A Kingdom of Blood and Betrayal (Stars and Shadows #2)(15)

My fingers trembled as I watched the magic move around me, and I took a deep breath and sank beneath the water. I counted slowly, but it didn’t matter how long I managed to stay beneath the surface. Shame ran through me, chasing away the aftershocks of my pleasure.





CHAPTER 6





I wrapped the thick towel around my body and did my best to wring out my hair. My body was exhausted, my mind as well, and I wanted nothing more than to climb into my bed and sleep away the rest of the afternoon.

I wanted to sleep away the plague of thoughts about what I had just done.

I pulled the washroom door open, steam escaping with me, and I stopped short when Evren lifted his head to look at me.

He was sitting on my bed with his elbows resting on his knees and his head in his hands. He had dark circles under his eyes, his exhaustion making itself known, but I tried to not let my worry for him fester inside of me. I reminded myself of who he was, of what he was, and of the consequences his role had played in my life. It was the only way to protect myself, to protect my heart. I held on to my anger and fear as I imagined him sitting here in my room while I was on the other side of that door using my own fingers while thinking of him, of this man I should have feared above all else.

Oh gods. Had he heard me?

“What are you doing in here?” I looked back to the door, but it was fully shut, sealing the two of us off from everyone else.

“What would you have me do?” He ran his hands through his hair before letting them fall between his thighs.

“What?” I tightened my hold on my towel.

“You won’t leave this room. Mina says that you refuse to let anyone in. Gods know you don’t want me in here.” He glared up at me in frustration. “What. Would. You. Have. Me. Do?” Every word was a clear demand for answers.

“Let me go.”

“You are no prisoner here, princess, but I refuse to allow them to have you again. I cannot bear to watch my brother take from you against your will.”

“Like you?” I snapped.

“You begged me.”

“That was when I thought—”

“Thought what, princess?” he interrupted me before I could even form my thoughts. “That we were mates? You may hate me right now, but that doesn’t change the fact that you are my mate.”

“And Thalia?” My jealousy bled out even though I tried to force it down. “What about her?”

“What about Thalia?” He asked the question through clenched teeth.

“Is she simply your lover, or do you drink from her to take her power? You told me that you had never fed from another Starblessed before, but I guess everything between us was a lie.”

He was a prince split between two kingdoms. Of course, he lied.

A dark shadow passed over his face, and I could see the error of my words staring back at me. “Thalia has been with me since Gavril decided he was through with her. He took every bit of power he thought he could get from her, then he washed his hands. I brought her here without his knowledge.”

His words, that truth, it knocked the breath from my lungs. “She was his Starblessed?”

“She was his toy while he waited for you to come of age.”

Guilt slashed through me and ate at my gut. This woman, Thalia, she had been used in ways that I couldn’t even begin to imagine. Gavril had taken from me once, but the scars on Thalia’s arms…

“You saved her?”

“Thalia saved herself. She fought Gavril every step of the way, and I was just her way out.” He spoke in a low voice as his jaw clenched. “You could learn a lot from her. She has mastered the power that runs through her so she will never allow another to use her weakness against her again. I think Thalia could help you a lot while I’m away.”

I stared at him as I considered his words. Was that really what he wanted for me? For me to become unusable in a way that even he couldn’t force my hand? For me to become a weapon only I could wield?

“Thalia is one of my dearest friends. I would like for the two of you to become the same. Train with her.”

“No.” I shook my head. It didn’t matter what he said. It didn’t matter that he pointed out the similarities between us. She was a part of this court, and that meant I couldn’t trust her.

“Then marry me.”

I jolted back so harshly that I almost dropped my towel. Evren eyes tracked my movements with the precision of a hunter.

“What?” I shook my head as I tried to clear it. “I will never marry you, Evren.”

Thoughts of what might have been flooded me, but he wasn’t the man I once thought him to be. He was the blood prince, the sole heir to this kingdom that I still feared.

He grinned, but it didn’t meet his hollow eyes. “I’m not asking for you to love me, princess. I don’t even need you to accept that we are mates. But our marriage will protect our world.”

I didn’t believe a word that passed his lips. It was another manipulation, another play in his game.

“How? How is me marrying you anything more than your revenge?”

“A prince born of blood,” he began, and my gaze snapped to meet his.

“Another of power. One will defeat. One will cower. The rage of the stars burned in her skin. Without her fate his rule can’t begin.”