Page 29 of Lethal King

By the time I got back to Maksim and Mel, though, Tytus was already gone. I didn’t mind. But that didn’t mean I could rest. There was still Rozalia’s threat. The poor girls huddled on my lawn outside.

She’d promised to paint their white dresses red.

No matter how much I loathed the idea of marrying one of them, I couldn’t let that happen. Not if I wanted to contain the shame of what had already happened today.

So, I raced out onto the lawn, just as the shadow of a giant fucking drone appeared above the smoke.

Whatever it was carrying was quickly dropped.

I only had time to tackle my potential brides out of the way. Most of the blood got onto me. Their virgin dresses remained unblemished.

But the same can’t be said for my reputation.

Placing my bloody hand onto the ornate door handle, I try to calm myself with a deep breath. But all I taste is blood.

“Rian, are you alright?”

Mel’s tiny voice might as well be coming from the bottom of the ocean. Still, I’m brought back to earth when I feel the warmth of her hand on my blood-caked shoulder.

“I’m fine,” I insist, shrugging her away. “Go wash your hands. We still don’t know what’s in this shit.”

“I’m not worried,” Mel whispers. “Not about the blood, anyway.”

“You don’t need to worry about anything,” I tell her, pushing open the door. “That’s my job. You stick to your art.”

“My art…” Mel mumbles to herself, before a realization sends her into the air. “My art! Your gift! We left it behind. Maksim, where–“

“Don’t worry,” Maksim echoes my sentiment. “I’ll get some men to find it. That thing is heavy. I’m sure it didn’t go far.”

“I hope not,” Mel mutters.

Their conversation continues behind me as I step into the throne room alone.

Somehow, I can still smell her. A spicy rose scent that singes the tip of my tongue. It’s part of why I wasn’t completely sold on her hologram trick—though, I wouldn’t put it past a woman like that to build a perfume dispenser into one of her contraptions.

Rozalia Dorn. Fuck. For as frustrating as she is, I won’t deny her twisted brilliance.

My cock is already swelling again when I feel Maksim step into the room behind me.

“I guess we didn’t make it on time,” he says, his words drifting towards the empty mantle where my crown once stood.

“Or maybe I wanted her to take it.”

“Does that mean you got to put your tracking device on it?”

“More than one. Sure, she’ll find most of them. But if she misses even a single sliver, then I’ll know exactly where she and Tytus are hiding out.”

“And if she wants you to come after her?”

“Then she’ll get her wish.”

Brushing past the empty mantle, I make my way to where the Black Cat stood. Her lingering scent intensifies. So does my erection.

It sends a shockwave of shame crashing through my pounding chest. That shockwave is quickly followed by a flurry of red-hot desire.

Thoughts of revenge fill my racing mind.

Rozalia’s punishment will be severe…