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The door swung open.
“All well, Lady?” Larsson stood in the doorway, his dark hair free and wild about his angled face. “My men thought they heard screaming, thought they heard someone attacking you.”
“The only one who’s attacked me thus far is you.” I pressed my back against the windowsill, slowly rising to my feet.
“Surely you know this isn’t exactly personal to you.” Larsson crowded me against the wall and stroked a fingertip down my cheek, laughing when I wrenched my face away.
My stomach twisted. “You won’t get to Erik.”
Larsson frowned. “Still lingering affection for him?”
“More than affection, you bastard.” I spat in his face.
Larsson lifted his arm, ready to strike, but stalled when I flinched. He sighed, the twist of a grin returned. He tilted my chin with his thumb. “You know, your blood serves more than one purpose. I thought the lotus trade would be our answer to heal the marks of the darkening.”
“Marks of your use of dark magic.”
“There are times when dark spells must be used against dark spells. You think it is natural for a kingdom to be warded against its true king? Thorvald used wicked spell casts to keep me out. I had no choice.”
What a creature he was. The sort who would never shoulder his own darkness. Erik was brutal, even wicked at times, but he never laid his cruelty at the feet of others. He bore it like a banner in his words and actions.
“House Skurk proved helpful for a time, pirating many crates of blooms to test, but Lucien had to get greedy.”
The skin on my arms prickled. “You arranged for Erik to kill him?”
Larsson chuckled. “Clever way to tie up loose ends, don’t you think? Fione finished off the rest of his brothers with a rather costly bottle of seaflower wine. Those sods didn’t even pause to consider the risks of an unmarked bottle before serving it at their next household feast.”
Lucien Skurk had been a vile creature, and knowing the pain he’d leveled on Skondell, I was glad Erik tortured him. But to think an entire hall of the Skurk household fell prey to Larsson’swhims caused my fingers to tremble at my sides. “You’re a wretch.”
“Consider me wounded,” he said with a heavy dose of irony. “Once I saw the mark of the House of Kings on your skin, I knew your blood would have the power to clear the blight and break the final ward over the blood crown.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You don’t need to. All you must know is that little bond with Bloodsinger was exactly what I needed.” He splayed one palm on the wall, caging me with his body. “Now that it’s over, I admit I rather like having you all to myself.”
“Don’t touch me.” I shoved back. The motion only caused him to laugh and press his body against me, forcing me to slide against the hard planes of muscle on his chest.
“A king can touch what he likes, Lady.”
“You should be so proud,” I gritted out. “Depending on spells and tricks to take a throne when it was given to Erik as a tiny boy. Who is the pathetic one?”
One step back, and Larsson’s palm clapped over my cheek. Pain lanced up my temple, down my throat, and a derisive snort followed. A mocking sort of laughter peeled from my chest despite the pain.
“You are weak,” I said, trying to steady my voice. “You caused the darkening, lost the ability to control it, and . . . and neededErik Bloodsingerto find the way to finish your entire scheme because your own father . . . never wanted you in his kingdom.”
“Shut.Up.” Larsson’s fists tightened at his sides.
“The crown of the Ever was never yours, and you know it,” I went on, my voice a near hiss. “Now, Erik will send you to the hells, then drag you back, all to return you with fewer limbs than before.”
Larsson hit me again. A show of a weak man when a bold woman stumped his stupid words. That was all he was, a weak man.
For a few breaths, he held my glare. Hatred burned like flames against a pitch night in his dark eyes. Then, slowly, his lips curved into a wretched grin that sent horrid pin pricks up my arms.
“Bloodsinger will lose his mind over you,” Larsson said. “He is rather possessive, isn’t he?”
With a mighty shove, he pinned my back to the wall again, knocking the air from my chest, and clapped a hand over my mouth.
Panic flooded like ice in my veins.
