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“Beggin’ your pardon, my lord,” she says to him. “I didn’t see you with the princess.”
“Obviously. Where’s the fucking incubus?”
She bristles, even though I think it’s to hide a terrified shudder. How does she know Slade? What has he done to her?
“He’s with my sisters,” she says again. “I promise to—”
“I’ve heard your promise already. We don’t have time to wait. There’s a war to return to.”
Her eyes come up and meet mine again, as though she sees me as her best option.
“I’ll give you a blood oath no harm will come to him. I wouldn’t make an enemy of the royal family, but the queen would allow his punishment. She has a sense of humor. So does Dice’s girlfriend.”
I…am so confused.
“You need to fix the land dispute, right?” she goes on hurriedly, like she thinks I’m hooked and now she’s reeling me in. “I can have them come to you, and you can handle—”
“You’ll give your blood oath to me, and you’ll handle the fucking land dispute yourself so the princess doesn’t have to stick around in a forest that has grown far more aggressive than my last visit,” Slade says, stepping in like the domineering asshole he is.
Her lip trembles, even as she tries to look unafraid. “Very well,” she answers without hesitation.
“You have four hours. Make it count. If the incubus isn’t back by then, I’ll come after you myself,” he adds.
She pales even more.
“Very well,” she answers hoarsely.
I’m too distracted to point out that I have more authority than Slade, because Slade lifts his finger, and a claw starts to grow. Something flames on the ground, a symbol of some sort.
Slade uses the tip of his claw to prick the tip of her index finger when she offers it to him. A single drop falls to his hand, and he lifts it to his lips and licks it.
Her eyes widen when mine do, because I’ve never seen a blood oath done this way.
“Tell me the truth, Polly.”
Her eyes dilate at his command, and my eyes narrow on him. This isn’t a blood oath. It’s a fucking—
“Did you know there was a Type A incubus in this forest?” he goes on, interrupting my thought.
“Absolutely not,” she says as her eyes round in confusion. “If I’d known, I would have alerted the royal family myself, and then my coven and I would have tried to kill him or weaken him before they arrived.”
Slade’s lips purse as he looks over at me. “She has no choice but to tell the truth, so she’s not lying.”
“You put her under a truth blood vow. That’s illegal,” I remind him.
“Yes. I know how diplomatic and politically correct you are,” he says on an exasperated breath. “Let’s skip to the part where you realize the damage is done. Ask her your questions, because the effects are very temporary.”
He turns and faces her again.
Polly looks to me as though she’s waiting. “What do you plan to do with Dice?” I groan.
“Cause him shame, since he can finally feel it,” she states flatly.
“O…kay… Because he broke up with you? Because that sounds extreme.”
She has no clue what a real monster ex is like if she’s this bent out of shape over—
“Several decades ago, he made me fall in love. Then he cheated on me with both of my sisters, and also charmed them enough to fall in love with him. I’m not seeking much. Just a bit of humiliation and shame, because he couldn’t feel shame before he had people in his life he truly cared about, aside from his psychotic mother.”
