Page 23 of Heart of the Villain

It was only a matter of time before the student became the teacher.

The hook was floating in the water, dangling by a bobber. All Lucius had to do was reach out and bite it. “And you plan on doing that how?”

Marlena adjusted Lucius’s lapel. His eyes watched her delicate hands before shooting back to Marlena’s siren-like gaze.

She could call him out to sea, but he would have to take the bait himself. “By taking them down from the inside. What better way to rid ourselves of both our problems at the same time than by doing so at the hands of the last person they’d expect?” Marlena raised her brow. That’s exactly what her parents were—a problem.

A problem she only saw one ending for.

All her life, Marlena had been overlooked. By everyone, but mostly by her parents. They’d paid attention to Vega more—to the power that simmered beneath her little sister’s skin. They didn’t pay attention to the anger and hatred growing in their eldest daughter’s heart.

She’d hid it well, and she would continue to hide it until the time was right. There was still much to do before Marlena made her strike. Her first order of business was to find the people who would fight behind her, people who were sick of being told what they could and could not do.

Lucius continued to study her. “And you think you’re strong enough to do that?”

Marlena straightened her spine, standing up to her full height. She wasn’t much shorter than the commander in her heels. “It’s not always about physical strength,” she mused. “I’m smart enough to do it… and at the end of the day, Commander, that’s what it all boils down to. You have the brawn, congratulations, but I? I have the brain.”

While everyone watched as Vega grew stronger, no one paid attention to how smart, how cunning Marlena was becoming or what she was studying when no one was looking.

She’d spent a lot of time being under the watchful eye while in public, assuring she didn’t do or say anything she shouldn’t… but no one watched when she was alone.

And when she was alone, Marlena had time to plot.

Her answer snagged him by his lip when he finally bit on the hook dangling out in the open. She already knew she had him hooked because she knew men like him. They just had to think they made decisions on their own.

“When are you making your move?” Lucius asked.

Taking a step back, Marlena began to roam around the room. She grazed her finger down the length of his desk, eyes landing on a map of Tolevarre so old she knew it was an original passed down through Fortis lineage. Lucius watched her every move.

“When the time is right.” She pointed to the map. “When we have enough allies to do this once, and only once.” People failed when they didn’t take their time. Marlena wouldn’t move too fast—she would do this right. “This is a long game, Lucius. We’re not overthrowing a multi-thousand-year-old government overnight. We aren’t doing it in a week, a month, and certainly not a year.” She leaned herself over the back of his chair, liking that the table had turned and she was on the other side. “We do this my way. Clearly, no one else that your ancestors have put their trust in succeeded. Mira Viator, for example. She messed up, got caught, and your family pointed a finger at her like she was working alone. Like Fortis and Fraus haven’t been in cahoots for hundreds of years trying to find new ways to crumble the very foundation our world was built on…”

His body froze at the mention of Mira. “Where did you get that information?”

Marlena’s smile grew wider. “It’s pretty easy to find what you’re looking for when you know where to look.” And I’ve been looking for years.

“If you’re so willing to backstab the very people who birthed you, who’s to say you won’t do it to the people willing to side with you?” he asked, stalling.

A slight shrug of her shoulder was answer enough, but she would elaborate if it was the nudge Lucius needed. “I guess that’s the risk you’ll have to weigh out yourself, but let me remind you that my parents were willing to strip me of the only opportunity they’d ever given me. They’ve never cared about me. They didn’t raise this daughter to love. They raised her to rule.”

There was a break of silence where the two stared at each other in a battle of who would crack first.

I’m done cracking.

Lucius broke. “What all is in it for me?”

“What do you want?” Marlena cooed, pushing herself off the back of the chair, then meandering around to position herself in front of him again.

There was barely any hesitation in his answer. “I want control of Fortis.” Commanders didn’t rule over their territories—they ran the army while another family member sat at the head of their seat. “I want a promise that my lineage, my son, will be the next commander of Tolevarre. He, as you were, was born to rule. Gifted by the gods to be stronger, better than anyone or anything before him.”

Rumor had it Lucius Dimico’s son, the one who had warned Marlena to stay away, was the strongest warrior their people had ever seen.

“That’s all?” she asked.

“Marriage. You said you’d never be reduced to the birthing heir, but what if I can offer you a connection to Fortis and Fraus? Forever.”

“I’m not interested in a three-way with you and your wife, I’m afraid,” Marlena jeered. She knew where he was getting at, but the words had to be delivered outright. He had to make his demands clear.

He boomed a laugh, vibrating Marlena’s insides. “While I won’t deny your beauty, Marlena, I’m not interested in getting myself tied up with whatever madness you have going on inside that head of yours.” He raised an eyebrow. “But my son, Bridger. A union with him would be a promise of power for years and years to come.”