I dragged my gaze back to hers. “Love doesn’t exist for kings. Do you know what I think? The resistance tasked your sister with seducing Cassius. He was never one to take interest in humans, so she must have been well practiced.”
All women were practiced: to lie, to seduce, to betray. That lesson stung as sharply as it had the day it was carved into me.
“You’re wrong.”
“Cassius would’ve taken an immortal bride rather than risk his kingdom on a human, no matter how powerful she was. He was always one to follow tradition.”
Belle eyed me intently. “You seem to know a great deal about him, and yet, nothing of the man at all. How is it that our kingdom has never heard of you?”
The little vixen was digging where she shouldn’t. “I like my privacy. I have no interest in alliances or other kingdoms.”
“And yet, you seem obsessed with the king of the Bloodvale. But why, if he has no idea you exist?”
“Oh, he knows of me. And that was two questions in a row. My turn.” I leaned forward, stifling the betrayal that itched beneath my skin. “How did Cassius and your sister defeat the mages? They ruled in secret, and between the three of them, their power was immeasurable.”
The question caught her off guard, and she paused before answering. “My sister discovered the source of their magic in a ruined chapel, deep in the cursed woods. She destroyed it, and the resulting blast killed the mages.”
My thoughts churned, dragging me back to that fateful moment in the ruined church. I’d been so close to ending their rule. “Then it was the chapel…”
“How would you know of the chapel?”
The question came too fast, her suspicions growing. I waved my hand dismissively. “It was an important place once. That’s all.”
Realization dawned in those pretty eyes, and she shoved her chair back and rose. “How do you know so much about the Bloodvale? And why are you so interested in Cassius?”
I cast her a sharp look, one that would’ve felled anyone else. She was too clever. I’d let this go too far. “That’s two more questions, princess. You’re no longer playing by the rules. Either it is one, or none.”
She stalked toward me as fearlessly as a warrior, accusation blazing in her eyes. “Why do you hide your face behind a mask? Why does no one know your name? Who are you?”
Because I was an exile. A man reviled. My secret had kept me alive, even as it had driven me to ruin.
I clenched my jaw. Our conversation was getting out of control. I was supposed to be interrogating the little vixen, not the other way around.
I shoved my chair back and rose. “I’m a king who’s in no mood to answer any more of your questions. I think we’re done for the night. Time to return to your room, princess.”
When she didn’t budge, I stalked forward until we were inches apart. “I will carry you there, if I must.”
Something flashed across her face, and her lips parted. “My gods. Your eyes are different, and your hair…but the shape of your jaw, those lips…I know who you are.”
Fuck.
Something close to relief shuddered through me. I extinguished it because there was no way she could know who I was and still look me in the eye.
I loomed over her. “You assuredly don’t.”
“You’re Valen, Crown Prince of the Bloodvale. Cassius’s brother.”
The sound of my name lifting from her lips nearly broke me. Others might suspect, but only Locke knew the truth, and no one else had dared speak my name aloud in fifty years.
It was like an angel’s song, too pure and beautiful for a monster like me.
“You’re mistaken, princess,” I ground out.
I’d gotten reckless playing games. Now we’d both pay the price.
Her lavender eyes glistened with triumph. “I’m not. You’re obsessed with Cassius. You know about the Bloodvale, about the mages, and about the chapel. You’ve been here fifty years, which is how long ago Valen abdicated…you’re him.”
The truth was more dangerous than any weapon she could summon. I took her arm and all but dragged her toward the door. “This conversation is over.”
But she was a hound that had scented blood, and she twisted free of my grasp. “No, Your Highness, this conversation is just beginning.”
The beast within me snapped. I pinned her against the wall, caging her in with my body as I brought my lips to her ear. “Anyone who knows what happened to Prince Valen is dead, so it’s much safer for you if I’m not him. Understood?”
Her pulse throbbed under my touch, and her breaths came quickly. Wrath coiled around her fear, and underneath it all, I smelled her sweet unbearable heat—a heady midnight bloom that addled my brain.
“Everything they said about you was true,” she spat like a viper. “You’re a rake who cares more for liquor and women than duty.”
It was a mistake to be this close to her, not when she knew who I truly was, not when she smelled this good, and yet I couldn’t stop myself from dragging my thumb along the line of her jaw, memorizing its edge like a blade I could either wield or destroy. “Is that what they say about the prince?”
“About you! There’s no point denying it.” She shoved against my chest, though it did nothing. Physically, she was powerless against me, and yet if she knew the truth of how deeply she’d sunk her claws into me, I’d be done.
I stepped away from her, needing the distance to clear my mind.
“How could you imprison me like this? Starve me?” she said, making a noise that fell somewhere between a half-growl and a shriek. “Your brother is married to my sister.”
“I didn’t kill you, did I?”
My answer only further enraged her, and her scent grew molten and bitter. “No. You only threatened to do so, time and time again.” The hatred in her eyes was scathing. And warranted. “You’re terrible. Worse than any of the legends claim.”
Did I expect anything different from her? I stalked to the door, my hand resting on the handle. “Which is why you’ll know better than to let my name ever leave your lips again.”
“Don’t worry. I’d never sully them by uttering it aloud. It will be my favorite curse, spoken beneath my breath when fuck is not enough.”
I grinned at her threat. And then I was imagining the way my name might sound falling from her lips in a very different use of the word.
“Let me be crystal clear: if you tell anyone about our conversation, I’ll kill them without hesitation. Understand?”
She lifted her chin, fire in her eyes. “Yes.”
“Then it’s time you headed to bed, unless you need me to take you there myself.” I raised an eyebrow and angled my head. “I have a reputation to uphold, after all.”
Her cheeks flamed. “Nothing would displease me more.”
I grunted, my skepticism plain. The woman hated me, but she couldn’t hide the effect I had on her. I could see it in the dilation of her eyes, the quickness of her breath, and the sweet scent of her desire.
“Goodnight, princess,” I said, swinging the door wide. “You might want to consider reining in your curiosity in the future. Now I have another reason to never let you go.”
She paused halfway through and turned back with her hand on the frame.
“What about your half of our bargain?” she demanded. “When will Gregoire be released?”
My irritation flared. The man was a ponce. What kind of name was Gregoire, anyway?
“I’ll release the huntsman when I see fit.”
“You’ll release him tomorrow.” She narrowed her eyes at me, then she strode back to her room, likely imagining all the ways she wanted to kill me.
Good. Let her dream. I didn’t care what she imagined as long as I was the only male she was thinking of.