When Darkness Ends (Guardians of Eternity #12)(44)

He turned back with a frown. “What danger?”

“I’m not allowed to say.”

There was a silence, almost as if the prince was actually intrigued by her demand to stay. Then his expression was wiped clean, his inner thoughts hidden by his mask of royal superiority.

“I will not argue with you,” he informed her. “Either you return with me now or you can consider our marriage contract null and void.”

Fallon was stunned. She’d expected him to be angry. To even try to bully her into returning with him.

But never to end their contract.

He’d bartered for years with Sariel to earn the right to marry her. His House had spent a fortune to celebrate their coming union, gloating in their elevated social status and inscribing Fallon onto their family tree with Magnus’s blood.

They would be horrified to be publically demoted.

Of course, their humiliation would be nothing compared to hers. A woman who was jilted by her fiancé not only lost the protection of her lover, but her own family. It was the ultimate insult.

And all because she’d refused to obey his command?

Surely not even Magnus could be so cruel?

She studied his handsome face, noticing the way he refused to directly meet her gaze. He was hiding something from her. Something that was pushing him to cause this break between them.

But what?

She was the last princess that was unwed. There was no other female Chatri who could offer him more.

“You”—she licked her dry lips, wondering if this was just an empty threat—“wouldn’t do that.”

“The choice is yours.” There was no compromise. “Return with me now or risk becoming a pariah among your own people.”

Fallon hesitated.

She didn’t love this man. And the last thing she wanted was to be his wife. But the thought of being treated as an outcast for the rest of her life was horrifying.

Was she truly willing to sacrifice her position, her reputation, and her father’s respect to help a world that wasn’t her home?

For a heartbeat she wavered.

It would be so easy to give in to Magnus’s demands. She could return home and live the life that had been expected of her. No fuss, no muss.

And no happiness.

Or she could stay and risk losing everything.

Then she caught sight of Cyn standing as rigid as a statue in the doorway and her decision was made.

“No.”

The soft refusal hung in the air, seeming to pulse there before it shattered the fragile bond that had been forced between her and Magnus by a toxic combination of family and duty and pride.

The refusal captured the prince’s full attention. For a long moment he studied her pale face, something that might have been regret at last flaring through the cognac eyes.

“Fallon—”

“You heard her,” Cyn growled, moving to stand at Fallon’s side.

“Stay out of this, vampire,” Magnus snapped, angling his body so he could keep an eye on both Cyn and the King of Vampires who joined them in the hallway.

Cyn pulled back his lips to reveal his fangs. Not that he needed the lethal display. The icy flood of his power was already causing the floor to tremble beneath their feet.

“You have your answer. Now leave,” he told the prince.

Magnus held Fallon’s gaze, his expression unreadable. “You understand what this means?”

She did.

And it made her heart break.

Perhaps sensing her pain, Cyn stepped toward Magnus, his hands clenching as if he was considering the pleasure of punching the intruder.

“Time to leave, you pompous prick.”

“I am happy to leave.” Magnus offered a mocking bow, his gaze never leaving Fallon’s pale face. “Your father will no doubt wish to speak to you once he learns of your reckless disregard for his position. If nothing else, he will need you at his side when he publicly shuns you.”

Without warning, Styx had reached out to grab Magnus’s arm.

“Sariel isn’t going to know about this,” he warned, his expression grim. “At least not yet.”

Magnus gave a low hiss, his honey tinted skin glowing as he allowed his power to flow through his body.

“This is not your concern.”

“Tough,” Styx snarled, pointing a finger directly into the prince’s handsome face. “This is what’s going to happen. You’re taking me back to my lair and then you’re staying there with your mouth shut until the Oracles get their shit together and I can either kick you out or kill you.”

Magnus narrowed his gaze, but shockingly he kept his power firmly leashed. He didn’t even fight against the vampire’s grip.

Weird. Very weird.

“You are not my king,” he muttered.

“No, but I can promise you that Sariel won’t be pleased to discover you’ve made an enemy of the Commission,” Styx said. “Now let’s go.”

“This will not be forgotten.” Magnus lifted his hand, but instead of sending a bolt of energy toward the Anasso as Fallon dreaded, he instead formed a portal and led Styx into the opening.

“You owe me, amigo,” Styx warned Cyn before he abruptly disappeared with Magnus.

Cyn remained silent as Fallon took an instinctive step toward the spot where her fiancé had just disappeared.