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I raised my voice even more. “You... you had a chance to pass the Ancient Magic to Darnell if he won - to his futureaima. You truly could have given the people back the magic in this generation. But you sacrificed him instead!” I knew it was pointless to ask this psychopath to make sense, but I couldn’t stop myself. I would never have put myself - my people - through this whole Trial debacle if I hadn’t wanted to give the Ancient Magic back to Saori Sang.
I could have killed Merden so many times - so many delicious ways - if revenge was my only objective.
And she could have done the same, except she’d thrown it all away.
Merden sneered, dropping down from the dais and standing toe to toe with me. “Stupid, altruistic child.” She was inches from my face now, her voice pitched so only I could hear it. “I care nothing for the Ancient Magic, idiot girl. I have all thepower I need now, right at my bloodied fingertips, and giving the commoners more will only make them believe they are equals.”
No. She was wrong.
And time would show just how stupid she really was.
“We should all be equals in magic, Merden.Thatis the ancient tradition - not blood magic using our own people to fuel your ridiculous flexing of power,” I yelled, but she only cackled, still ignoring the growing number of eavesdropping vampires. They would spread the news of this conversation. I knew it. “The people will never follow you now.”
She clucked her tongue and shook her head, feigning sadness for me. “I think their choices are limited, my young niece. You’ll find nearly everyone will choose life over death. It is the most predictable thing about being alive. No matter how horrific it is, we still want it to last forever.”
I opened my mouth to argue more, but Kas had finally reached me, yanking me backward by my arms as he tossed a glare at Merden.
“It doesn’t do any good to argue with her, K. Come on. We have shit to discuss.”
“Yes, take her out of my sight. Commoner,” Merden added with a sneer, and Kas snarled but kept walking. I let him tug me out of the ballroom and down the hall, far away from Merden’s preening.
The hatred in me was bubbling over like bile in my throat. “She really needs to die, Kas.”
“Soon, princess. Soon,” he soothed, bundling me into my rooms, where Rush and Cade waited, with Luca and his silent bodyguard Vento already in the far corner.
“I’m just surprised the sacrifice even worked. I would have never believed Merden loved anyone other than herself,” Luca was saying.
“Regardless, it doesn’t change anything now that he’s dead,” Rush said, frustration lacing his voice.
“No, it doesn’t. Merden still dies by my hand, and we still revive the Ancient Magic for Saori Sang,” I said, gently shaking off Kassian’s hands and heading straight for Acadian.
“I need you,” I whispered up at him, hoping he was strong enough to give me the release I was suddenly starving for. I felt like otherwise I might explode and ruin everything.
Cade met my eyes with a similar hunger, the black bloodlust edging into the corners of his icy blue eyes.
“Give us a few hours, gentlemen,” Cade said to the others, smirking as he hauled me against him by the waist, grabbing at my ass over my leathers. “The lady has a song request.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
KANA
Cade pivoted me around him into the bedroom, kicking the door closed with a solid bang.
“On the bed, Special K,” he said, his voice rough with anticipation. I felt a surge of raw, reckless need deep in my core as I looked up at his tall frame. He’d recovered so much of his natural sun-kissed glow and strength - still slim, of course. But his white-blond hair had softened and now hung around his sharp cheekbones in the same carefree waves I remembered, like silk and sunlight.
And his icy blue eyes were bright as they fixed me in a predatory stare down. No longer the dull gray blue of a winter morning, they were like the water beneath the icy, swirling with promises of breathless struggle. Then they flooded solid black, and my breath hitched in anticipation.
“On. The. Bed.” He stalked toward me, and I realized I’d frozen before him, lost in his dangerous sort of beauty.
“I just can’t believe you’re really here,” I blurted, allowing him to tumble me down onto the blanket. He pushed my knees apart and towered over me, pressing a thumb over my bottom lip, then dragging it down my neck, between my breasts, and pausing right above where my clit was already aching for his touch.
“Guess I’ll have to prove it to you, then,” he said with a lopsided grin. Bending closer, he hauled his shirt over his head and tossed it to the side. Grasping both of my hands, he pressed my palms to his smooth, chilled skin. His bruising had healed,and his form was an inspiration of desire rather than a reminder of his violent past.
I slid my palms down his chest an inch at a time, relearning his slimmer body and remembering the angles and dips I’d always loved. He sucked in a breath through his teeth as I traced the hollow vee of his hips, sitting up a little to unfasten his pants and free his cock. It bounced out into my palm, thick and glistening with pre-cum on the tip.
“I want your mouth on me, Kana. It’s been ten fucking years since I had that, and I want it rough,” he growled, already thrusting against my wrapped fingers.
“Fuck my throat, Acadian,” I breathed, hungry for the edge of dominance he brought to the bedroom. I rarely submitted for any man, but the sweet pleasure of giving in to Cade had always been our special brand.
