Page 83 of Fated for his Flame

More than a handful of his house members shifted uncomfortably at that boast. The palace guard was not a force to be trifled with, and Seth had already attacked them. He was coming unhinged, and they were starting to see it.

“And how many of you are willing to die for that cause?” I asked the room as a whole. “The guards outnumber you. They’ll come back with more if you kill them. Many more. You can’t honestly expect to kill Vicek and just be left in peace, can you? She will hunt you down. All of you. She will revisit her pain on you thousandfold. For what? For this maniac? It’s not worth it, and you know it.”

“Shut up!” Seth screamed. “Just shut up! This house is mine. They follow my orders. Not yours. Now kill him!”

Nobody moved.

“I said kill him!” Seth shrieked, pushing some of his nearest supporters toward our little group.

When one of them hesitated, Seth reached up from behind him and slit his throat.

The room watched in silence as the murdered shifter grasped at his throat, the wound too much even for dragon healing. Blood poured forth, spilling across the tiles, coating them in red.

“This is what happens when you disobey me!” Seth howled as the dead man collapsed. “Now, kill them all!”

Slowly, the mass of shifters came at us. We might kill them. If they didn’t try, Seth would.

“Coward!” I shouted as Seth watched. “Sending them to do your dirty work. Are you too afraid to face me on your own? Your father had the guts to do that, at least. Now, there was a proper leader of a house.”

The advance stopped. Everyone looked nervously at each other and then Seth and me.

Seth saw my ploy was working, and he finally snapped and began screaming nonsense about how he was the true house leader, none could stand up to him, and more.

“Listen,” I said, turning halfway to look at Chloe. “Whatever happens, and whatever you did or didn’t do, know I care about you. A lot. It might be stupid of me, you might be a really, really good spy. But that doesn’t matter to me. When this is over, we’re going to talk about everything. And you’re going to tell me it all. And I’m going to listen. Okay?”

“Okay,” she agreed, licking her lips nervously.

I turned to go deal with Seth, but a tug on my arm stopped me. It was Chloe again, but now she had tears in her eyes.

“I didn’t betray you,” she sobbed. “I didn’t tell them anything. They told me to not bother coming back again until I had something, or they would toss me in jail. I’m so sorry, Silas. I should have told you. I—”

For once, I beat my dragon to the punch and kissed her before it even could growl at me. She inhaled in surprise but flung her arms around me wildly.

I pulled back at a cough from Caleb just as Seth’s screaming took on a fever pitch.

“I love you,” I said. “I should have told you that, too.”

“I love you, too,” she said, swiping at some tears. “It’s crazy. I should know better. But I do. Oh, I do, Silas. I love you so much.”

“You’re going to be mine until the end. No matter what my father or anyone else says. Nobody will stop me or take you away from me ever again,” I snarled.

“He’s coming,” Caleb said calmly.

I turned away from the only woman who mattered to me and watched warily as Seth launched himself at me, knife still in hand.

Walking confidently, I closed the distance as he swung the knife wildly. I slipped to the side, punching him in the ribs, then the kidney as I stood straight, facing back the way I’d come. Seth hunched over slightly, favoring his side but still holding onto the knife.

“Come on, show your house how good you are,” I taunted, beckoning him with a finger.

Seth stormed after me, but that time, he was a little more cautious. A little wiser. His sanity was reasserting itself. For the moment.

The next two knife blows were much faster and more precise. I leaped back from the first and then twisted aside from the second, grunting as the tip sliced my shirt and the top layer of skin just under my armpit.

Grinning as he saw droplets of blood fly off the blade, Seth continued to advance. I retreated, watching his attacks. Waiting for an opening.

Impatiently, he swung hard at me. Too had. His arm ended up too far out of position, and I chopped down at it as hard as I could.

The blow hit him perfectly in the elbow. His arm dropped, numbed, and the knife hit the floor. Panic flared in his eyes a second before my follow-up punch crunched into his throat, a flat-bladed attack that had him gasping for air.

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