Page 37 of War and his Queen

“Don’t look at me like that,” I blurt, forcing myself away from his trance and playing with the bracelet around my wrist.

His fingers come to my chin, forcing my face to his.

I hate it.

His merciless touch both stings and fills me with dread, but then his thumb skims my bottom lip. So dulcet. Like swallowing honey. I hate him in a way that only love can breed.

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?” I bend my head to the side, my heart beating so slow it almost flatlines.

He pauses a moment, and just when I think he’s not going to say anything, he says the words that leave a shudder down my spine. “Act like I didn’t want to fuck you the second you wrapped your legs around my waist.”

A tremor prickles over me but I manage to catch myself before I make it obvious. “But you didn’t.”

His hand slips from my chin and lands on my wrist. “Because I can’t.”

I shrug, forcing myself out of his grip. “So, I found someone who could.”

I leave my empty glass on the railing and him with his thoughts.

I swallow past the familiar whiskey on my way up to the platform. The same whiskey that most likely brought those memories to the surface. After then, we never spoke about it. Not once. I think in the back of my mind, he liked the idea that I was bluffing. That they knew we couldn’t fuck anyone in this town because everyone was too scared to.

“I kind of wish we were somewhere else right now.” The words leave my lips, but my eyes remain locked on the sky above.

I remember when I was a little girl, Dad told me the story of the Kings and the old tale that the Vitiosis elders believed in. Apparently, Vaden and Stella’s original founding mother was a witch.

I believed that.

“Bored?”

I lower down onto a chair, finding my brother directly opposite. The silence that beats between us is loud.

“You do know you have to be on your best behavior and that you can’t get into any more trouble this close to the ritual, right?”

Priest slowly lifts his bottle to his mouth. “We know. We just don’t care.”

Vaden’s absence is palpable, and when my eyes bounce around the group, they land on War without trying. He’s being more obvious as time goes on. The surreptitious eye contact and brushing of skin. I know it could be a problem going forward, but I’m not so sure Priest cares as much as he used to. It’s almost like he’s completely let go of the reins.

“I don’t have the patience tonight.” Mainly because I had to wake up this morning in my bed with no recollection of what happened on Perdita after I blacked out.

“You?” Priest mocks harshly.

The crowd has thinned out even more. Thank God. Whatever the boys are planning, I’m sure the less civilians are here, the better.

“What have you done, brother?”

“I’m not sure I want to tell you, little sis. You know…” He leans forward, resting his elbows on his thighs. “Since you’re such a daddy’s girl.”

My blood turns cold. “I might need a drink.”

I shove past Vaden who appears from nowhere, gliding down the steps and to where another group of people are standing.

I lean against the table with bottles of alcohol sprawled out, scanning the group closely. There’s us, and then there’s them. Whoevertheyare.

Five older guys are dressed in casual clothes, except for the bracelets around their wrists.

One of them shuffles closer to me, his head tilting to the side until his hair grazes the top of his shirt. “Halen?”

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