AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I needed to calm down, yet this male was testing my resolve. “Stop following me.”
“Isn’t it ironic how much more peaceful both of our lives might have been had you felt that way before now?” Behind me, Scion let out an exasperated sigh. “You are wandering deeper into the woods.”
“Good!”
“I can chase you all night if I have to,” he warned. “But it would be better for you if I don’t.”
“And why is that?” I snapped, annoyed that he’d managed to make me reply at all.
“Because you are already driving me to the point of near total insanity, and you do not want that, rebel. Trust me.”
I could have laughed.Iwas drivinghiminsane? “I don’t know what you expected, my lord,” I drawled, hatred dripping from my tone. “Most women don’t appreciate being kidnapped. I suppose I should think myself lucky I am not yet caged.”
His silence was telling.
“Think carefully, rebel,” he said after a moment. “There can be animosity between us or agreement, but the only person who stands to gain anything is you.”
I stopped walking, my entire body practically vibrating with anger as I spun to stare defiantly at him. He was making it impossible to calm down, and now, much to my dismay, sparks of heat had begun to travel down my arms, almost like spreading flames.
I could not, would not, let them erupt. Not only because I feared my bargain with the snake creature in the woods or because I was not sure of what might happen—was not sure if perhaps my mother’s warnings had meant more than I’d realized, and it was my fault that the afflicted attacked. No, it was more stubbornness than anything. Scion didn’t deserve my rage. He wasn’t allowed to win.
“I don’t understand you, my lord,” I said too quickly, leaving on the honorific out of habit. “Why would you want to spend any time with me, anyway? Let alone travel with me.”
There was deep irony in the fact that mere hours ago, I would have loved nothing more than to set off in search of Dullahan. I’d spent weeks looking for him myself. If only I’d realized I could have asked Bael about his cousin…but there was no fixing that now. Even for a chance to speak with Dullahan, I would never willingly spend time this close to Scion, especially alone.
“It isn’t about you,” the prince said bitterly. “The afflicted are too dangerous to be allowed to roam free for any reason. Thousands of people will die.”
Regardless of my anger, I was loath to admit that we agreed on that much. The threat of the afflicted was real, yet so was the threat of the male in front of me, and only one of those two had made it clear that they wished to personally see me dead.
If I was perfectly, entirely, without a doubt certain that it was me who summoned the afflicted, perhaps I would have said so, but was that the only option? Was it not possible that Ambrose Dullahan had something to do with it as well?
Was that denial? I wasn’t sure.
“Fine, if it’s so important, then let Bael take me to Inbetwixt.”
“We’re already here.”
“Semantics,” I replied, wondering if I truly sounded like Lady Aine or if it was only my fear of behaving like the Fae rising again.
Scion ran both hands through his inky hair, his silver rings glinting in the low light of the setting sun through the trees. “If it were possible to wait, I might agree to that, but Bael will not be free to speak with you, let alone travel, for several days at the very least.”
“Why?” I demanded, propping my hands on my hips.
He cocked his head at me. “If I tell you, will you cooperate?”
I sucked in a startled breath. He’d reached for the offer so readily that I had to wonder if it hadn’t been something he’d already been thinking of…in which case, he likely didn’t care much about the information, or else, thought I would eventually find out, regardless.
Or, perhaps, I was overthinking it.
I paused, biting my lip. I couldn’t imagine any way that a bargain with Prince Scion would benefit me, but then I thought back on Thalia’s words:“Cooperate with Scion, and I suspect he would give you anything.”
Was this what she meant?
“No,” I said after a moment. “I’d be a fool to agree to that, as Bael will tell me himself. Anyway, I don’t trust you.”
“A pity.” He scowled. “I would far prefer to make a bargain with you, but if you won’t agree, then I won’t feel a shred of guilt in forcing your hand.”
“Of course not. You never do when you cut down innocent people to meet your own ends.”
