Page 130 of To Bleed A Kingdom

Glancing at my chest, Griffin's brows pinch, the same look he gives when scrutinizing someone's aura. “Didn't think so.” He inhales a deep breath through his nostrils, then turns and walks away, following the same path as Danya.

Grateful I can now drink in peace, I wave Trip down, but the little shit turns his back on me, ignoring me. Sucking on my teeth, I bend over the bar and grab the bottle of whiskey hidden beneath.

“You're a damn fool.”

“For fuck’s sake.” Plopping down on the stool, I scrub a hand over my face and throw a glare Kace’s way. “Not you too.”

“Yes, me.” Anger I've rarely seen from the fae reddens the sharp points of his ears and cheeks. “You were unnecessarily cruel to someone who has become a friend of mine. A friend to all of us.”

“Lena’s no friend of mine,” I grumble, swigging directly from the bottle.

“She is, you're just too blind to see it.” Brown eyes probing into me, he licks his lips, visibly calming himself before lowering his head and huddling beside me. “I know your mother said something to fuck with your head, but you need to snap out of it. If you don't,” he shakes his head, “you’re going to ruin the best thing that ever happened to you.”

“Piss off.” Dismissing him, I palm the neck of the bottle and swivel on my stool, seeing Lena has corralled a minstrel with a vielle to the floor with her dancing.

An arm snaps out into my line of sight. Kace rips the bottle away from me and takes a drink, slamming it back on the rail with a glare. “Immortality is a long time to live with regrets, brother.”Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he turns his back on me and strides off to join the others. My gaze trails behind him until it darts to Lena once he reaches her side.

Dropping her head back, Lena shuts her eyes and raises her arms above her head, swinging her hips to the strum of the vielle. So lost in the music, she takes no notice of anything happening around her. For instance, when a male with a lewd smile comes up behind her.

I rise from my stool on instinct, ready to tear off the hand reaching for her. But then Tristan grabs him by the back of the tunic and tosses him away. Another sidles up beside her. Zander slaps a hand to his chest and shoves him into the hearth. Even Kace and Aurora join in. Warding off male after male, they encircle her, orbiting around her in a ring of protection.

I don't know what it is about her that calls forth such loyalty. It doesn’t matter that they don't know anything about her. Not where she's from or who she is. There’s just something about her that demands blind devotion from every person she comes across.

I sweep my gaze over the tavern, seeing slackened jaws and feverish eyes. Males, females, women, men. Race and gender are inconsequential. They all stare at her as if she’s a goddess amongst mortals.

Fuck, I can’t see her like this, smiling and laughing while all her admirers watch on. Not when I can't be with her. Not when it takes everything in me not to drag her off the dance floor and sequester her away from the numerous probing eyes. Yet, as much as I want to rip all their eyes from their sockets, I’m no better than them. I can’t seem to tear my gaze from the gracefully divine creature no matter how hard I try.

You don't deserve her.

I knock back the rest of the bottle, not even savoring it on its fiery path down. Kace may think Adelphia fucked with my head, but he’s only partially right, because everything she said is the truth. Alura’s tits! I just can't wrap my mind around it. A savior. A savior of what? Of darkness? That would be a more apt title. Everything I touch turns to ash. It's in my blood, my Gifts. More often than not, it's in my thoughts. Fuck, it’s ingrained in the shadows marking the entirety of my back.

No, the Stars made a mistake when they chose me. I'm no savior. If anything, I'm an executioner.

Tristan strides in my direction, saying nothing as he slips into the spot beside me. Staring straight ahead, I ignore him, seeing only Lena. But I can still feel his eyes drilling a hole into the side of my face.

“They look ridiculous, don't they? A bunch of puppies begging for any scrap of her attention.” He chuckles, drawing my gaze to his. “This happens everywhere she goes. Males, young and old, human and immortal, all fall at her feet. She rarely takes notice, of course, and on the rare occasion that she does, they don't hold her attention for long.” Nursing his pint, he eyes me quizzically. “Except with you. I thought that was a good thing, but now I'm not so sure.”

His expression sobers, and his cheeks sharpen into an expression carved from ice. “I don't know what game you're playing with her.” Lips thinning, he jabs a finger in Lena’s direction. “But that female has lived through more horrors than you could ever dream of, and her life will continue to be difficult as long as she takes breath. She doesn't need anyone or anything adding to her struggles.”

Guilt nips at me, regret even more so, but I'm careful to keep my expression neutral. “You called her female.”

He shrugs. “Female, woman, makes no difference what she is, only who she is.” His gaze drifts towards Lena,a small smile tugging at his lips as he watches her and Zander walk out of the tavern, arm-in-arm. “She's the most loving, compassionate soul I know, and she deserves so much more than the shit life she's been given.” Smile slipping, he lifts his tankard, hesitating halfway towards his mouth as he turns to give me the same solemn, almost piteous look Kace gave me moments ago. “If you can't be that something more, if you truly hold no regard for her, then leave her be. The world would benefit from your sacrifice.”

He finishes off his pint and sets it down, jerking a nod to Aurora across the tavern as he tosses a few coppers on the counter. “They looked good together, didn't they?” Peeking at me out of the corner of his eye, his lips quirk. “Her and Zander?”

Any neutrality that may have remained instantly falls. “She said nothing’s ever happened between the two of them.”

“And she was telling the truth. But they both looked quite cozy.” Paying no mind to the rage no doubt etched into every line on my face, he retrieves his cloak from the stool beside me and slips it over his shoulders. “If I were you, Darius, I’d figure out what I want real quick. You can't fix what's broken if someone else already has.”

Chapter 28

Lena

“Do you want me to ask Lottie to set you up a bath?”

Stilling my hand within the trunk, I peek past the lid to give Zander a dry look. “You want to wake her up in the middle of the night to bring me up a bath?” I snort. “She’ll fill the tub with piss.”

“At least it’d be warm.” Sprawled across my bed, Zander sweeps his arms through the air as if conducting a symphony, commanding the glittering gold flames floating above in a dance with complex flicks of his wrists.

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