Page 238 of Kneel Before Me

Silence fell. Caspen could feel Apollo pushing against his mind, but he did not let him in. Could it be true? Was his connection to Harmony making him weak? For years you have ranked first, and for years Kora has refused to pass power to you. Do you not question why? He was right; it was strange that Bastian had retained the kingship for so long. Even with the blood bond, it should have been passed to Caspen by now. But that did not mean he could end things with Harmony. She had a hold on him; he could not let her go.

Even if he wished he could.

“The next time I give you an order,” Bastian whispered with terrifying finality. “I expect you to obey it.”

Apollo’s frown deepened. “What do you mean?”

“You will both end your dalliance with Harmony,” he growled. “Or I will end it for you.”

With that, their father swept away. Apollo turned to Caspen immediately.

“What the hell has gotten into him?”

Caspen just shook his head. As the eldest, it was Caspen’s job to shield Apollo from such matters. He could not tell Apollo the full extent of their father’s mania; he did not want to worry his brother. Instead he turned to leave.

“Where are you going?”

Caspen did not slow down, did not turn back.

“To do what needs to be done.”

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

Daphne

Kronos,” Daphne murmured, their lips inches apart, their bodies still intertwined on his bed. “What happens now?”

He sighed, his great shoulders rising and falling. They both knew her question was bigger than just what would happen next.

Daphne needed to know what was going to happen to them.

“You must win the competition, Daphne.”

“And after that?”

They’d never discussed a future together. Things were supposed to go a certain way: The prince would choose Daphne, and Kronos’s rank would rise as a result. But even if everything went perfectly to plan—even if Kora chose to pass the power to Kronos and Augustus called off the wedding, Maximus now wanted a wedding. Things were not as they had been.

“If I win the competition,” she continued quietly. “Maximus will expect me to marry him.”

Kronos frowned. “That is not what you told me before. You said that you and the prince have an arrangement.”

“He expects…more now,” she whispered.

Kronos clenched his jaw. “Then he is not a man of his word.”

Daphne had nothing to say to that. She didn’t think Maximus was a bad person—she knew he hadn’t gone back on his word maliciously. He was simply following his heart. Daphne was endeavoring to do the same.

“He cannot have more,” Kronos said. “He cannot have you.”

Something in his tone chilled Daphne. She hadn’t meant for the conversation to go in this direction—for him to get upset. It was a horrible contrast to the pleasure they had just shared.

“I don’t want to be with him,” she said as steadily as she could. “I want to be with you.”

Kronos met her eye. “You cannot understand how it feels to know he wants you the way I do. It aches, Daphne”—he pressed his palm against his chest, over the Y-shaped scar—“right here.”

Tears filled her eyes. Kronos had never expressed anything like that to her before. Daphne had assumed he was ambivalent—at a minimum tolerant—of her connection with Maximus. She thought he viewed her relationship with the prince as Daphne did: a means to an end.

“I only stayed with him for so long because you asked me to,” Daphne whispered. “I did it for you. For…us.”