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Rising to my feet, I steel my spine. I have no idea how our rooms moved during the night, but I won’t look a gift faerie in the mouth. Attacking him while he’s out will give me the best chance of succeeding. When the others discover his corpse, I’ll lie.
When I push the door, it swings inward faster than I intended. I collide with Fox—my soot-stained shirt against his torso—hot, hard, naked male torso.
Embarrassment scalds my cheeks. His fresh scent invades my senses, and I stumble. He latches onto my hips, but he’s too late. We fall together and land with a bone-jarring thud.
My traitorous dagger skitters away, twirling across the wooden floorboards and thudding against the edge of the rug. We both look at the weapon and then our eyes meet. His turn wholly black as he summons his dark side.
Oh no.I scramble toward the magic cutting blade. He lunges after me, so close that I feel his fingers graze my toes. My palm hits the hilt. I roll with a triumphant snarl, ready to?—
Fox is a frozen statue, hand hovering in the air, reaching for me, lips parted. He looks so bewildered, like he’s seen a ghost. What could possibly shock this ancient monster? His gaze lifts to mine, and his cheeks turn beet red.
“You...” he blusters, clears his throat, then quickly walks to the settee by the window and gives me his back.
I glance down. The shirt... it’s to my thighs. I’m not wearing panties. He would have seen everything when I crawled away from him.
“I hope you got a good look,” I snarl, brandishing my blade and striding toward him. “Because it will be the last thing you see.”
He clears his throat and scrapes his fingers through his hair, still refusing to look at me. Does he not care I’m about to stab him? He exhales suddenly, dips his shaking head, and braces his hands on the filigree backrest. Is helaughingat me?
“I’m going to kill you,” I warn, unable to stop myself.
“As stunning as you are down there, I assure you, my heart can take more than one look.”
Is he talking about my... I tug the shirt down and growl, “I’m being serious.”
“Then you’ll have to try harder, little wolf.”
My grip tightens on the dagger. I’m almost within reaching distance, and he still hasn’t faced me. Tightly coiled muscles roll beneath the broad expanse of skin covering his back. My eyes lower appreciatively down his tapered waist to the breeches hugging his narrow hips and the curved outline of his buttocks.
I growl at my wayward attention. What in the Well’s name is wrong with me? It’s like I’m in heat. My eyes widen and I take a moment to assess myself for signs of fever, but I’m fine. I have no excuse for checking him out. Admiring his physique isnoton my to-do list for the day.
“Keep telling yourself that,”his amused voice slides into my mind like spiced wine, curling heat through my body.
“Get out of my head!” Violent rage consumes me. This is exactly the twisted, morally depraved shit the Six are known for. I lunge, aiming to pierce the soft spot beneath his ribs.
“It’s hardly my fault when you shout thoughts at me.” The bastard pivots out of range and finally shows me his face.
“You don’t get to play the victim. Not after—” My pain chokes me.Tinger.Rory.All the people I killed. I scream so loudly that my eyes water.
His perplexed expression deepens.
“I hate you,” I croak.You ruined my life.“I know all the sick things you did. They told me you planned to claim me as your queen since before my conception. You tried to groom me into a queen who wouldn’t treat you like slaves.”
“Why is that so bad?” He cocks his head, genuinely confused.
“Because youmadeit that way. You manipulated the old Prime, teaching her how to curse my father so he was alone for fifty years—never caring how much it hurt him to be separated from my brother after he was born. Then you orchestrated events so my parents conceived me during a curse! Then you had me kidnapped by the enemy so I could learn to be as morally depraved as you. I could go on and on! What kind of sick bastards bargain with the Well for a child to mold into the perfect queen? Do you have any idea how wrong that is?”
He blinks at me, taking it all in. But I’ve been waiting to say these things for years. I don’t hold back.
“And then you pretend to forget what you’ve done and make all these people think you’re actually the Good Folk! You’re the bad ones. The monsters. You belong in the subterranean with the other nightmares.”
Hurt flashes in his black soulless eyes.
The imprint of his skull illuminates beneath his skin. A whoosh of air brushes my face, and then the flicker of his skull is gone. Fear strikes into my heart. I unwittingly back up, looking for impossible signs of an invisible attack.
“They’veforgotten,” he corrects. “But I remember everything.”
His upper lip curls enough for me to glimpse monstrous fangs that weren’t there before.
