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She stormed off, crunching through the forest, getting away from Prince Taveon as quickly as she could. She wasn’t actually going anywhere, not truly. She just needed time to breathe, time tothink.
She should have kept her mouth shut, but her anger had been building inside her chest for weeks. Every time he smiled at her. Every time he pretended to care. Every time he looked at her as though she meant more to him than she actually did. She was nothing to him. A pawn in some bigger game he wanted to play, one where the crown was more important than innocent humanlives.
He would make a good King. Because he was cruel enough to beone.
“Bree.” The Prince’s soft voice drifted into her ears, and the energy from his powerful body radiated intoher.
“Honestly, I don’t want to talk to you rightnow.”
“I can explain everything,” he said quietly. “Believe me, I understand how it looks, and I will admit that I have made some mistakes. But I canexplain.”
She loosed a breath, shaking her head. “Fine. Whatever. Say what you have tosay.”
“Something about you that day called to me. A magic deep within my gut. So, I brought you back with me. It felt like fate. And I do believe in finding another way for the Dark Fae to get their energy. I thought you were the way to do it. You are a Light Fae who understands humans because she was once a human herself. One with the ability to become the beast.” He took a deep breath and gave her a strained smile. “I will admit that I lied to get you to come with me because I thought you would refuse if you did not think the situation was dire. In truth, I see now that you likely would have come if I had been upfront, though I am still fairly certain Princess Norah would have never allowedit.”
Bree twisted to face him, heart pounding in her chest. “Then, why haven’t you done anything about the energy problem since I’ve come back here with you? Why is everything about the stupid battle and the stupid throne and the stupidcrown?”
“But I have, Bree. Rafferty has been training you, and he’s been looking into finding more shapeshifters like you. To form the Academy. To develop a method all together. I will admit that I have been distracted. My father has just died. The throne is up for grabs. If I do not seize control of it, someone else will. I cannot idly sit by. Because if I do not get the crown, none of this will matter. I can guarantee you that whoever takes it instead of me? They will not be concerned with the Tithe. They will want our world to continue on just as it alwayshas.”
Bree blinked at him, her heart racing. Dread pooled in her stomach, and every single bone within her felt as though it ached. He’d been wrong in lying to her. He’d been wrong in hiding the full truth. But she could see now why he had. And while she couldn’t forgive the lie, she could understandit.
Prince Taveon did care about the Tithe. As much as he’d acted as though he didn’t, he’d been doing things behind the scenes that she didn’t know about. He wanted to reform the Academy, to find more shapeshifters like Bree. All so they could solve the crises. All so they could stop any more innocent humans from dying in theprocess.
Maybe Taveon wasn’t the monster she’d painted him out to be. Maybe he was only trying to do what was right for them all, including thehumans.
And she’d been spying on him behind his back to the very fae who might be able to take himdown.
She needed to tell him, and she would. But she needed to speak to Lord Dagenfirst.
“Since we’re sharing information, I do have one more question for you. What happened toSeath?”
Prince Taveon frowned. “He was poisoned, as I suspected. By who, we do not know, though it appears to be the work of a fairly giftedassassin.”
Bree’s heart thumped hard. “An assassin? You mean, one likeFillan?”
Taveon went very quiet and still. “How do you know the nameFillan?”
So, Conlan and Branok hadn’t told the Prince about their run-in with her and Fillan at the ball. That was interesting. They didn’t seem like the gossiping type, but she would have guessed they’d share any information they had on Bree with Taveon.Unless...
Unlesstheywere the ones doing somethingwrong.
“I met him at the ball,” she said slowly. “Conlan and Branok saw him,too.”
She left out the part about the kiss. No need to mentionthat.
Prince Taveon’s frown deepened. “They did not mention that he had come. You are certain that you saw thisfae?”
“He was there. He spoke tome.”
And he did a hell of a lot more thanthat...
Taveon’s jaw rippled as he strode across the forest floor to tower over Bree. His eyes were dark and dangerous, his entire body tense. The look on his face made Bree’s breath catch in her throat, and her pulse begin to race. There was something strangely intimate about this intense, hushed conversation with Taveon. Electricity crackled between them, a sensation that caught Bree very much offguard.
“Listen to me, Bree. He is a dangerous fae, and he never lets anyone see him unless he means them harm.” He rested a hand on her shoulder, squeezing tight. Bree’s eyes locked on where his skin touched hers. “I know I warn you about Lord Dagen, but he is nothing compared to what Fillan is. If you ever see him again, get away as fast as you can. And then come to meimmediately.”
Bree swallowed hard and nodded. This protectiveness was so strange coming from Taveon. She’d gotten so used to expecting the worst from him. Punishment, prison cells, pain. She didn’t know quite how to react to him being almost...kind, though she knew she needed to remember that it didn’t mean anything more than what was on the surface. She was Taveon’s property, and he wanted to keep her safe for himself, not because hecared.
“Good. Now, let us go see what we can find from House Marlin. Perhaps they have some insight into what is happening in ourCourt.”
