Chapter Ten
CASSIA
I TRAIL MY tongue across my teeth, debating how easy it would be to murder Rexton. He has no power, but neither do I at the current moment. Our fight would be by physical strength alone, which puts him at an advantage.
“That’s a strong accusation,” I say. “I’m not sure where to start.”
He has accused me of being both a highborn and a Wrath. Both are true, which is a problem.
Rexton cocks his head to the side, remaining silent. I’m regretting every decision I’ve made that’s led me here. I should’ve backed off once I learned of his connection to the Greed royal family. I chose to be greedy, though. This place must be rubbing off on me.
“Highborn…” I decide to start with.
That’s the most damning part of his accusation.
A Wrath being inside Greed isn’t the worst thing to happen.
I’m sure there are several. There was some mingling between the kingdoms before the borders shut down, and a handful of born Wraths decided to remain in Greed with their chosen family and friends.
There are a handful of born Greeds within Wrath, too. We have no issues with them.
“Well?” I ask, raising a brow. “What makes you think I’m highborn?”
Rexton hums. “Your posture, to start.” He gestures to my shoulders. “You sit and stand too straight, too confident. It takes only one look at you to know you’ve never had to cook yourself a meal, nor have you ever made your bed or washed your laundry.”
He’s not wrong about the cooking, but he is regarding the bed and laundry. My parents insisted that my siblings and I learn these things, and the shadows were prohibited from doing them for us once we turned fourteen. I hated it, but now I’m grudgingly grateful.
“Interesting observations,” I eventually say. “Incorrect, but interesting nonetheless.”
Rexton blinks.
I continue. “And a Wrath?”
I eye Rexton’s arms, sizing him up. I’m not eager to start a fight I can’t win, but I might not have any other options.
Nobody can know who I am, and Rexton seems confident in his accusations.
If he’s as connected to the royal family as I suspect, I can’t exactly whisk him away and snap his neck, though.
I take another sip of my drink. “What makes you think I’m a Wrath?”
Rexton shrugs. “Just a hunch.”
Lie. He’s lying, and I need to know exactly what about me made him suspect.
Was it because I recognized the origin of his name?
Are Greeds uneducated regarding the other kingdoms?
I hope that’s the case. If it’s something else, something in the way I speak or carry myself, that could be an issue. It’s not as easily dismissible.
Rexton’s staring at me, openly reading my every reaction. “Are you upset?”
“I wouldn’t say I’m particularly pleased with the accusation.”
I hate the way he’s looking at me. I let his lack of power lull me into a false sense of security.
“You should be complimented,” Rexton says. “Wraths are quite popular among Greed.”
Is he lying? I can’t tell, and it’s making me uneasy. I’m nervous, an emotion I don’t often feel, but I’d say I’m doing a relatively good job of hiding it. I need to nip this conversation in the bud. It’s heading into dangerous territory.
I shrug, hoping to look nonchalant. “I’m not most people.”
“Oh?” Rexton leans back in his chair, a smile toying at the corners of his mouth.
Is he flirting with me? I glance at my drink, eyeing the ripples on the surface as I shift my hands around the mug. Rexton is fishing for information, and he’s playing it off by pretending to flirt. I can’t let him think his questions and accusations are getting to me. It looks suspicious.
I force myself to shoot him a coy smile. The woman I’m pretending to be has no reason to be nervous. Luna belongs here, and she’s flirting with a man she finds attractive. They’re teasing one another. That’s all this is.
“I was hoping to run into you again,” I admit, changing the subject.
It’s time to take charge of this conversation. Rexton has been leading and weaving between topics, and it’s not productive. The less he knows about me, the better.
Rexton smirks. “Is that so?”
“Of course.” I let my lips curl into an easy smile, the one I perfected during the few years I found myself most attracted to the incubi inside Lust. They’re easy to sleep with, but I wanted them to crave me.
I wanted them to crawl after me. This smile was the first step to accomplishing that.
“It’s not every day I run into a man who ends our conversation by sliding inside the royal carriage. ”
Let Rexton see my interest in his relationship with the royal family. We’re in the kingdom of Greed. I highly doubt it’s unusual to stumble upon a woman looking to further her agenda.
Rexton’s black eyes dart toward my drink, and I resist the urge to stop him as he curls his fingers around the lip of the mug and slides it in his direction.
I hate sharing, and I’m thankful the power-dulling sludge I’ve been drinking keeps my wrath at bay as Rexton brings my drink to his mouth and helps himself to a deep gulp.
It takes every bit of mental resolve I possess not to yank it out of his hands.
He sets my mug on the table between us. “And you’re wondering who I am and what my relationship is with the royal family?”
I shrug. “The questions have crossed my mind.”
“At least you’re honest about it,” Rexton says. “Most people pretend not to care about my connections.”
“I already told you I’m not most people.”
“That you have.” Rexton crosses his arms over his chest, his heavy gaze sliding down my figure. He likes our banter. “What if I told you I was betrothed to Princess Amelia?”
I’d say that’s fucking bullshit. There’s no way this man is betrothed to one of Mammon’s children. The queen would never welcome him into her family. He’d weaken her bloodline, and that’s simply unacceptable. Not to mention her shifter blood.
“Princess Amelia is half-shifter,” I point out.
I’m sure of it. Mammon has several children, and they all share the same shifter father.
Rexton nods. “She is.”
“So you can’t possibly be betrothed to her.”
“What do you mean?” Rexton looks genuinely confused.
“Shifters have mates,” I say. “They don’t marry; they mate. You’re not her mate.”
“What makes you think that?”
“You wouldn’t be sitting here with me if you were.”
I’ve spent enough time around shifters to know how territorial they are of their mates. If Rexton were Princess Amelia’s mate, she’d already have me hanging from the rafters.
Rexton doesn’t respond, so I continue.
“She’ll leave you once she finds her mate.”
It’s rude to acknowledge, but it’s true. I’ve seen firsthand how all-encompassing the mate bond is. It makes me so fucking grateful that I don’t have one. I would never thrive under such obsession. It’s one thing to choose a mate as my parents did, but to have one chosen for me? I don’t trust it.
“I appreciate that advice, Luna,” Rexton says.
His words indicate he’s annoyed by my brazenly shared fact, but as I take in his neutral expression and relaxed posture, I realize it’s fake. He’s pretending to be upset that his future wife will leave him.
I pull my mug back to my side of the table, the warmth seeping through into my palms. I hate how cold Greed is, and I can’t fathom how people enjoy living here. I can’t wait to be home.
“You don’t seem to mind.” I sip my drink, letting my words sink in before continuing. “I presume the marriage isn’t a love match.”
I’m making assumptions, but I suspect that’s the only way to get any useful information out of this man. He doesn’t seem particularly keen to offer up his thoughts and feelings, so I’ll pick and pull until I find just the right string to make him unravel.
“A love match...” Rexton repeats my words, toying with them. “No, I suppose I wouldn’t say it is.”
“Then why marry?”
I can tell immediately that I’ve pushed too hard. Rexton has been teetering around the question, and his lips tighten when I come right out and ask. That’s fine. I know when to backtrack. I didn’t grow up with a needy, whiny incubus for a brother and not learn when I’ve pushed too far.
Valeria has never needed such tenderness, which is why she’s always been my favorite.
“A marriage to a shifter will secure you a lifetime supply of ucka,” I say. “That’s something to celebrate, at least.”
Rexton cracks a smile. I relax. “Not quite. Her Majesty shut all ties with the shifters after the death of her mate. I haven’t had ucka in years, which is quite a shame.”
I nod, unsure what to say. “When is the ceremony?” I eventually go with.
“At the end of the month.”
I raise a brow. “That’s soon.”
Rexton snorts. “Princess Amelia has run out of excuses to give Her Majesty. We’ve been engaged for almost seven years.”
This is my time. I run scenarios through my head, trying to find the best way to secure an invitation to the wedding. Mammon will be there, and the attention will be on her daughter. If there’s a time to kill the queen, the wedding will be it.
Guests will be busy celebrating Princess Amelia and Rexton, and even the best of her guards will be overwhelmed. Mammon will be vulnerable. I’m going to drive a knife straight into her chest, and then I’m going to slit her throat. If I have time, I’ll cut out her heart.
I don’t care what punishment the fates give me for murdering a demon queen. I’ll happily take it.
Rexton is staring at me, still openly reading my every movement. I wonder what he’s thinking.
“How does one secure an invitation to such a prestigious event?” I ask.
It’s blunt, but I suspect it’ll work. There’s nothing women love more than a man they believe is unavailable and unattainable, and Rexton is both. He undoubtedly gets his fair share of female attention, so I need to set myself apart.
I don’t have the time or patience to be coy.
I also suspect Rexton won’t bother with the effort it takes to seduce a reserved woman. Not when there’s a line of others waiting.
Rexton is silent, clearly at a loss for words. He wasn’t expecting me to ask for an invitation. That’s fine. I lean back in my chair, waiting. I’m exceptionally comfortable in silence, and I fight back a smile as I take another leisurely sip of my coffee.
This is going to work. I’m going to kill Mammon, and when I return home, I will become the Queen of Wrath. Aziel won’t be able to deny me the position when I come to him with Mammon’s heart on a silver platter.
“You’ll like my wedding gift,” I continue.
Rexton chews on his bottom lip. “And what is that?”
“Ucka.”
I don’t have the least clue how I’ll procure the shifter delicacy from within Greed, but I’m resourceful. I have a month to find a way, and that’s more than enough time. I can accomplish anything I put my mind to.
“That’s a tempting offer,” Rexton admits.
“I have several tempting offers,” I say. “Would you care to hear more?”
I pause, leaving room for Rexton’s mind to wander. I’m not against teasing him with sex, nor am I against following through. If I’m honest with myself, I quite like the thought of it. Rexton is dangerous, and I hate to admit I’ve always been attracted to that. It’s one of my few faults.
“I can’t imagine what offer would be more tempting than ucka meat,” Rexton eventually says.
I finish the remainder of my coffee. “Get me an invitation and you’ll find out.”