AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Aw, hell no. Hot rage bubbled within me. Everything faded as I focused on the immediate threat. “Heat wave, frozen summer, get your hands off me.” I shoved him, refusing to let anyone manhandle me. The one time a foster dad had put his hands on me, I’d gotten a black eye, and I refused to let anything like that happen again.
Dallas stumbled back then regained his balance, but somehow, he didn’t remove his arm from my waist, opting to take me with him.
Between the jerking around and my three-inch heels, I lost my balance and tumbled into his chest, where he wrapped both arms around me. I waited for his dagger to poke me, but he must have moved it to protect my back.
“Get your hands off her!” Kieran bellowed. From the corner of my eye, I noticed blue magic pulsing from his fingers and icing the floor.
I didn’t need him fighting my battles for me. I had this one on my own.
I punched Dallas in the stomach, aiming for his gut … or where the gut was on a human.
Luckily, it had a similar impact because Dallas’s hold on me weakened, and he hunched over.
I shoved him away while he couldn’t fight me, and then I spun, coming face to face with a livid Orla.
Flames danced from her fingertips as she lifted them. “What do you think you’re doing? You just punched my husband and your king.”
“I don’t care if he’s Liam Hemsworth! No one manhandles me like that.” I needed to calm down and find my center. Stan had taught me that losing control gave the other person the advantage, but honestly, I was at my wits’ end. I was powerless here. I had no say in what I did, what I wore, what I ate or drank—hell, I didn’t even have a say in my own fucking name. They’d taken everything away from me, and the one person who’d made these awful feelings go away was plotting my demise. Add in the fact I’d failed to save Ginevra, and what was the point of playing along? None of it mattered. In the next trial, I’d die.
“Liam … Hemsworth?” Kieran tilted his head, his hands turning back to their normal paleness. “Who in the hot winter is that? Is that yet another man who has your affections?”
I was certain my head spun around several times, and I felt an otherworldly presence enter my body. I had to be possessed because I wanted to kill Kieran right then and there. “Are you slut shaming me?” He didn’t get to make women feel bad for having a healthy sexual appetite! Not that I had one since I was a virgin … but that didn’t matter!
“Slut shaming?” He placed his hands behind his head. “Are we speaking the same language? Because I’ll be honest. Sometimes, I wonder.”
“Let me make this very, very clear. It’s none of your business how many men I have affections for.” I wanted to flinch because, unfortunately, Kieran was the only one, but I had a point to prove. I placed my hands on my hips, ready to wield my dagger if it came to it. “If I want to sleep with every person here, that’s my prerogative. You don’t get to judge me.”
His eyes narrowed, and he scowled. “I won’t allow it.”
I laughed, but when I realized he was serious, the sound turned bitter. He truly believed he had a vote in my life. “It’s a good thing you aren’t my king and I don’t need your permission.”
“She’s right. You have no say in what any Summer Court member does.” Orla moved to my side, straightening her shoulders. “You’re growing too confident, King Kieran, especially when you’re as likely to die as any other competitor in the Comortas.”
“Is that a threat, Queen Orla?” Kieran said her name like the worst profanity available. “You only got to be queen because your sister died, and you?—”
“Stop,” I commanded, authority ringing through my voice. I’d channeled something raw and primal. He was trying to weaken my sister’s position, and I wouldn’t tolerate it. I had to protect her. “Tonight is about celebrating those who survived the first trial of the Comortas, not our two kingdoms fighting.” I turned, searching for the five High Court members who should’ve interfered with this conflict.
Quinley, Leanna, and Caden stood at the edge of the dance floor, frowning at me. Each one wore colors that reminded me of winter and shadows. Quinley in an ice-blue dress, Leanna in a strapless black gown, and Caden in a suit that complemented his sister’s dress.
Then there were Kaley and Eamon, who stood by the buffet of chocolates and spirits. Eamon lifted his glass, his suit almost the same color as his midnight-blue hair. I wasn’t sure if he approved of what I’d said or was thanking me for the show. I couldn’t read these people.
“Princess Alina’s right.” Moire’s short form slipped through the crowd, and she stepped onto the dance floor. She wore a long teal dress that brushed the ground, with purple embroidery on her bust reaching down around her waist. “We should dance and be merry.” She continued to weave through the crowd, moving to a song only she could hear. “Let’s dance the night away and celebrate those who lived and our friends who died.”
The way her cheeks flushed with excitement dissipated some of my anger. All eyes moved from us to her, and the music began once more.
Moire twirled her way to me and slipped her arm through mine. She leaned forward and whispered, “You’re with me.”
For some reason, I let her lead me away even though a large part of me wanted to stay behind with Kieran.
For the first time since I’d arrived in Talamh, I had fun. I stayed away from the spirits—because I’d learned my lesson that first night—and Moire and I danced. Unlike the other fae, she was kind and not as arrogant, and almost everyone here seemed to genuinely like her. There was something infectious about her, and I found myself warming to her.
“You and King Kieran always had a tense relationship.” Moire laughed as we ate chocolate near the buffet. “I never understood what happened between the two of you.”
I blew out a breath. Why was I not surprised? I’d felt something toward him from the start. Something intense and scary, but being with him and feeling his lips on mine had taken things further. “We’re enemies.” I shrugged. Even though I liked Moire, I didn’t trust most people.
“Yes, but the way you two circle one another … is odd.” Moire lifted a hand. “I’ve never seen anything like it in all my years.”
I blinked. “Should you be talking this way? How old are you?”
