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The mention of his name caused my eyes to flare.
He’d seen Indy? Talked to him? My heart wrenched just thinking of him.
Was he okay? Were they keeping him near here? God, had they even let him live?
I glanced past the king, wondering if Indigo had come along with him. This crazy hope bloomed in my chest that he’d somehow convinced the king to let me go free. That damn man could convince anyone of anything. He’d convinced a unicorn to give him a ride on his back for days. And a mermaid to try out a kiss on ground-walkers. Hell, he’d convinced me to fall in love with him.
“Indigo?” Everett was saying in surprise, drawing me back to the present.
The king lifted an eyebrow. “Yes.” Then he hitched his chin my way as he glanced at Indigo’s uncle. “Were you not aware your nephew had mated himself to this one?”
“What?” Everett reared away from me as if I were contaminated. “No. I hadn’t heard.” Turning to look at me in appalled horror, he shook his head. “That’s a shame. And here, I’d had such high hopes for the boy.”
“Did you?” King Ignatius seemed amused, as if he didn’t believe a moment of Everett’s claim.
Indigo’s uncle bobbed his head stiffly. “I trust you punished him fittingly for such a betrayal.”
Smirking over some private amusement, the king answered, “Oh, there’s no doubt about that.” When I whimpered in worry, wondering what they’d done to Indigo, the king turned to smirk at me.
“That’s right, my dear,” he murmured, addressing me for the first time. “If you had any expectation that he’d follow his mark here to find you—that he’d come to save you—then you may squash them right now. Because I’ve made sure he can’t. He’s no longer able. You’ll never see your true love again.”
I hiccupped a sob and bit into the gag, straining against the pain that washed through me.
Had he killed Indigo, then? Was my true love dead?
The king hadn’t said as much, but what else could he mean? Nothing in the Outer Realms could keep Indigo from finding me through his mark unless he just wasn’t alive to feel it anymore.
My face heated as a rush of grief overwhelmed me. I began to weep.
Everett grabbed a chunk of my hair and pulled. “What did I tell you about crying, bitch?”
But the king fluttered out a hand. “Oh, go ahead and let her have a moment of mourning. She just lost her only hope for survival. Besides…” He tipped his head as he inspected me with a critical eye. “Tears look quite fetching on those soft, rounded cheeks, don’t you think?” Voice turning intimate, he pursed his lips. “She’s a little too comely to be a Graykey. Younger than I thought she’d be.” Then he sniffed. “Fuck, if I didn’t know what she was, I’d toss the chit in my harem and copulate with her on a weekly basis.”
As I narrowed my eyes, trying to tell him how vile and disgusting I found him to be, Everett snorted out a sound of amused agreement. “As would I, Your Majesty.”
King Ignatius picked up a piece of my hair, sneering at it. “Cut off these resplendent curls before getting started, won’t you, Everett? And mutilate her a little, if you wish. No Graykey deserves such a lovely package. It deceives us innocent folk into thinking there might be something other than pure evil inside them.”
Everett bowed. “As you wish, Your Majesty. I’ll take care of it personally.”
“Good.” The king nodded as he turned away from me, dismissing me completely. “And don’t worry, Teller. I remember our deal. If you conduct this procedure successfully, and we eradicate every Graykey from the Outer Realms, I’ll restore your kingdom back into your hands, letting you rule it as you see fit.”
Everett’s eyes lit up eagerly. “Thank you, Your Majesty.” He bowed again as he trailed the king toward the exit. “I will find success, I assure you.”
“See that you do,” King Ignatius intoned. “And keep me apprised with updates.”
Then he left the chambers, abandoning me alone with Indigo’s uncle as the rest of his entourage filed out behind him.
The moment the door closed, Everett turned slowly to face me, his face lit with relish. “Did you hear that, girl?” he asked, strolling toward a table with an assortment of jugs and containers on top. “You just became the key to making all my dreams come true. I can avenge the death of my son and get my kingdom back, all at the same time.” He picked up a jug in one hand and a rag in the other, then tipped the opening of the container onto the rag, soaking it with liquid. “And all I have to do is make you bleed.”
A maniacal laugh reverberated from his lungs as he set the jug down and started toward me, raising the wet rag as he came. “You know what’s going to make this even sweeter?” He grabbed my chin, holding my head in place.
The pungent aroma of whatever he’d soaked that rag with hit my nostrils, making me struggle against his hand. But he just held on tighter, bruising my flesh.
“The moment I get my crown back,” he confessed, leaning closer and whispering confidentially into my ear. “I’m going to build Teller’s army until we can invade High Cliff and knock that pretentious fuck, Ignatius, off his throne. Then I’m going to gut him in front of his people and take over his kingdom, just like his worthless ancestor did to mine.”
Then he slapped the rag over my nose.
The overwhelming smell made my eyes water and my throat close until there was no more.
