“So, you left?Youof all males fled?”
The tone of his accusation sent a spark of fury through me.
My jaw ticked as my stare tore away from him. “It was Elianna. She got the upper hand on me, which willneverhappen again. I thought I had completely disarmed her, but she unsheathed a hidden dagger and forced the blade down into the nook of my neck.”
“You’re gods-damn right it will never happen again. I’m taking over. You’redone.”
I rose from where I sat and stood in front of him in an instant, hovering over his body. “Come again?” I growled through my teeth as he refused to break my stare or back down.
“Are you fucking deaf, now? You’re.Done.”
He went to turn on his heel away from me, but my arm whipped out, and I clutched his own aggressively between my fingers, yanking him to face me once more.
“Release me, Adler. Don’t be foolish,” he warned.
“I amnotgoing anywhere. These are my soldiers—myarmy. I command them, not you. You don’t get to relieve me just because you held my position once upon a time.” A grin twitched up the corner of his lips, but he remained silent as he stared into my eyes. “What? You think you hold all this power because you retired from this to occupy the queen’s bed? You’re nothing but a cock to play with to her,” I seethed.
Callius ripped his arm from my grasp and took another step into me. We stood chest to chest in the center of my tent as low growls of challenge rumbled through each of us.
“And what is it you’re doing, huh? Oh, I know you much better than you think, Kellan. Do not forget who raised you since you were a mere boy.”
“My father raised me.”
He scoffed. “Your father was a pitiful excuse of a male who sailed the seas on some insane belief that he ruled them. You were not executed among the rest of his crew because ofme. I taught you everything you know, boy,” he spat at me with venom, but I flashed my teeth at him in response. “And the answer to your question is yes. I do hold this power because of what I am to the queen, and to your dismay, I am significantly more than just acockthat awaits in her bed all hours of the night.”
Gods, he was really pissing me off.
He took a single step back from me, and his eyes looked me up and down in disgust. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. The King’s Lord? Is that what Kai thinks?”
“It’s the truth,” I growled.
Callius raised a hand to stop me from continuing. “Save it. You didn’t give a fuck about Solus until recently, and now suddenly, you’re trying to convince the queen to let you keep her as a little pet? You try to wander off with a small army ofyourchoosing to go and fetch her, yet come back empty-handed?” He tsked at me. “Youknow. And I am very well aware that you know who and what she is, and I’m here to tell you that you can take that little dream of yours and ignite it into the flames that you love to play with so much. It’s never going to happen.”
My eyes flared at the realization he knew what I had been secretly planning since discovering Elianna’s true identity. My heart started pounding, and I attempted to maintain a steady breath, hoping to avoid raising any more of his suspicion.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I lied, and not as smoothly as I was hoping.
“Kellan, this is pathetic.” Callius sighed as he rubbed his temples. “She will never be queen. You will never be king. That is certain.ThatI can promise you.”
“And why is it that she would be queen in the first place?” I asked through my teeth, still trying to save face as I refused to break eye contact.
“For fuck's sake, Kellan, I—”
A loud horn sounded off in the distance and shouts from our soldiers rang out all around the tent. Echoes of their armor clattered, snagging both of our attentions.
He turned back to face me, a scowl twisting his features, and lifted his finger in front of my face—I wanted to bite it off.
“This isn’t over,” he hissed at me. “Pull any more shit, and I will tell Kai and the queen of your bullshit plan faster than you can even feel regret…mark my words, Adler.”
And with that, he rapidly turned from me and stalked out of my war tent.
Breaking through the tent flaps, I found the camp in a state of utter chaos. Soldiers were frantically running around, grabbing any weapons they could find, as they readied themselves for what appeared to be an oncoming attack.
“Vin!” I bellowed into the air as I stalked around the madness, dodging males as they ran past, ignoring me. “Where the fuck is Vincent?!”
“Captain,” a voice called, and I whipped around to see one of our younger recruits, William Carter, standing before me, still covered in gore stains from the night prior.
“William, where is Vincent?” I howled at him as more soldiers slammed into us from each side, their shouts filling the air.
