A Kingdom of Venom and Vows (Stars and Shadows #3)(36)

I smiled at my father as I took the seat next to him, and the light in his eyes soothed something in me.

“Welcome home.” I was caught off guard by the sound of Queen Veda’s voice, but I gave her a tight smile as Evren wrapped his hand around my knee under the table and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Thank you.” I nodded in her direction, and Evren slid a plate of food in front of me.

“We have much to discuss.” The queen wiped her mouth with her napkin, and I tensed. “There is so much to come.”

“Not this morning,” Evren practically growled from beside me.

“We don’t have time to spare.” His mother seemed clueless to the way Evren’s body had tensed and his gaze darkened.

“Adara just got home after being in that hell of a kingdom, and she just got her father back after not having him for almost two decades. I think we have plenty of time to spare before you demand more of my mate.”

“It’s okay.” I gave him a tight smile even though the last thing I wanted was to talk to his mother about anything, let alone the consequences we all knew we were about to face. I just wanted to bury my head a bit longer. I wanted to bury myself in the safety of Evren and pretend like everything outside of him and I didn’t exist. “We can discuss whatever we need to.”

The queen looked between Evren and me before her gaze finally settled on me. “With Queen Kaida dead, the fae kingdom is likely to bring the war to us much faster than any of us suspect.”

I straightened, my back rigid, as she mentioned Queen Kaida’s death so easily as if it hadn’t been my hand to stab the blade into her chest. Guilt clawed at my stomach, eating away at the calmness Evren had given me, and I couldn’t stop the way my heart hammered in my chest.

“Queen Kaida’s death would have come sooner or later.” Thalia looked at the queen, and her voice was stern. “If it wasn’t by Adara’s hand, it would have been mine. Let them bring the war. I will protect Adara and this kingdom no matter the cost.”

Thalia looked at me, and there was such an intensity in her gaze. “It is my greatest honor to call you my friend.”

I swallowed hard, emotion clogging my throat, and Evren squeezed my knee. “As it is mine.” I barely managed to choke out the words as I nodded toward her.

My father smiled up at me, and my chest warmed until the queen spoke again.

“Regardless, it will make them move faster. We don’t know the extent of the power Gavril possesses. What he’s capable of.”

“Death magic.” I reached forward and grabbed my cup of water. “Eletta told me of his mate.”

“You saw her?” Sorin asked, and my father stiffened beside me.

“No.” I shook my head, and there was a part of me that felt guilty for never trying to find her. “I assumed he had already killed her.”

“They kept her in the cell beside me.” My father cleared his throat, and I stared down at his trembling hands. “Gavril would take from her until she was on the brink of death to gain his power, but he always stopped. I think he was saving the poor girl’s life until he needed her most.”

Sorin’s words from the palace haunted me.

The girl is gone too.

“He took her when he escaped.”

It wasn’t a question, but Sorin still nodded his head at me. “There was fresh blood in her cell, but Leda was gone.”

Leda.

I hadn’t even considered her name. It hadn’t occurred to me that he could have been torturing her the entire time I was in his palace. “Gavril kept me in his room.”

Evren went rigid beside me, but I continued.

“He left me alone in there most of the time, but sometimes when he’d crawl into the bed at night, his mouth and hands would carry traces of blood.”

Evren’s hands tightened into fists, and his black magic rolled out of his fingers and gently around his wrists. He was still in control but just barely. His anger was palpable, and it was eating away at him.

“He was feeding from her still?” Sorin looked carefully between Evren and me.

“I don’t know.” I shook my head and pressed my hand to Evren’s thigh. “I never saw him take from anyone other than me.”

Sorin and Thalia looked back and forth at one another, and Jorah leaned forward. “I read in one of the old texts that he must kill her to gain full control of the death magic. If she’s still alive, then the magic he’s gaining is tearing at his soul. He’s caught in a limbo of the power and his mate.”

“Gavril will go to whatever end,” I told them. “He will not stop until he has me back at his side, as his queen, or he’s dead. Mate or not, he’s adamant that he needs me to fulfill the prophecy. He will not stop until he rules all.”

“Then we kill him,” Sorin said it as if the answer was that simple.

“I don’t think it will be that easy.” I shook my head. “I don’t know the extent of his power, but I know that he’ll use everything he has against us.”

Everyone was quiet for a moment before the queen asked, “How many times did he feed from you?”

“Twice that I remember. The second time was worse than the first. He took too much, and my body rejected his magic. I hardly had control of my mind.”