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Chapter Twelve
Zoei
Damn her for lookingso bloody innocentwhen she had the devil’s soul!
“I abhor violence,” Olympia stated, blinking up at me with wide, deceptively irreproachable eyes. “But I am trained, just as you are, to inflict the worst pain on those who threaten my lifeblood.”
“Just as I am,” I repeated, shoving her against the frivolous wall coverings. The sound of her head thudding against hard brick was much too satisfying. “I should be fucking offended that you believe to be my equal.”
A coward like her would never be my equal. Someone who lied straight to my face with niceties and sweetness, only to turn around to hire adamned assassin—
My thoughts trailed off, unable to capture the full extent of my outrage. It was a stark reminder of how trust, no matter how thin and brittle, could be weaponized. The scars of Olympia’s deception ran deep.
“I am,” she insisted, even as I watched her wince in pain. “In every way.”
A snarl crawled up my throat. “Delusion has always been your strong suit.”
“Zoei, stop—”
“Why, Olympia?” I demanded, shaking her by the collar. “Why order my death? Was your offer of peace between our kingdoms just a farce?”
“No, I would never—” she began, her voice rising with indignance.
“Or did you wish to lull me into a false sense of security?” I continued, fingers curling into fists on her tunic. “Did you think I would let my guard down so easily?”
“Zoei, I don’t know why you think I would ever do something so heinous, but I promise you,it wasn’t me.”
With that declaration, she put her weight against my grip, throwing me back with a surprising amount of strength. I stumbled backwards a step before shoving her into the wall again.
A growl resounded from my Alpha—a warning to stay put.
“You mean to tell me it was a coincidence that an assassin with an earth enchanter dagger was found in my chambers thevery same dayI opened the palace up to your deceitful clan?” My fingers tightened around her throat. “Is that what you’re trying to say, Olympia?”
I watched her eyes widen prettily in shock, the practiced expression bringing a burst of bile to my throat.
“It was a set-up—it must have been,” she insisted, breathing thinly.
A snarl curled my lip. Each word resonated with the sharpness of a knife.
“How veryconvenientfor you.”
She floundered, noiseless breaths puffing against my skin.
“It must have been a coincidence that I found you fleeing the palace at first light,” I continued, watching the way her lips parted and closed, like a fish out of water.
Good.I wanted her to be afraid—neededher to be afraid of what I had planned for her under the blade of my sword.
“I wasn’t fleeing,” she finally said. “We had an engagement with Boroville.”
“You expect me to believe that?” I demanded.
“I have no reason to lie,” she huffed.
“You haveeveryreason to lie!” I exploded.
She gulped, the satisfying noise masked by my roar.
“Zoei,” Olympia began reasonably. “You need to listen to what I’m saying.”
