Chapter 5
Chapter
Five
MAX
Standing in the sitting room, I ignore the princess at my back, eyes squinting into the darkness as we wait for the heir.
As soon as his sister arrived, he pushed me off on her, retreating to the bathroom for privacy. Apparently, only one of us is allowed that luxury.
Her eyes burn into the side of my face, a flame held too close as she assesses me. I didn’t fit into the Coven, an evil presence in their village due to my magic. As such, the elders never liked when Nafre or Taylay associated with me; I was beneath their royalty and they made sure to tell me.
I’m sure Fee thinks the same of me here, in her home, with her brother, an inbred Witch associating with a prince.
I don’t have the energy to deal with it, if so. Ignoring her, I beat back the horrible memories and the taste of loneliness, tugging my hair to my neck and focus on the paintings.
“You look like shit,” she comments, crossing her arms. I glare sharply at her, weeks’ worth of anger spilling out.
“And how would you fair if you were kidnapped, left to rot in a dungeon, forced into submission to a cruel master who wants you to play a game that you don’t know the rules to?
” I ask, anxiety feeding my words. “I’m sorry I don’t look like the perfect guest, but I’m in a strange land, with unknown dangers, floundering.
Excuse me if I don’t seem so put together, Your Highness. ”
I expect a rebuttal, but she just smirks, leaning back against the sofa, a true sovereign in her own right.
Her fiery red-black locks are piled on top of her head with braids and some kind of black gems woven throughout.
Her pale white skin glows against the flickering fireplace and the long black ballgown is thick in the stifling heat. Yet, she still looks beautiful.
“Someone’s feeling testy.”
“Wouldn’t you?” I dare, glancing around the room. Shadows hide practically everything, but I can make out large bookshelves against the far walls, thick books lining the edges.
I had only a few books in the Blackwoods Coven. What would it be like to have these at my disposal, to read at leisure and not for sanity because of the need to hide? Not because of crushing loneliness but the actual want to read for pleasure?
“Probably.” She shrugs. “There’s a reason I wear this.” She holds up a small golden chain, a delicate pendant on it, dipped long like a dagger. “A charm. It prevents a Dark Fae from being claimed.”
I snort. “I could have used that a few weeks ago.”
Fee laughs. “It doesn’t work for Witches, unfortunately.”
My shoulders hunch. She says it so casually, but it still hits my ear wrong. I am a Witch, a Blut Coven Witch, the last of my kind. It’s so fantastical, it’s hard to comprehend.
Kaden enters the room, bathed and changed into a tailored black silken suit of sin, the apparent heir of these lands.
It shows off his broad shoulders, his powerful legs, the bunching muscles that ripple with each step.
His hair is knotted on his head, pieces falling into his eyes with his silver ring peeking through the strands of his pointed ear.
Without asking, he grabs my hand in a vice grip, forcing me to follow with him.
“Let go of me,” I demand, teeth grinding.
“So, you can run?” He rolls his eyes, nodding once to Zeke and other guards who surround him from thin air. “I know you, Max. Your first instinct is to get away.”
I scoff. “It is not.”
“No, you’re right. Sometimes, it’s to run right into danger, no thought to your personal safety. That can’t happen now that my life is tied to yours.” I don’t appreciate his glare, nor his ability to know me.
I make another effort to pull away and he sighs, annoyed. “You know, it would look terrible to our guests if my wife keeps trying to escape.”
“Good thing, I’m not your wife then.”
A fang falls over his lip, and my body heats. “Yet.”
He turns to Fee, glancing around as if looking for an attack. “Where’s Reid?”
She rolls her eyes, a typical sibling response, crossing her arms stubbornly. “Gambling in the stables, probably. You know how he is.”
Kaden growls under his breath, using two fingers to call over a guard. “Get my brother and bring him to the throne room. He needs to be present.”
The guard hurries away on clunky steps and I glance back to Fee, curious at the urging. The princess shrugs. “Kaden doesn’t want us separated when our father summons us.”
“Why?”
Fee tilts her head, trying to understand me. It’s not the first time she’s tried.
“You should stay near Kaden too, blood summoner,” she insists, gaze swiping over my body, staring at the necklace with narrowed eyes. “This is not a friendly place to be alone in. Especially when my father calls.”
Chills break out over my arms at her ominous tone. Zelos is going to get me soon enough, why would Kaden protect me? Why would she worry? Isn’t this the moment he hands me over, allows his father to show off his war trophy? My fate is already sealed.
Fee darts the extra steps to her brother, mouth frowning. “So that’s what happened to Mother’s necklace? You kept it for your future queen?”
Kaden rolls his eyes, not bothering to glance at her. His mother’s necklace? “As heir, it’s my right to decide what happens to the previous queen’s items.”
“You know what this means.” There’s a threat in her words.
“Drop it, Fee.”
“You know,” she drawls, glancing back to me, annoyed. “We’ve lost four guards at the gates.”
With my interest piqued, I raise my brows. “What’s happening at the gates?”
Fee smiles, gesturing for Kaden to answer.
“It’s your beast,” he drawls, hard eyes narrowing at his sister. “It’s taken him time, but he’s finally found you. And he’s less than pleased to be blocked from entering.”
Relief rocks me to my core. After the battle in the woods, I thought him gone, taken, maybe killed. I spent weeks in the dungeon mourning my life, my friends in the Coven who I would never see again and the beast I saved.
I should have known a creature blessed by the God of the Dead wouldn’t be so easy to defeated. “So, let him in. What use is he outside of the palace?”
“None,” he agrees. “But letting him in too soon would not benefit either of us.”
I yank against his hold again, irritated. “Benefit us, how?” He’s my protector, he does not follow the laws of mortals.
Sighing, disappointed, the heir pulls me close. “We may have need of his services and I will not announce his presence unless absolutely necessary,” he whispers. “To do otherwise, would be stupid.”
“And when will that be, heir?” I growl, body heating in aggravation. The Fae talks in riddles, never revealing anything unless it suits him. Too many secrets, too many tricks.
“Soon.” He nods. “I have no intention of keeping a beast made from Hell from you for long, but we cannot be impatient.”
Fee snorts next to her brother, hand tapping her dagger securely. “Better figure out when, big brother. Because he will kill everyone to get to his master, and no matter how badly you want to keep him a secret, someone will figure it out when the bodies keep amassing.”
We stop at the grand black doors, more etchings of fearsome Fae staring back at us.
The guards who flanked the heir disperse, with only Zeke standing behind me.
Two more guards are stationed at the throne room, looking ahead, faces stoic.
They seem to shrink under Kaden’s gaze, avoiding his attention.
Is everyone here afraid of the heir? Or is this respect?
Boots slapping on to the black granite pulls my attention to the side, seeing Reid’s smiling face running to catch up to us.
He’s chaos in Fae form—shirt unbuttoned, jacket grasped in his hand.
There’s ink drawn on to his chest and shoulder but I can’t make out the design.
Tattoos aren’t completely unheard of, but they’re rare in the Witch Covens.
When he skids to a halt beside me, he slips an arm around my shoulders and tugs me close into a brotherly half-hug. “Hey! You’re free! That’s a fun turn of events. We could use more good news around here.”
I can’t deny how good it feels to smile—a real, small, but bright smile—at his joyful demeanor. Reid has always been kind to me, going so far as to sneak down to see me in the dungeon when Kaden was gone.
He wasn’t happy with his brother’s claiming of me, and told me as such as he sat outside my cell. He brought card games and told me large tales from the other side, trying hard to lift my spirits. But his loyalty to the heir was still there, firmly in place, even as I begged to be released.
Kaden glowers like a dark shadow behind us, his magic swirling around our ankles.
“Reid,” he snaps, making me jump in response, arm slipping away. “Fix your clothing. The doors are to open.”
Reid rolls his eyes, winking at me. “For someone who hates this part, he’s certainly a stickler for etiquette.”
I raise an eyebrow. Odd that Kaden wouldn’t like this part of his birthright. He seems made for it.
Reid fiddles with his shirt, only giving up when Fee comes close, tucking his collar and adjusting his lapels. My throat constricts at their closeness and at the memory of Nafre doing the same for Taylay.
I’ve been here for weeks, away from them. Does Tay think of me? We didn’t end on the best of terms; does he think I’m avoiding him and the village out of spite? Does he know of the Crimson Army’s attack? Or did he think I left, never to return?
What of Nafre? Does she even miss me? She told me to stay hidden and I didn’t listen. Was this what she thought would happen—me being taken by the Dark Fae, used as a weapon?
If I had listened, would things have happened differently? Would I be free?
Kaden’s firm hand pulls me close, pushing the thoughts away as his hip and leg crush into mine.
Revulsion and warmth battle in my gut and I don’t know which one I want to win more.
I want to soak up his aura, let it soothe the ache in my heart, and I want to grab Fee’s dagger and cut his throat. Even if it kills us both.
“Whatever happens in there, stay beside me.”
Jerking back, my mouth drops open. “You have some nerve,” I begin, only to be cut off by his finger pressing into my lips.
“In there, you are nothing.” His eyes narrow, willing me to understand.
“You’ve never been to the Dark Court. In there, power is the only thing that keeps you alive.
I’m the only chance you have of surviving.
” He looks me over, a fang poking over his bottom lip.
“Although in this dress, it’ll be hard to keep hands off of you regardless of who owns you. ”
Glaring, I try to pull away, fed up with his arrogance. “Go to Seti’s Hell, heir.”
“Only with you,” he taunts, hand yanking my chin. “We are only welcoming officials before war talks begin. Zelos will not show his hand before he has complete control. That includes not telling anyone who you are in there. It’s a blessing and a curse.
“The only way to survive in this court, is by appearing to be more monstrous than them. Otherwise, they will take and use you, in full view of everyone else.” My body shudders as true fear runs up my spine, his words dipping dangerously low. A lover’s caress, but it chills me to the bone.
He brushes the hair from my neck, my scar visible.
“I am the most powerful person in that room. Without me, you are vulnerable.”
I shake my head. “With you, I’m a prisoner.”
He steps close, anger flashing through his bright eyes.
“If you’re a prisoner, then so am I, kitten.
” At that, my mouth parts in shock. “We are bound together, prisoners in this life. Now, listen. Do not leave my side. Do not hide your scar. Never let down your guard. It’ll be the only things that keeps you breathing. ”
Jerking away, my lips curl in disgust. “The only thing that would keep me alive, is your beating heart in my hands.”
Smirking, the heir shakes his head, fingers falling to his side. “If you wanted my heart, you only need to ask. I’d cut it out and hand it over to you without question.”
Before I can respond—think about what the heir said—the black doors pull wide. Behind them is a sea of courtiers, pale faces, dark hair, all dressed in various shades of ebony and grey.
They turn their heads to us in their eerie Fae fashion and I notice, I’m the only one in red, a drop of blood against a stark canvas. Beside me, the heir transforms, standing taller, shoulders wide, an aura of power erupting from him. He becomes the royal they follow.
But I don’t focus on him. I can’t. Not when I see the face of Zelos the Wretched staring back at me, the promise of death on the tip of his tongue as he smiles.