Immortal Reign(29)

Lord Gareth fell to the floor by her feet in a growing pool of his own blood while Lucia and Gaius moved toward the exit.

Gaius wiped the bloody blade of his knife on a handkerchief. “I’ve wanted to do that since we were only children.”

“We will find Kurtis without him,” Lucia said calmly.

He eyed her. “You aren’t upset by what I just did?”

Did he expect her to feel the same horror of a small girl coming upon a dying cat left for her to find?

“If you hadn’t killed him,” Lucia said, “I would have.”

The look in the King of Blood’s gaze then as his daughter admitted her desire for murder wasn’t one of approval, she thought.

It held a whisper of regret.

“So the rumors about you are true,” he said solemnly.

She swallowed past the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat. “Most of them, I’m afraid.”

“Good.” He continued to hold her gaze when she wished she could look away. “Then be a demon, my beautiful daughter. Be whatever you need to be to put an end to the Kindred once and for all.”





CHAPTER 10


    CLEO


   AURANOS




Her childhood. Her family. Her hopes and dreams and wishes.

All were contained within these golden walls.

“If I pretend hard enough, I can almost believe that it’s all been a horrible nightmare.”

She said this aloud to Nerissa as her friend brushed the tangles out of her hair before the same mirror where she’d gotten ready for countless parties and banquets in the past.

The silver hilt of the brush only served as a painful reminder of a time when Magnus brushed her hair, uncertain whether such a strange act was befitting of a prince, but willing to try because she’d asked him to.

He’d loved her hair. She knew this because he’d never failed to mention how annoying it was that she wore it down, rather than pulled back from her face.

She’d learned to interpret Magnus’s particular way of speaking. He rarely said exactly what was on his mind.

But sometimes he did.

Sometimes, when it counted the most, he said exactly what was on his mind.

Nerissa placed the brush down on the vanity. “Do you want to pretend it’s all been a nightmare?”

“No,” she answered immediately.

“I am here for you, princess. Whatever you need.”

Cleo reached for her friend’s hand, squeezing it, wanting something to help anchor her here. “Thank you. Thank you . . . for everything you’ve done for me. But can you do me one huge favor?”

“Of course. What is it?”

“Call me Cleo.”

A smile touched Nerissa’s lips, and she nodded. “I can do that.” She turned Cleo’s hand over, studying the mark on her palm. “The lines haven’t changed since we left Paelsia.”

“I haven’t used the water magic again.”

Not since freezing the guard, she thought, shuddering at the memory.

“Have you tried?”

Cleo shook her head. “Amara thought I should try to control this magic, but I haven’t yet.” She was afraid to try, although she didn’t admit this aloud. “And the weather . . . I’m not even sure I’m responsible for that. Not consciously, anyway.”

Storms had followed them from Paelsia, sudden downpours of rain that seemed to correspond to Cleo’s darker moments of grief.

“What about Taran?” Nerissa asked. “The lines spreading from his air magic marking are more extensive than yours. They’re all the way up his right arm now.”

Cleo’s gaze snapped to hers. “Really?”

Nerissa nodded. “His air magic saved Felix’s life, but after that . . . I don’t know if he’s been trying to control it. Enzo is worried about him. He’s worried about you too.”

Cleo wanted to focus on something else, anything else. “Is Enzo worried about you?”

Nerissa gave her a small smile. “Constantly. He’s the jealous type, I’m afraid.”

“He’s in love.”

“That would make only one of us, unfortunately.” She sighed. “He was fun in the beginning, but now he wants something from me that I don’t think I can give him.” She visibly grimaced. “Commitment.”

“Perish the thought.” Cleo very nearly laughed out loud at that. “So you’re saying that you’re not ready to get married and have a dozen babies with him.”

“That would be putting it mildly,” Nerissa replied. “No, unfortunately there’s someone else on my mind lately. Someone I’ve come to care about more than I’d like.”

Such talk, despite what it meant for poor Enzo, had helped to brighten Cleo’s dark mood. It reminded her of a simpler time when she gossiped with her sister about the love lives of their circle of friends.

“Who?” Cleo asked. “Do I know him?”

Nerissa’s smile grew. “Why do you assume it’s a him?”

“Oh.” Cleo’s eyes widened. “Well, that’s certainly a good question, isn’t it? Why would I assume such a thing?”

“I’ve found in my life that love and attraction can take many forms. And if one is open to unexpected possibilities, there are no boundaries.”