“Too late," the king replied. "AIR now knows we exist. The damage is done."
"They would have found out anyway! Your people have been attending auctions. In fact, AIR probably already knew, since they monitor that kind of criminal activity."
"Hush, love, and go with him," Devyn told her. He even smiled at her when her gaze met his. "I'll be fine."
White-hot tears burned her eyes, blurring her vision. No, he wouldn't be fine. He would be in torment. My fault. This is all my fault. "I'll go with-him if he lets you return to the—"
"Go with the king," he interjected, steel in the words. "Do not worry about me."
Did Devyn have a plan? Of course he did, she thought next, finally calming. It probably involved seducing a female guard, but that was okay. Freedom was the only thing that mattered.
"Fine," she said, lifting her chin. Maybe, while she was with the king, she'd remove his heart—if he had one— and set it on fire. Just in case Devyn's plan, whatever it was, fell through.
"If, at any time, she harms me in any way," the king told the guards, as if he could read her mind after all, "kill the Targon."
Bride nearly screeched in frustration and helplessness. Defeated before she'd even begun. No way would she risk Devyn's life.
What the hell was she going to do now?
Bride was escorted to a room of black velvet. The walls were draped with it, the floor covered in it, and what little furniture there was—two chairs facing each other—were dripping with it. All that soft darkness made her feel like she was floating through a night sky, no end to her torment in sight.
The king motioned her to the chairs.
"Majesty," she said, striving for a calm tone as she sat.
"Please, call me Manus." He claimed the other seat; then, with a wave, he dismissed the guard. They strutted from the room, leaving her alone with their sovereign.
I never should have come here. Being parted from Devyn was torture. Not knowing what was being done to him was agony. Thinking of him in a dark hole was anguish. Worse, it was her fault. She'd wanted to come here. She'd wanted him with her. But she would have given up both for Devyn's safety.
I love him, she thought then. I love Devyn.
Somehow, some way, he'd become the most important thing in her life. He was her home now. Not this place. Yes, she loved that there were other vampires here. Yes, she loved the darkness and the sweet scents and the closeness she felt to her mother. She loved that every question she'd ever had about what she was could be answered. Here, she wasn't different, she wouldn't be staked. But none of those things meant more to her than Devyn. The thought of being without him ... she shuddered.
"I brought you here so that we may chat in private," the king said, breaking the silence. "I want Devyn released immediately. Then I'll chat with you."
"He is not up for discussion," was the harsh reply. "Do not mention him again." Or what? Bastard. "Are you used to getting your way?"
"Of course." As if that settled things, Manus leaned back, crossed one ankle over his knee, and studied her. "Tell me about your life on the surface."
"If I do, will you have Devyn released?"
She never saw him move, but the next thing she knew, her brain was rattling against her skull, her teeth were cutting into her gums, and she was propelled off her chair and onto the floor.
There was a trickle of warmth at the corner of her mouth, and she knew it was blood. Shaking with anger, burning with the force of it, she wiped the smear with the back of her wrist and glared up at the king. "You slapped me."
"I warned you not to mention the Targon, and yet you persisted." He was perched on his chair, in the same relaxed pose as before. "Persist again, and see what happens." It was a challenge.
She'd always liked sparring with Devyn. Even from the very beginning. This man? Not so much. "Devyn told me you were a great guy," she said, climbing back into her chair. "I see our definitions of great differ."
A muscle ticked below both of Manus's eyes. "I was not always this way.”
“Your brother's death changed you." He'd get no sympathy from her. "Yeah, I heard."
"Were you also told he was returned to me missing several body parts?" The words lashed from him. "Were you told his abductor targeted me next? That I spent a week as her prisoner?"
"No," she said, and made a mental note not to look for Fiona the nefreti, after all. "You seem to have been returned with all your parts, though." Unfortunately. Fiona would have done Bride a favor if she'd cut off the man's hands. Her jaw ached, damn it! And she didn't need that on top of everything else.
Manus nodded, the action stiff. "I was."
"No one has a perfect past, you know? No one lives as long as we do without suffering somehow.”
“And what painful things have happened to you, little Bride?"
She couldn't tell him about her mother, so she said, "Having Devyn taken from me. I love him."
"Then you are truly hurting right now, and I am sorry for that. But I will not set him free. At one time, I was forgiving. At one time, I was merciful with my people. And what did that get me? A dead brother and seven nights of torture. I do not repeat my mistakes. I do not spare my enemies, and right now Devyn and McKell are my enemies."
"They would never hurt you."
"So you say. Yet I cannot read your thoughts, so how then can I trust you?"
That's what this was about? His inability to read her? "I wish for things, and I get them, all right? When you stepped into that room, I wished you couldn't read me."
His brow furrowed. "Why?"
"Would you like it if someone knew your every thought? I don't think so."
"I couldn't read you before I entered the room, yet I could read everyone else. Still." His eyes narrowed, but he didn't rebuff her. "Wish for me to read you."
And let him learn that she was nefreti? He'd kill her and Devyn without a qualm. "I wish that you could read me." No I don't, no I don't, no I don't. I wish that he is never able to read me. "Okay, done," she lied. "Go for it."
He stilled, not even breathing that she could see. Invisible fingers seemed to brush at her mind, trying to get inside. He frowned. "I still cannot. Perhaps you did not wish hard enough. Try again."
She nodded as if she were obeying. "There."
His frown intensified, and he slammed a fist into his palm. "Still nothing. Are you sure your wishes come true?"