NINE
CAZ
I spin around and clutch the hand holding the blade pointed at me. It’s a double-edged dagger, the metal gleaming beneath the lights. But it’s not the dagger I’m annoyed about.
It’s the person holding it.
He’s young—a bit too young to threaten me, really. His beady eyes are round and familiar, his lips pinched tight, and his nostrils flared.
His skin is tan, and his black hair is slicked back. He’s taller than me by an inch or two, and unlike his father Rami, he’s not a fat fucking pig. He’s stronger, leaner. Clearly takes care of himself.
“Devlin.”
He grimaces and tries snatching the blade away, but I don’t let him. I hold on to his hand a few seconds longer before shoving him against the chest with my other hand.
He stumbles, and his grip around the handle slacks, giving me the chance to snatch the dagger away from him.
“You’ve been dodging me,” I tell him, pointing the tip of the blade at his throat now.
“Fuck you!” he seethes, eyes flaring.
I suppose he’s not that different from his father after all.
“You killed my father,” Devlin snaps. He reaches for something beneath his suit, but I rush him and pin him to the nearest column. I press the edge of the blade to his throat, and he growls, nostrils flaring.
“Please don’t tell me you’re stupid and slow like your father was.”
That pisses him off. He tries shoving me, but I press the blade deeper to his throat, drawing blood.
“Just stop,” I order, digging my forearm into his chest. “Fucking stop and listen to me.”
“Why would I ever listen to you?” he spits.
“How are you going to be leader of your people if you won’t even listen? Because I’ll tell you now, the way you’re going about this won’t work. You’re not smarter than me. You never will be, so just shut the fuck up and hear me out.”
He tries to fight me off, but I notice the panic swimming in his eyes as he glares at me. Two men approach the balcony dressed in Rippie brown, and I cock a brow, daring them to take another step closer.
“Don’t.” Devlin throws a hand up at the Rippies. “Just…fuck off. I can handle this.”
I eye the two men. “You heard your monarch. Fuck off .”
They leave the balcony but remain in view from inside.
Devlin finally stops struggling, his breaths ragged. While he’s calm enough, I search his suit for more weapons. I find another dagger, knuckle weights, and a pack of blooms.
I toss it all in a pile on the floor and sigh, stepping backwards to look him over. Then I flip the dagger in my hand around to offer it to him by the hilt. He stares at it, mildly confused and hesitant, before snatching it away.
“I know the last thing you want to do is attack me,” I tell him.
“You don’t know shit about me,” he spits back.
I raise a brow. “You think I don’t know anything about you?”
He grimaces.
“You’re Devlin Benton. Eldest son of Rami Benton of Ripple Hills. Brother to sixteen people—many of whom are from different mothers because your father was a fucking sleazebag,” I toss in, causing a scowl from his end. “You love your whiskey neat, you pay double the rubies to have lakefruit imported to you, and you hate wine. You have a girlfriend named Sophine who works at a silks shop and who, I bet, is wandering around this palace right now looking for you. I’m sure she’s completely unaware that you’re bringing violence to Armistice Night.”
His jaw steels, but I see his shoulders softening. “If you know so much about me then you know I want to kill you, which makes you the fool because you handed me my dagger back.”
“That’s only because I know you won’t actually use it.”
He stares, still confused. Love of Vakeeli, he really doesn’t know anything.
I take a step closer. “Let me break this down for you. One: I could put a bullet in your head faster than you can swing that blade. Two: this is Armistice Night. You kill me, and you may as well be killing yourself. The Council doesn’t like when people break their rules, even if that person is a na?ve, dim-witted monarch who can’t tell his head from his ass.”
“Fuck you!” He stands taller, nostrils flaring.
“Vakeeli’s sake.” I dig into my pocket for another bloom. I need one if I’m going to get through this damn conversation. “Are you done with your tantrum now?”
Devlin raises the tip of the dagger at me again. “I’m done when I say I’m done.”
“I was wrong about you then,” I mutter as I spark my bloom. “You are just as stupid as Rami.” I snatch the dagger away again, and he stares at me, stunned.
“How did you?—”
“You do realize you’re pointing a bloody blade at me for a man who didn’t give a single fuck about you, right? I know the story, Devlin. The only reason you want to kill me is because the Rippies have been filling your head with lies and you think you have big shoes to fill, but trust me, Rami was walking these lands barefoot. There are no shoes for you to fill, which is why you are going to create your own. It’s fucking ridiculous that you can’t take a moment to think for yourself here.”
Devlin’s eyes grow wider, and I pull from my bloom again, studying him. “You’re slouching.”
“What?” he retorts.
“Monarchs don’t slouch. Stand up straight, like you carry authority.”
Devlin doesn’t do as I say straightaway. Of course not, the tyrant. He eyes me carefully, throat bobbing, before sighing and tipping his chin.
“Your threats are useless if they’re empty, Devlin. I don’t want to start a fight with you, but I will if it means protecting my territory. And believe me, Devlin, you do not want to make an enemy out of me. I’m giving you the chance to start fresh instead of dumping the sins of your father onto you.”
He holds my gaze, and I notice his fists clenching. He’s resilient, despite the disadvantage he’s in.
I can work with that.
“I was told I’ll have to teach you and show you the ropes of being monarch, so I will,” I proceed. “That is the only reason you’re still breathing right now. Had you been someone else, I’d have tossed you over the balcony and deemed it an accident.”
“Am I supposed to be grateful?” Devlin counters with a mocking smile.
“You should be, actually.”
At that, he grimaces. I stamp out my bloom after taking one last pull. “Believe it or not, Devlin, you have the opportunity to change where your territory stands. Everyone knows the Rippies as thieves, junkies, rapists, and liars. No one in Vakeeli respects you or your people, but with a new order and someone smart, it doesn’t have to stay that way. The truth is, Ripple Hills is a waste of space. There is nothing your territory has to offer the world, yet you all act like entitled, ungrateful idiots.”
“Watch it,” Devlin snarls.
I raise a hand. “Regardless, your worth can be amended. Instead of using your rage to come after me, work with me and become an ally so your people are better off.”
“My people would never forgive me if I allied with Blackwater’s monarch. Everyone in Ripple Hills says you should be dead for what you did to my father.”
“Yeah, well, your father tried to rape and kill my mate, so the bullet in his head was warranted.”
At that, he stares at me, baffled.
“Right. Of course no one told you the whole story, not even The Council. Fuckers .” I give my head a shake and step closer to him. “Look, you can reject my offer as an ally and keep trying to kill me, but I will come after you much harder.”
His frown deepens as he looks past my shoulder. The music swells, and I can now hear Willow’s thoughts. I smell perfume, and I hear Juniper going on about kissing someone at the lake. They’re coming back.
“Why would The Council choose you to guide me anyway?” Devlin grumbles. “I’m not a child. I can stand on my own.”
I huff a dry laugh and glance at the weapons in a pile next to him. “If that’s what you want to tell yourself.”
He shoots me another grimace.
“Yes, it’s frustrating that we have to work together, but this will make you better at ruling. This alliance will lessen deaths and prevent wars. A smart monarch would accept the offer and gain control while he can. A stupid one would turn his back and continue his weak attempts to assassinate me. Now which one will you choose to be going forward, Devlin? Smart or stupid?”
“Stop calling me stupid!”
“So you admit that you are? Stupid, that is?”
He growls and backs away, snatching up some of his weapons. “I don’t need this shit. You’re lucky you’re not already dead.”
I can’t help smirking as Devlin picks up the last of his weapons. I spot Willow and Juniper coming down the staircase, Juniper now wearing a simple gold dress with her damp hair pulled into a tight bun. Willow notices me right away and starts to smile until she sees the man standing in front of me. Juniper notices too, and they hurry in my direction.
“What’s going on?” Juniper demands, looking between me and Devlin.
“I was just telling Devlin here that I’m looking forward to teaching him,” I say, gesturing to him.
“Devlin? This is Rami’s son?” Juniper scans him as he tucks his weapons in place. “Did he threaten you, Caz?”
“Do I look threatened, Juniper?”
“No. You look as cool as Luxor snow.” Juniper narrows her eyes at Devlin, and he returns the favor. “I’m going for a drink. Devlin, why don’t you come with me? Allow me to talk some sense into you before my cousin decides to kill you because he’s bored?”
Devlin swings his eyes from her, to Willow, to me. When he focuses on Juniper again, he asks, “Aren’t you the woman who killed all those people at that party in Iron Class?”
“Are you serious?” Juniper groans. “Why can’t anyone let that go? You know it wasn’t just me doing the killing, right?”
“You still killed a fuck ton of our people,” Devlin counters.
“Well, they hit first. I just finished it. Now come. Let’s find your little girlfriend, and all of us can have a truce drink.”
Devlin straightens up, glances at me again, then follows Juniper. “This isn’t over, Harlow.”
“What was that about?” Willow asks when they’re gone.
“The kid just wanted to show me he had balls,” I tell her. “He’ll come around.”
My mate smiles at me and drapes her arms over my shoulders. “It’s been a really nice night,” she murmurs.
“If only it could last, huh?”
She peers over my shoulder, in awe of the gold-lit city and buildings in the distance. “It can for just a little bit longer.”
With a smile, she drops her arms to take one of my hands in hers.
“Come with me.”