AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Diana’s jaw clenches and her hands ball into fists at her sides.
For a moment, I’m afraid she’s going to do something rash—like rush Bane with her teeth bared and land herself back in a cage, or worse—but after a beat her fingers uncurl and she whispers, “Fine.” Gaze fixed on the ground, she crosses to the quilt and plops down between Bane and me.
I wish I could reach out and squeeze her knee or pat her arm, but that’s not my part to play. I’m supposed to be coming around to the plan Kelley allegedly supports, along with her mate—serving as a surrogate for her and Bane in exchange for my freedom and a generous pension once I’ve produced an heir.
“Thank you,” I murmur to Kelley as she dishes steaming, cheesy eggs onto my plate.
I reach for the plate of bacon, taking two pieces before handing it to Diana and accepting a bowl of fruit from Kelley who has settled in on my other side.
“So, what’s on the agenda for today?” I ask, eager to find time to slip away to the forest again to hunt for the source of the Maxim smell. “It’s gorgeous out there. It’s been so long since I’ve spent time in the woods. I’d forgotten how light it makes you feel.”
“That’s the perfect way to describe it,” Kelley says, smiling warmly at Bane as he offers her a jar of what looks like homemade strawberry jam. “Just light and free. Natural. The way things are supposed to be. I keep telling Bane we should make this a permanent retreat, a place we can return to every fall to celebrate the moment everything changed for our people.”
Bane reaches out, brushing my sister’s long, sun-streaked brown hair over her shoulder. “And I keep telling Kelley we have to win the war before we make plans to celebrate.”
“But we’re so close now,” Kelley says, spreading jam on her bread, the chunks of red the same color as the blood I spilled yesterday.
The two people I attacked are fine—Kelley said it only took a few moments to patch them up—but the memory is too fresh for me to feel comfortable with digging my knife into the sweet-smelling jar.
I wave the jam away with a tight smile and tuck into my eggs as Kelley adds, “Willow agreed to start the injections today. With a little luck, we could be ready to implant the embryos in a couple of weeks.”
My brows shoot up and I quickly swallow the food in my mouth. “Embryos? As in, more than one?”
“The doctor says it’s completely safe,” Kelley assures me. “And that way we’ll have a better chance of succeeding on the first try. Usually, it takes more than one round of IVF to achieve a pregnancy.”
I frown as I nod, hoping I’m doing a good job of pretending to be on board, but still a little torn.
It won’t be believable if I sign on to any of this too fast.
I glance up at Kelley from beneath my lashes, shifting my gaze to Bane—who is smiling, but still somehow manages to be completely terrifying—and then back to my sister. “And you promise, if I do this, once you have a healthy baby, I’ll be free to do as I please? I can go somewhere else and start a new life if I want.”
Kelley sobers. “If you want, yes, of course.”
“Of course,” Bane murmurs, less convincingly. But maybe he’s just busy making sure he avoids the grapes in the fruit salad or plotting ways to torture Diana for having bad manners or something.
Probably the latter.
I don’t have a hint of aura-seeing powers, but I swear I catch a glimpse of a dark, dangerous cloud surrounding Bane in my peripheral vision every now and then.
“But I hope by the time all that happens,” Kelley continues, “you’ll see how good things are and want to stay. Once Bane is king, everything is going to be so much better.” Her lips quirk. “And we do have quite a collection of frozen embryos. Though, of course, you’re under no obligation to be a surrogate for those children, unless you want to.” She reaches out, resting a light hand on Bane’s knee. “We just think it’s important that you carry our baby the first time.”
“It’s vital,” Bane agrees, glancing up from his meal, though he continues to put a serious dent in his eggs, toast, and bacon as he adds, “It will prove to everyone that Maxim is the Shadow King, and that the three of us are united against him. And helping us have the baby the prophecy foretold will make you a saint in the new world, Willow.” He offers a condescending smile that makes my skin feel like it’s being stroked with a cold, soggy washcloth. “Our people will worship you for centuries to come.”
I clear my throat and brush toast crumbs from my fingers. “Oh, well…I don’t need to be worshipped. Or want to be worshipped.” I glance Kelley’s way. “I just want to help my sister become a mother and then finally be free to call the shots for what comes next for my life. Growing up under Victor’s rule, I’ve never had that.”
“Of course. Understandable,” Bane says, demolishing his fruit salad in a few big bites.
The man definitely doesn’t waste time tasting his food.
Maybe evil numbs the taste buds or something so there’s no reason to take his time…
“Kelley struggles with that, too,” he continues, “being torn between obeying orders and wanting to chart her own course. But there can only be one Alpha. Shared power only confuses the people. Which reminds me…”
He moves so fast that by the time my gasp clears my throat, he’s already grabbed a fistful of Kelley’s hair, lifted her into the air, and dragged her over to the fireplace.
Where the hot coals are still blazing.
