AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No,” Ella says as Chaz and another male I can’t see yet both groan.
“Why exactly are we meeting this king?” Chaz asks.
“Because he’s the only one of the two who’d speak to a woman about something as sensitive and kingly as this,” Kya growls, causing my lips to twitch again.
Ella is looking in my direction already, as though she senses me for a change, and she stops walking when she sees me from the distance. Instantly, she dematerializes and lands in front of me as a dark shadow passes overhead—Darius off to relay this information to whoever he needs to.
Ella’s eyes follow the shadow, then her eyes come back and narrow on mine.
“What have you done, Slade?”
“Brokered a deal on your behalf,” I answer, smirking when she predictably fists her hands, already getting pissed.
“You had no right to broker any deal! Are you insane?” she snaps at me.
“Had as much right as you to broker an unsanctioned deal, Ella. And your plan to come in and dominate him was as well thought out as Dice’s wardrobe,” I tell her as the incubus creaks around in his leather.
“You really think I’d have learned my lesson the last time I had to sweat in leather, but in my defense, immortals don’t usually sweat,” the incubus rambles.
“You have no idea how well thought—” Her words stop, and she makes a sound of frustration. “This is crossing a line. What do you do when I’m not with you? Just sit around and close your eyes so you can watch my every move?” she shouts.
“Of course not,” I say dismissively, ignoring the others with her as I start guiding her back down the hill, walking so she can yell at me some more before I explain how this benefits her.
“I check in on occasion, see if there’s a conversation worth eavesdropping on, then usually I go right back to doing what I’m doing,” I tell her. “On the rare occasion you’re onto something worth listening to, I simply listen for about ten minutes until you veer off topic, then do something productive for twenty minutes and check in to see if you’re back on topic yet,” I add.
Someone finds that funny, since there’s a muffled snort of laughter. I glance over to see who, for the sake of curiosity. Damn it. I just made the incubus laugh.
This day is now hell.
Annoyed, I look back to see Ella just as she shoves hard at my chest, and my breath blows out in a harsh rush as I’m launched backwards.
Airborne, I flip, barely managing to land on my feet, and slide from the momentum. My eyes narrow on hers this time, because I sure as hell wasn’t expecting that, but that’ll do. I wanted her pissed.
“This was not your decision to make,” she snaps.
“It wasn’t yours either, but you planned to do it anyway, despite your parents’ orders. I met in the middle of weak and arrogant and brokered a deal that actually took.”
Her eyes glow brighter, the silver seeming to crawl in them as the wind starts to stir. Her ire is a little more intense than I planned for. I underestimated just how close those beasts really
are to the surface, but as long as she’s pissed, that’s all that matters.
“It’s not a bad deal, Ella. They get this land, they keep their titles, but they abide by Alyssa’s law, even though they won’t bow to her. And if anyone revolts because of it, they’re her allies—they’ll help her restore order. It’ll be a trifecta of bad decisions from any possible rebels, and they won’t have the support needed to ever succeed. Do you understand? The second king will contact you very shortly, and he’ll be less apprehensive about speaking to a woman when he feels like Darius is getting ambitious.”
“That’s more than I thought we’d talk them into,” Chaz says to her, like he’s trying to calm her down, but her eyes stay trained on me as the wind stirs harder.
“That’s not even the point,” Ella says, a tear hitting her cheek, her eyes not leaving mine as I try to figure out what the hell has a tear falling from her eyes, and also wondering why the hell it feels like someone is stabbing a knife in my chest.
“Then what is the point, Ella? Your beasts should be soothed by this win. They’re even with his dominance. I felt it. You’re supposed to be able to sense me, so sense this,” I tell her dismissively, provoking her.
I’m launched back again, this time slamming into the ground so hard dirt flies up. “You don’t even plan to stick around long enough for it to affect you!” she shouts when she’s suddenly ripping me up from the ground and shoving me against a tree so hard the tree cracks.
I let her, since I can’t bring myself to fight back, and I stare into her eyes as more of her tears start to fall.
“You don’t get to tell me what I can handle or can’t, because you decided centuries ago that I played no part in your decisions.” She shoves away from me, another tear falling from her eye. “You don’t get to play a part in mine when you’ve told me you’d rather die than face any future where you’re tethered to me!”
Her voice cracks, and she holds her hand up when Chaz tries to go to her. “I’m going to go take advantage of all the free space out here, and I’m going to shift.” Her eyes meet mine again. “Be gone before I return.”
I dematerialize and land back up in the spot where I met Darius, then immediately close my eyes to watch her.
