“Saph, what the fuck are you doing?”
“Bargaining,” the Other replied for her, nicking my jaw with her talon. Bringing the blood she summoned toward her mouth, she lapped my essence as if it were the finest delicacy known to man and gods alike. “You see, desperation serves as a powerful pawn in the nuances of war. Especially when that desperation is tied to something like love or yearning.”
Did Sapphira do this?
“What the hell have you done?” I breathed, thrashing against the utter power the ancient being standing between us wielded.
“Caspian, I?—”
“No,” I growled, my lips curling back into a sneer. “What the hell have you done, Sapphira?!”
“They have Lorelie…” she whispered, her bottom lip trembling as she struggled to lift her gaze to meet mine. “I did what I had to do?—”
“Betrayed your fuckingfamily?The people who saved you? Those who gave you freedom and a second chance at life?” Gathering a mouthful of saliva, I spat at her. “EverythingI fucking did for you. All I sacrificed. And still,thisis how you repay me?”
“I loveher!” she screamed, the three words fracturing.
“And we loved you!” Anger shook my frame, drawing forth the darkness I carried. “Syoran and I… And now, because of your decision to oppose us, he’s dead!”
She blinked once before her head turned to the quiet Other. “You told me they wouldn’t be harmed.”
“And I did not forgo my promise,” the dark goddess replied, though the smugness in her expression gave away her intention. “Those whomIheld command over stayed true to my extended expectation. Whatever Malrik Ravelle elected to do was of his own accord.”
“You fucking lured them here…” Holding Sapphira’s shifting stare, I nipped at my bottom lip with enough ferocity to draw blood. “Syoran isdeadbecause of your inability to fuckingthink,Sapphira!Theyareherebecause of you, and that includes Ravelle.”
“Cas, I?—”
“Don’t,”I barked, my wrath exemplifying. “I gave you everything I possibly could. I fucking told you we would rescue your lover, and you elected to dothis.So, whatever ounce of care you once believed I had for you? Consider itgone.” Glower hardening, I offered the rest of my statement with as much loathing as I felt. “I will fucking kill you, Saph.”
She flinched as if I’d hit her. “You don’t mean that.”
“Oh, I mean it with every drop of blood flowing through my body.Betrayal is not a concept I take lightly, and I have no problem stripping the skin from your body after I gut you.”
Sapphira opened her mouth to respond, but the Other raised her hand. “As much as I enjoy listening to humans verbally assault one another, we have a schedule to adhere to.” Fixating on me, she craned her head to the side. “If I give you the ability to walk, will you use it wisely, or will you attempt to run from me?”
“As if I have a choice?”
“You don’t,” she hummed, the tune enchanting but deadly. “Though I believe in autonomy to an extent, and I am happy to allow you to use your own two legs to board our ship.”
Scoffing, I shook my head. “Yeah. Whatever.”
“That easy?” Her ember gaze flared in amusement, as if she wished to test my patience. “No fight?”
“Gods, what have none of you learned?” I grumbled more to myself than to her. “IknowKing Marellan. If I decline, my ship and the remnants ofmy men,” I briefly glanced at Sapphira, “will be executed. If I oblige, they may be down a leader, but they will live.”
“Correct,” the goddess crooned, taking a step back. “Though I would like to enlighten you even further. What you can expect from King Marellan is not his…typicalmeans of doing things.”
“Which means what exactly?” Jaw feathering, I forced myself to push down the thoughts of grabbing my sword and slicing the cunt’s head clean off her body as soon as she released me.
“Allegiance.”
The three syllables were tainted with corruption; genuine allegiance hadn’t existed since the king took the throne.
I chuckled. “After all the time I’ve served that monster, you believe you can convince me he is capable of anything close to allegiance? King Marellan destroys anything that gets in his way. He forces submission, he coerces decisions, and he sure as fuck doesn’t grant opportunity. Perhaps, if I were some simpleton who hadn’t been leashed by hisownershipfor the entirety of my fucking life, you could’ve had me fooled.”
Her brows lifted, a humored frown taking over her features. “And perhaps, if you were somesimpleton,you would believe that all of the king’s decisions are his own. But you aren’t that naïve, are you, Caspian Vayne?”
The Other’s admittance solidified everything; their influence had not only seeped through the lands but also polluted the throne. They’d dug their taloned fingers into the minds of thousands, corrupting the decisions of our leaders and those in their respective hierarchies.
