Chapter 6
The rage movingthrough my veins is so thick, I nearly choke on it. All I see is Ash standing next to my woman, laying claim to my fucking throne.
What the actual fuck is going on?
In three strides, I’m right in his pretty-boy face. “You’ve really fucked up now, Ash.” I lean in, lowering my voice, so only he can hear me. “If you so much as look at Lux, I swear I’ll slit your throat. You already know I’m capable of murder.”
When I pull back, he doesn’t look bothered by my statement. I’m sure he saw it coming to some degree. I glance at Lux, and she looks wide-eyed like she’s afraid of what I’m going to do.
She should have thought of that before she marched Ash in here like her prized-fucking-pig.
With one last lingering glare at Lux, I turn and stride out of the ballroom, the guys following. We head straight to the study.
“What the actual fuck was that?” Christian yells, slamming the door closed behind him.
Jackson is taking his robe off, too. “She can’t do this,” he says. “It’s never been done before.”
“Just because it hasn’t been done,” I say. “Doesn’t mean she can’t do it. If she has actual evidence against us, then I have a feeling we’re fucked.”
“There has to be a way to get around this shit,” Lucas chimes in, still in his robes, leaning against the desk, arms crossed over his chest. “Our forefathers were the kings of loopholes.”
“Lux has played us,” Jackson says.
It’s true, and I’ve got to give her credit, it was clever and within the rules, unfortunately. Damn, as enthralled as I am with her, somehow I’ve still managed to underestimate her.
I’m the one who invested her with all the power of a queen, and this bitch used it. I definitely didn’t see that coming.
Every single queen or consort since 1890 has kept to the shadows. Subservient. Content to do as she’s told. Of course, I would get the one consort in centuries with big enough balls to pull something like this.
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I tilt my head back and try to breathe. A headache is blooming behind my right eye, though, so that’s fun. “I’m sure there’s something in the book we can use to our advantage. We just need to find it,” I say.
Lucas releases a long breath. “You should talk to her,” he says. I drop my head and look at him. “She’s pissed. That’s why she’s doing all this. She doesn’t give a fuck about the society. This is revenge.”
“And how am I supposed to talk to her?” I ask. “She hates me. Actually, no, scratch that—she hates all of us, as she should.”
“We did what we had to do,” Lucas says solemnly. “And we got results. Your brother is out of jail, isn’t he? Are you saying you regret that?”
I shake my head. I don’t know what to fucking think. Walking over to the sideboard, I pour myself a whiskey from the crystal decanter. It’s one of the few things Lux didn’t break in her tirade the other day. She would have, though, if we’d given her time. She was determined to destroy everything.
And she still is, apparently.
But what Lux doesn’t know about our forefathers is that they were clever bastards, and they had an interest in appearing democratic while secretly protecting their interests. I can’t imagine they’d introduce an article that we as Sacred Sons had no way of circumventing. We just have to find the loophole.
I pull the invite out and read it properly this time. “The tribunal is in a few days. We can ask a few senior members to look over the bylaws and see if they can find anything we can use,” I say. “In the meantime, try not to freak the fuck out. Jesus.”
I’m afraid if these guys start going off the deep end, they’ll lash out at Lux, and that’s the last thing I need. Because, regardless, I’m protecting her. She may hate me. She may be trying to destroy my entire-fucking-life, but can I blame her?
Lucas was right about one thing; she doesn’t give a fuck about Tyler or what happened to him. This is about revenge, plain and simple.
A while later—I don’t even know how long—the door opens and Lux walks into the room with her new lapdog trailing behind her. Ash glares at me as he walks in, and I feel Lucas’s hand on my arm, holding me back like he knows I’m ready to throw down.
I clench my jaw and force my gaze to Lux. “We need to talk.” I pause, my gaze sliding to Ash, then back to Lux. “Alone.”
If I have her alone, then there’s a slim chance I can talk some sense into her. I have to try, anyway, because this shit is crazy, and she has to know that.
She lifts a brow. “You can’t say whatever it is in front of your bros?”
“No, I can’t,” I say through gritted teeth, just trying to keep my shit together. Fucking-A. I need to push my fist through someone’s face. Scratch that, I need to push my fist through Ash’s face, and every second I’m in his presence, we move closer to that happening.
Lux flicks her gaze over me, and sighs, turning to the guys. “Can you guys give us the room?”
“Give you the fucking room?” Lucas sputters. “What are we the fucking wait staff?” He scoffs, and glances at me, like, do you hear this bitch?
“Lucas…” I say. “Guys. Just…give us a minute.”
Lucas throws me a look, and I throw one right back, like, trust me, dude.
Finally, with a harsh sigh, Lucas pushes off the desk and moves toward the door. “Come on, guys.” Christian and Jackson follow him, but Ash is rooted to the spot, still staring at me like he doesn’t trust me with my own consort.
“You, too, dipshit,” Lucas calls over his shoulder to Ash.
Lux nods at him, just slightly, and only then does Ash turn and head toward the door. He’s fucking whipped, and they’re not even together. I pause. Are they?
Fuck, I don’t even need to go down that road. She’s sleeping in my bedroom, and to be honest, it’s why I haven’t fought her taking over my room. If I were to insist she leave, who knows where she’d end up? Ash’s bed?
I watch Ash turn reluctantly and move toward the door. He’s the last to leave, so he shuts the door behind him.
I’m facing Lux, and she’s looking back at me with a strength I’ve only briefly glimpsed in her before. In her white robe, the deep hood pulled over her head, her chestnut waves flowing over her shoulders, she looks….powerful, like the queen I made her.
“Well,” I say, moving to the desk, I lean against it and pick up Lucas’s half-smoked blunt from the ashtray. It hangs limply between my lips as I use Lucas’s cheap lighter to get it going. Once it’s lit, I take a deep draw, the fragrant smoke filling my lungs. “The queen thing looks good on you,” I say, my gaze raking over her.
I should bend her over the sofa and fuck her right now.
She might feel empowered now, ripping my whole fucking life apart, but sex is where I’ll always be in control. She could be queen of the entire fucking world, and she’d still open those sweet thighs on my command.
Even when she says “no,” she means “please, God, yes,” and that’s something she can’t fake. I know her too well at this point.
Her eyes narrow, like she’s already suspicious of my motives for wanting her alone. Good. She should be. “You can’t stop me from dethroning you,” she says. “...if that’s what you wanted to talk to me about. Things have already been set in motion.”
With the blunt still hanging from my lips, I push off the desk and move to stand in front of her. We’re only inches apart, and she sucks in a sharp breath.
There.
There it is.
That sharp breath is the only indication that my proximity affects her, but as much as she’s trying to hide it, her body will always betray her when it comes to me. That’s a fucking fact.
I let my gaze wander over her lazily before climbing up to collide with her vibrant moss-green eyes. Fuck, she’s beautiful when she’s angry.
I take another draw from the blunt, then hold it out to her. For a second, she doesn’t do anything, but eventually, she takes it from me, sucking in a long pull. Her eyes close briefly as she pulls the smoke into her lungs, and holds it for a second, before releasing it.
Smoke fills the air between us, and her eyes flutter open as she hands the blunt back to me. Pinching it off, I shove it into my pocket. “You know you can’t do this,” I say calmly.
“Do what?” she has the balls to ask.
“Destroy a society that’s been in existence for over a hundred years.” My hungry gaze falls to her lips. What I would give to taste them right now. My entire trust fund, probably. “And anyway, what would it do in the end? Would it erase what happened with my brother last year? Would it bring Bree back?”
Her lips tighten, and she glances away like she knows what I’m saying is true. “No,” she says softly, then looks back at me. “But it’ll feel damn good destroying everything you love.” There’s a faint smile on her lips, and she shrugs. I can tell she’s enjoying this. “So there’s that.”
I snap. I can’t fucking help it. Now she’s just being cruel for the sake of it. Say what you will about the shitty things I’ve done, but I always had a reason. I was never cruel for the fucking fun of it. “Why are you doing this, Lux? To punish me, is that it?”
The anger from before instantly turns to anger. “Is that a serious question? You know exactly why I’m doing this.”
I reach up and grab her chin. She flinches, but she doesn’t pull away. I pull her face forward, so it’s only a fraction of an inch from mine. “If you could save Bree if you had found a way, you would have done the same thing or worse, and you know what? I think that scares the fuck out of you.”
“You’re wrong,” she says, her eyes never leaving mine. I see a darkness reflected there. A darkness I recognize. “It doesn’t scare me at all.”