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“But Mama…”
“The three of us can have tea when we return to Sollir this afternoon.”
Inez’s heart stuttered.Thisafternoon. She shouldn’t be surprised. Calanthe had what she wanted. Why stay any longer? The female always hated visiting Tertia. It was why she sent Rylec to govern the planet after all. The empress couldn’t send him any further from the throne without banishing him outright.
The trap around Inez was closer. She needed to act. Now.
Soriya waved as the nursemaid left the room, followed by the doctor. Inez didn’t glance at Calanthe’s guard. She didn’t want to be too obvious.
Calanthe stared back, assessing Inez. After a long moment, she pointed at her guard. “Out.”
The male didn’t question the order. He nodded obediently, dropped into a bow, and marched from the room.
The click of the door echoed like the shot of a gun through the now-empty chambers. Inez did her best not to jump. This was her chance.Heronly chance.
Calanthe approached with the lazy prowl of a predator. Was the empress expecting a fight? Possibly. Inez hadn’t held her tongue during tea. But Calanthe didn’t understand what she was capable of—as a person or as a mother.
“If I could change my magic, I’d be a mind reader,” she said. “What are you thinking, little dove?”
Inez could’ve spun a lie from nothing, but she didn’t want to lie anymore. She stayed seated, waiting, watching, and told a truth. “I’m worried.”
Calanthe leaned against the post at the end of the bed. “Do not fret, little dove. You are with child again. I wasn’t there when you were pregnant with Soriya, but the spies I had on my brother reported she brought you much joy. Once you birth our second child and hold them in your arms, you’ll be happy again.”
“Mysecond child.”
Calanthe’s kaleidoscope eyes narrowed. “Pardon?”
Inez kept her chin high. “My second child. This baby is mine and Rylec’s, just like Soriya. Not yours.”
The empress slid closer, within reach. Inez braced for the pain. Let Calanthe think she only had words as weapons. Agony zapped through her skin like a stab of hot iron. Inez bit down on her lip, holding in the scream—
Calanthe leaned away, breaking the connection. Inez slumped onto the cushion. “No. I won’t harm our baby. She’s too new. The pain may cause you to miscarry. I can’t have that.”
Inez managed a snort. “You can just summon Rylec to fuck me again, so why does it matter?”
A strange light entered Calanthe’s eyes. She leaned forward suddenly and cupped Inez’s cheek with a coo. “Oh, my dear Inez. I am powerful, but not even I can bring back the dead.”
Everything within Inez stopped.Not even she could bring back the dead…Her brain refused to process it.
Until it suddenly did. The world narrowed to Calanthe before her. “Excuse me?”
“I ordered Archlord Eliaz to execute Rylec. He’s committed high crimes against me one too many times. He’s my stepbrother, yes, but I can’t spare him again. What will my archlords think of me?” Calanthe’s hand trailed from Inez’s chin to neck, tracing lower, but she didn’t feel it. Didn’t see it. Her vision pulsed, not with fear, but with rage. “And therefore, I can’t hurt you, Inez. But I can punish you in other ways…”
Calanthe reached the end of Inez’s skirts and reached into the folds, her magic infecting her skin. Her nipples hardened. Inez dug her nails into her palm. No. Not again.Neveragain. Inez grabbed hold of that invading lust and twisted it. Desire was a primal urge, a shock of energy through the system, a flash of heat. If pain was the cousin to fear, then lust was the brother to anger.
Inez lashed out with a scream of rage. Her knee collided with Calanthe’s face before her foot shoved the empress off her.
The empress crashed to the floor. Inez didn’t wait for her to make her next move. She rolled across the bed and landed on her feet. If Calanthe yelled out and her guard entered, Inez would be in trouble. She couldn’t let this chance pass her by.
Inez focused on Rylec’s magic and pulled—
Calanthe jumped to her feet and spun out of the way.
Goddammit.
Calanthe spit out a glob of blood onto her once-stainless gold floors. “Now, now, little dove. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Seriously? Even after attacking her, Calanthe still didn’t believe she was a threat.
