Page 25 of King of Fire and Flames

He sighed. “Your faith in me was always a fragile thing.”

“So what’s your answer? This time, don’t speak in riddles.”

“In truth, I’m so fucking mad right now, I don’t care what you believe.”

“Oh, I promise you’ll care one day,” I said. “When I decide to make you pay.”

Chapter 8

Leaf

His glittering lashes dropped, and he closed his eyes for three ragged beats of my heart, drawing a sharp breath as he opened them. “Take care what you say, Leaf,” he whispered, barely moving his lips. “I’m sure the Fire Court has ways to discern our words.”

Leaf.

Did he have no shame? How dared he address me by the pet name that was once all I possessed. The identity he gave me before he sold me to the Sun Realm.

“That’s fine,” I hissed. “I’ll happily stop speaking. I have no desire to talk to a betrayer. Also, I forbid you from calling me by the ridiculous name you gave to a slave. I am not that lost girl anymore. I know who I am. Prisoner or not, one day, I’ll wear the crown of my ancestors. So from this night onward, to you, my name shall be Vengeance. Or Heart Stopper. Take your pick. Both have a lovely ring to them.”

“I think I’ll stick with Zali. Or Princess, if I must.”

“Still irks you, doesn’t it? My royal status.”

He sighed through gritted teeth, his breath rustling my hair. “It saddens me how little you know me.”

“That’s true. I don’t know you at all. I never did, because while you were selling me to the highest bidder, like a love-sick fool, I was rushing to your bed when Esen captured me.”

His steps faltered. “You were what?” His golden skin blanched, and he spun us around the dance floor at an alarming pace, my hair streaming behind me and his wings spread out like sails. “Esen arrested you?”

“Under your name, of course.”

His lips formed a thin line, a storm flashing in his eyes. “There’s your fucking betrayer, then. It’s Esen, not me.”

A combination of fury and doubt washed over me. I shrugged a shoulder, feigning indifference. “No matter how Esen altered your plans by interrupting my travels, the result is the same. Here I am in the Sun Realm, property of King Azarn, just as you wanted.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Oh, yes. That’s exactly what I wanted. Of course I longed to see you enslaved again. How could you possibly think that I—”

“Still, I would bet my life you can’t bear to see another man take what was once yours, even if you don’t want it anymore.”

Rage sparked in his gaze, followed by an unhinged emotion that made me flinch away from him.

“That’s right, human. Even after everything you’ve said tonight, I’d love nothing more than to bend you over that banquet table and fuck the insolence out of you, and I wouldn’t give a damn who witnessed it.”

My entire body flashed hot. Then ice cold.

“Wish for it all you like, King of Slaves, but I will never ever lie beneath you again.”

His lips quirked at my insult. “Never is a long time, Princess of Little Faith. A lot can happen between now and the end of time.”

I shrugged. “Well, at least you still have one devotee here in Taln. The dead girl, Ruhh. Killed her, did you? Tell me how and why.”

“Wouldn’t you love to know. What will you give me for the tale of it?”

“I don’t need to hear it that badly. I already know enough disgusting things about you to curdle my stomach until I die.”

He leaned close and whispered against my lips. “Do you now?”

“Yes. And as I said, you sicken me.”

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