A Kingdom of Venom and Vows (Stars and Shadows #3)(17)

I jolted back, and he stood until he was crowding my space.

“But I suppose we should wait until we’re wed. Then I can show you exactly how you’re meant to feel when we consummate our marriage.”

“I’m not marrying you, Gavril.” I let out a heavy breath and wrapped my arms around myself.

He watched the movement, and for a moment, I thought he would pry them away.

“Our wedding is in a week.” He smiled at me like he imagined me in a white dress walking down the aisle to him. “It will be the wedding that seals the fate of our kingdom and a day to remember.”

I hated him. I hated the way he spoke of me like I was nothing more than a prize he planned to claim soon.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked quietly, but my anger burned on my tongue. “Is this about the prophecy?”

“I want you.” He said the words like they were nothing, but I felt them slice through me. “I want your magic you’re keeping from me. I want your body. I want your mind. I want you to look at me and never again think about my brother. I want him to be helpless against me.”

“That will never happen.” I started to shake my head, but he gripped the back of my head firmly in his hand and forced me to look up at him.

“By the time I’m finished with you, you won’t be able to remember his name, let alone any silly thoughts you have of him.”

“With your death magic?” I regretted the question as soon as it fell from my lips.

He didn’t answer me. Instead, he pulled me close and forced his lips against mine. His kiss was harsh and demanding, and I tried to turn away from him, but he gripped the back of my neck. He held me in place as I felt the warmth of his power run through me. It left my skin feeling cold and numb, but chill bumps rose all over my body.

Everything about his power felt wrong.

It felt otherworldly, and I tried again to pull away from him. His kiss fell away, but he didn’t loosen his grip. He pressed his forehead to mine, and his lips brushed against mine as he spoke. “Yes. With my death magic. But I think we should discuss your magic, Starblessed. Where is it?”

“I don’t know. Where is your mate?”

The red ring of power that I had seen before consumed his gaze, and the wrath that stared back at me instilled a fear in me unlike any I had ever felt before.

“You will not speak of my mate.”

“I want to leave.”

My voice shook as the words escaped me before I could stop them, and I was rewarded with Gavril stepping back. He took a deep breath before he spoke, and it was filled with the bitter scent of disappointment.

“You are never leaving this palace again, Starblessed.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “It seems that you’re tired, Adara. Maybe you should head back to our room for rest before meeting with my mother.”

“But I’m already here.” Queen Kaida’s voice sounded from behind me, and I turned quickly, giving my back to Gavril as I prepared myself to face her.

“Mother.” Gavril nodded his head to her almost in a bow and bile climbed up my throat at the sight.

“Leave us, Gavril.” The queen didn’t look at him as she spoke. Her gaze was settled directly on me. “Let us ladies speak alone.”

“Of course.” Gavril moved to my side, and I stiffened as he leaned down and pressed his lips to my cheek.

The queen watched his every move, and I watched her. I didn’t look away from her for a single moment.

The queen was as beautiful as her son, her body curved with an ageless grace.

She wore a dress made of silver, her hair cascading around her shoulders and down her back as it held her crown. The one she wore today was a delicate gold band that encircled her head with a red stone as its central piece.

Her lips were in a tight line and painted with a deep red, pomegranate, like the blood of people spilled.

How many lives had she ruined? How many lives had this queen destroyed with nothing more than an order that fell from her lips?

“Where is your power?” the queen asked as she watched me. There was no hesitation in her question. There was only one thing she wanted from me.

“I have no power.” I shrugged simply, but that did nothing but make a fire burn in her eyes.

She stepped closer to me, and I stepped back in turn. A smile crossed her lips at that. “I underestimated you, Starblessed. I thought you little more than a farm girl who we plucked from a field, but it seems you have much more fire in you than I would have thought.”

“I get it from my father.” I steeled my spine and watched as her eyes narrowed slightly. “Did you not see that same fire in him when you tortured him for the last two decades?”

“I rarely thought of your father, let alone saw him.” The queen laughed. “I am the queen of Citlali, do you really think I have time to be bothered with such people?”

“Yet you have time to be bothered with me?”

“You are to be the next queen,” she bit out, and that control that she held so tightly began to slip. “You are to be the most powerful queen the fae kingdom has ever seen. You and my son will be unstoppable.”

The queen’s gaze locked with mine, but I didn’t look away. Instead, I made sure she knew that I wasn’t afraid of her. “What is it that you want? You already have your kingdom. You are already queen.”