I feel my cheeks flame. Frick. I should’ve probably put a dressing gown on or something. But this was the only thing I had been given to sleep in, and I didn’t think to get dressed before rushing over here.
His eyes narrow as he looks past me. “Do you like what you see?” He asks the poor guard behind me, his voice lethal.
I spin around, mortified. The guard pales instantly, his eyes practically bugging out of his skull with fear.
“I was not looking, sire,” he stammers. “She is to be my queen.”
“Do not lie to me,” Korithax snarls. Without hesitation, Korithax steps forward and rips the guard’s eyes from his head. Blood spurts everywhere. I freeze on the spot, my eyes widening as I watch him proceed to snap his neck like a toothpick, his body crumpling to the ground.
“Korithax!” I shriek. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”
He barks at the other guards to drag the corpse away, then slams the door shut. When he turns to me, his eyes are almost entirely black. “Do not raise your voice at me.”
“You just murdered someone!” I retort.
“He looked at what’s mine,” he hisses, stepping toward me. I backpedal until my knees hit the bed, making me stumble.
“What’s wrong, little flower?” He purrs, placing his finger back under my chin, lifting it slightly. “Were you enjoying their attention?”
“You’re insane,” I breathe, the words catching in my throat.
“Maybe.” His lips twitch into somewhat of a smirk. “Why are you here, Daisy?”
I swallow hard, trying to ignore my thundering heartbeat. “Right. Uh. This is going to sound crazy…”
I tell him everything—aboutthe dream, about Velentha’s words, and how she pushed me into an endless void. By the time I finish, he’s sitting on a chair across from me, his brow furrowed. I perch myself on the edge of his bed, watching him stew.
“What the fuck is she up to?” He mutters to himself.
“What do you mean? It didn’t make any sense to me.”
“It does to me.” He exhales sharply. “She’s telling me to take you to Noxthrallia. To Maelkar Vyre. She wants you to be turned immortal.”
I blink. “Immortal? Like… live forever?”
“Well, not forever. But yes.” He says flatly. “The Divine Six threatened to destroy my kingdom if I married a mortal. They blew up the guest chambers to make their point.”
My stomach twists. So it was them, and it was because of me. “So turning immortal would fix it?”
He pauses for a moment. “It’s a loophole. If you’re immortal, technically, you’re no longer a mortal bride.”
We sit in heavy silence, both of us pondering Velentha’s words. Surely if she were so against him marrying me, she wouldn’t be telling him to turn me immortal. But I guess, she wasn’t against him marrying me… just mortal me?
“Then let’s do it,” I breathe.
He snaps his gaze to mine. “What?”
“I said, let’s do it. I’ll become immortal.”
He scoffs. “You tried to end your life not long ago; now you want it to last for an eternity?”
The words cut me deeper than they should. I stand quickly, attempting to brush past him toward the door. “I was just trying to help. Forget it.”
He grabs my wrist and pulls me between his legs, locking me there with his hands on my hips. Even through the silk nightgown, his touch is scorching, leaving more goosebumps in its wake.
“Why?” He asks, his voice laced with suspicion.
“Why what?” I reply, fighting the shiver crawling up my spine. Even sitting, he’s eye level with me. He’s a literal tower of a man.
