AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Even as displeasure washed over me at the thought, I waved her off. “I agreed to them seeing each other. She has to convince him to reject her. He can’t be tied to her forever.”
And if she didn’t get him to end it amicably, it would only be a matter of time until the pup would give me an excuse to do so otherwise.
Ysa didn’t look convinced as she twisted her lips to the side and hummed. “And what do we tell people when the King of Blood and Beryl’s mate is off taking strolls into the woods with the shifter who also tried to claim her?”
Inside, I bristled at the notion. Outwardly, I shrugged. “They’re friends now. He accepts her rejection and they share memories of Fire and Fluorite. Friends take walks, don’t they? It’s harmless.”
She continued to stare out the window. “He bullied her and now they’re believed to be friends? Hmm.”
I gritted my teeth. “It’s her choice. If I take all of them from her, I’m no better than Mathis.”
Ysabeau sighed. “You’ve put yourself in a difficult position here. Does it bother you that she continues to spend time with him, knowing some of what went on?”
“Yes,” I said, waiting for the throbbing in my head to heal itself. “I’d rather throw him in the dungeons or cast him out for his father to deal with . . . but she doesn’t want that. I may dislike him, but he tortured her for years. Ultimately, it’s only right for her to choose what is done with him. Her heart is simply too good to make the choice she should.”
Ysabeau inhaled deeply, making a show of her mannerisms. It was a habit more than anything at this point, to breathe, to move. While not an original vampire, she was one of the closest things to it—something very few knew because she made it so. “And what happens if they get closer during this time they spend together as friends?” she asked in a falsely innocent tone.
My brows furrowed. I didn’t like what she was implying. At all.
The moment I’d seen Dannika at the commemoration, there’d been an unknown allure to her very being. A moment of charged electricity between us that I couldn’t quite place. A baser instinct would have said it had been purely physical. She was beautiful and fierce. There was no doubt about it. Even if I didn’t understand her reasoning, I still found myself in a strange position of awe and admiration for the way she refused to kill Markus. I certainly would have just ended his life. The way in which she’d stood up to her Alpha Supreme with such conviction and defiance . . . it was undeniably attractive. If ever I wanted to be tied down to someone, I’d want that level of fire within them.
But we were strictly business. That was what she was to me. What she was supposed to be.
So why did Ysabeau’s insinuation make my fists clench involuntarily?
“They won’t become more,” I said, my voice grave. “She doesn’t even want him as a friend.”
She turned to me, uncrossing one arm and pointing out the window. “Then I shouldn’t address this?” She cocked an eyebrow.
I flew to the window to see what she was talking about.
Dannika stood on a trail that led from the woods onto the main grounds a hundred yards away. Her back was to me, but I wouldn’t mistake that cascade of silver hair anywhere. Markus approached from the other side.
Ysa was wrong about them, and I looked at her, raising my eyebrows to question if this mattered. When she cleared her throat, angling her head back at the window, that was when I saw Markus’s face glowering over Danni’s as he stared down. Something in me clenched tightly, like a muscle coiled, ready to spring.
She flew backward. Her neck whipped, her temple slamming into the ground as she tried and failed to catch herself. The fury cleared from Markus’s face, replaced by false concern. He bent down, stroking Dannika’s hair with one hand, while the other cupped the side of her face.
Fire licked at my skin, a burning wrath wrapping itself around my body at what I’d just witnessed.
But what sent me into a rage was when I saw her lean into his touch.
He’d pushed her. He’d hurt her again, and she’d leaned into him.
Markus was fucking dead.
CHAPTER 11
Dannika
Words swirled in my mind. Words like Mother-in-law. Heir. Baby.
Those were very new concepts for me. Things I’d barely had time to consider.
Phrases shouted in response. What the fuck. This is insane. I can’t do this.
I thanked my lucky stars Elias hadn’t made me do another appearance since the throne room. No one except him and Ysa had witnessed my faux pas afterward. I had to expect more situations like that would occur. More bombs would get dropped on me. I needed to figure out how to roll with it.
I was to be a queen, that much was known. What did that entail exactly? I didn’t have answers. I’d have to sit down with Elias soon and ask some hard questions.
