Page 112 of Kneel Before Me

Constance flushed. Clearly his compliment flattered her. But it did not convince Maximus. He raised his eyebrows. “Are you…allowed to say that?” he asked.

Caspenon looked him straight in the eye. “I am allowed to say anything I wish.”

Maximus suppressed a shudder. The snake was intimidating him, and he did not like to be intimidated. “I make my own choices.”

A tenuous silence fell. Caspenon’s golden eyes bored into Maximus’s with scalding intensity. Maximus should look away, but the events of the evening had pushed him to his breaking point. The woman he truly wanted had a bond with someone else. And the woman he did not want at all was being foisted upon him by this snake. It was beyond what he could handle.

“We are done for tonight,” he said quietly yet firmly.

A muscle twitched in Caspenon’s jaw. He was truly a terrifying creature. But Maximus held his ground, determined not to yield.

Finally, the snake said, “Very well.” He grabbed Constance by the arm and marched from the room.

Immediately, Maximus downed the last of his wine. It barely helped the pounding of his heartbeat, which felt like a hammer in his chest. He couldn’t stop picturing how Kronos had looked at Daphne. Worse still was the way she’d look back at him. What confidences did they share? Had Daphne lied to Maximus about not wanting to have sex? Was she leading him along while fucking the snake on the side? Perhaps it wasn’t possible to resist the draw of the basilisk. They were known for the sexual prowess, after all. What chance did Daphne have against such power?

Maximus knew in his heart that there was more to their special glance than mere physical attraction. There was emotion there. Love, perhaps, although he was loath to admit it. The thought made him hurl his wineglass into the fire.

He needed to take action—to assert his dominance over Kronos in some way Daphne would recognize and respect. But that was a fruitless mission. She did not respect assertions of dominance. She only respected vulnerability and truth. One of her finer—if infuriating—qualities. He could not win through a show of force. No.

This would require planning and skill, things he had not had to put into practice for a long time. This would take effort and care. If he was going to win Daphne over—and save her from that snake—he was going to do it right. Force would be a last resort. He would use it only if he failed. Only then would he do what needed to be done.

Only then would he resort to violence.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Daphne

Kronos was across the ballroom by the time Daphne caught up to him.

She grabbed his arm, pulling him to a stop. “Where are you going?”

“Anywhere but here.”

“Please don’t leave me alone,” she pleaded. The thought of enduring the rest of this evening without him was unbearable.

“If I stay,” Kronos said deliberately, his voice low, “I am going to do something I regret.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you must let me go, Daphne. Right now.”

Daphne stared up at him. Smoke was curling from his shoulders. His eyes were turning black. The air smelled acrid; the torches on the walls began to dim. Every animal instinct screamed at her to run. “Are—are you about to—?”

“Let me go, Daphne.”

Daphne let him go, realizing only once they were no longer touching that his skin had been burning hot. She watched him stalk down the hallway, out the front door, and into the night. His feet left a trail of singed footprints on the floor.

Just then, someone grabbed her elbow. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Veronica.

“Nowhere,” Daphne said. “I was just…”

There was no acceptable answer—no way to put her experience into words. Daphne was worried. And panicked. And wishing everything were not so complicated. These were not things she could explain to the baker’s daughter.

“Well, get back in here,” Veronica insisted. “The prince is eliminating a girl tonight. There’s about to be a ceremony.”

Daphne didn’t give a damn. Still, she knew she had to stay. Maximus was angry at Kronos. He could retaliate by eliminating her. Kronos still needed her in this—still needed her to win. Would it be enough that Maximus wanted to sleep with her? If it wasn’t, tonight might be her last night in the competition. The thought filled her with dread. She hadn’t come this far just to lose now.