They paused, their eyes flitting to Hael like they didn’t want to admit what they were about to say. “He already possesses the blade and has brought it inside your castle.”
Dahes smiled. “Good.” He turned to Hael. “Tell me which one has the dragon fire.”
Hael’s jaw clicked, probably feeling the deal work for the first time, fighting against the compulsion.
“The dagger,” he ground out, his jaw set.
Dahes grinned, flicking his wrists, re-closing the bars and locking the triplets in. He turned toward a sentry, “Go through his weapons and bring me the dagger.”
One of the sentries tilted his head down, before clicking against the stone and walking back up to the throne room.
“Magnolia, go to your room and bathe,” Dahes ordered, but this time he wasn’t looking at me. He was staring directly at Hael. “I’ll fetch you when it’s time for dinner, but first, I have some business to attend to.”
My stomach churned at the way he was looking at Hael—Haelwasn’t backing down, just meeting his stare with hatred and glaring straight back.
No. No. No.
I knew whatever torture he gave Hael earlier wasn’t nearly enough. It was just the beginning. Hael murdered his dragon. He touched me.
Dahes was pissed. He was going to?—
“Room, Magnolia. NOW.”
Chapter Forty-Three
Nicknames
MAGNOLIA
Itried to get myself to eat the food in front of me, but I couldn’t.
When I first walked into the dining room, I halted. I wasn’t expecting to see Hael chained in the seat across from mine. My eyes scanned every inch of him, taking in the layers of blood that drenched his clothes and stained his skin—Dahes tortured him. While I was in a fresh slip, scrubbing all of Nuna’s blood from my body until the smell of jasmine assaulted me, Hael was drenched in it. The contrast between us was jarring.
His gaze narrowed on mine before he turned away.
After that, I refused to look at him. I couldn’t stand to see the hatred in his eyes, the hurt… I had no idea if he was doing the same, and although I had my eyes trained on my plate, I knew Dahes was smiling at me.
There was a plate in front of Hael. I only knew he was eating because Dahes forced him to. I heard the incline in his voice the moment he used his deal against him and metal rattled as Hael’s chains hit the table.
He didn’t need the chains. Hael couldn’t use any of his powers anymore. Dahes forced it into his deal. He had complete control over him now.
Hael was going to be owned by Dahes for the rest of his life, and it was entirely my fault. He made a deal with the devil just like I had, thinking he could save me, but it didn’t matter.
I couldn’t be saved, and I was pretty sure Hael wanted to take it back, that he would have rather Dahes raped and killed me on the throne instead of making his bargain. How could he not…
He just found out that everything I did was a lie. He just watched me rip a girl’s eye out…
Hael’s words kept flashing in my head the moment he made the connection—Dahes’ whore. It shouldn’t have surprised me. The entire Vivenian Kingdom called me that, thinking I willingly did Dahes’ bidding. But it still hurt, still clawed into my soul the moment he said it.
Dahes’ dark chuckle had my eyes snapping to him. He was staring at me, and I realized my mistake. Ever since I met Hael, I’d been struggling to keep my emotions suppressed. My thoughts kept slipping and Dahes knew it. The shell of numbness I built shattered. Hael fractured it only for me to realize that I was already too broken, and I couldn’t put the pieces back together again.
And now, my feelings were pouring through the cracks.
I wanted to turn them off.
“I’ve always loved your little nickname, Magnolia.”
I stilled, terrified of where this was going. He overheard Hael call me Nollie…
