Page 81 of Crown of Chaos

“Where the fuck did you hear that name?” he demanded, folding his arms over his chest while canting his head, waiting for my answer.

“Inside the house where the shifters found me, I was searching for Aden because he promised to bring me to my father when I was ready. I found Eva instead. She called me Aria Prometheus and said I was the daughter of the sun. I told her that if he wanted me to come meet him, then he would have to assure me that neither I nor Esme would be mated or harmed. She agreed.”

“You think you’re the daughter of the king of the Kingdom of Fire?” he asked carefully, slowly searching my face with something . . . worrisome in his expression? “You think you are the daughter of the king of Phoenixes?” His gaze slid over mine before he laughed. “Hecate filled Tirsynth with liquid gold, which solidified within him as it cooled, and she did it in front of the entire Nine Realms over a thousand years ago. So he cannot be your father. He’s a lifeless creature buried somewhere hidden within the Nine Realms. If Aurora somehow found him and managed to have enough power to release him—which we both know isn’t possible—then we’d all fucking know he was back by now. But you made a deal”—he scoffed—“with someone, so I’m sure whoever it was will honor it to the fullest letter of the agreement,” he stated with sarcasm dripping from his words. I winced as he stepped back and picked up the head before he turned back to me.

“If you want me, you can come and find me.”

“What if I can’t find you?” I questioned, watching the sinister smile playing on his lips. “What if you’re somewhere that I cannot reach when my time comes?”

“You are brilliant, and you’ll figure it out.” He laughed and gave me a shallow bow without dropping his gaze from mine. “You’re like me, Aria. It wouldn’t matter where you were. If I wanted you, I’d hunt you down and make you mine. I sure in the fuck wouldn’t care who was with you or where you were.”

My eyes lowered to the head he held, as if he were used to holding them. I swallowed hard against the fear flickering through my stomach. Because hewasused to it. “Will you hurt me? Is that your plan? To end my life as the others wish to do?”

“You’ll have to trust me and figure that answer out for yourself,” he whispered before his eyes slid down the gown I wore. He smirked, and then he left me standing alone in the library, wondering at his cryptic words.

Chapter Forty-One

Knox

I stared at the council, none of whom had been thrilled to hear about Celia’s betrayal and untimely demise. Not that I cared. After a time, I called for a recess and slipped from the room and toward the balcony overlooking the city of Laveran. The capital city of the Nine Realms, which I never spent a moment longer in than I’d needed to. The city was bustling with activity of every breed and type of creature imaginable. It was a sanctuary for all who made it here alive, minus witches. That was something that was changing now since Aurora had crowned herself as the throneless queen of witches.

From my vantage point, I could see the ships coming and leaving port. I’d agreed to that as well, allowing Liliana to talk me into opening trade from Norvalla into all other eight realms.

“She’s not out there,” Sabine stated, settling beside me to stare out over the evening lights.

“What the fuck do you want?” I asked, unhurriedly moving my gaze to hers.

“I think we both want the same thing, King Karnavious, but I might be wrong.” She sighed. “I want Aria to be protected, and I think you want that, too. I think we can help one another, so if that’s possible, I’m willing to swallow what little pride I have left, and ask you to assist me.”

“You proved she didn’t matter to you, Sabine. Or did you forget I was at that council dinner and saw exactly how swiftly you all turned your backs on her?”

“If I had left with her as I wanted, Aurora would have harmed my siblings. Aurora has my other sisters here. She brought them here before you forced us to return. If I don’t play her game, she’s promised to harm them, or worse, add them to her own grid to face off against her mother with their combined powers. You think she hasn’t been playing this game a lot longer than either of us or Aria has? There were sixteen of us. Amara, Reign, and Rhaghana are all gone. Lune and Aine are already with Hecate. Callista is now missing, and I fear she’s ended up with her as well. Add up the numbers and tell me if you don’t think she didn’t bring the others through when she herself allowed the barrier to splinter.”

“And I’m supposed to believe that you don’t want Aria dead because you are willing to admit that Aurora is conniving?” I probed, watching her expression for a lie. If I wasn’t certain this was a ploy, I’d tell her Aria had murdered Luna. The thing was, I didn’t trust her, and Aria was being accused of enough shit already.

Sabine was soft curves and sinfully made. Of course, she was a nymph. It stood to reason she had been created to lure the eye to her beauty. She didn’t house the fire Aria did or match her resolve. In Aria, you saw the strength the moment you looked at her. Sabine was the polar opposite, seeking a way to lure you into her beauty and seduce you. Aria didn’t give a fuck if you thought she was pretty because, if she couldn’t eat you or fuck you, then she had no use for your opinion of her. Where Aria would tilt her head when she’d finally worked out ten ways to end your life, Sabine’s lips curled, trying to draw attention to them so she could seal the deal with a kiss. Sabine took time and worked on her appearance, while Aria didn’t have a fuck to offer for clothing, but damn, when she did, it was a feast to look upon.

“No, but other than being unable to openly stand by her side, I haven’t given you any reason not to trust me. Aria isn’t my sister, but she’s the girl I raised from the time she was old enough to walk. I couldn’t stop Freya and Aurora from hurting her, but that doesn’t mean I think what they did was right. I failed her, Knox. I failed that girl so fucking hard that she won’t ever forgive me.” She paused and scrubbed a hand over her face. “I was the one who taught her loyalty was earned and to trust no one who hadn’t fought to earn it. I was the one who held her when she sobbed at night because she was terrified of Freya. Most of the time, it was me who helped heal her when she was wounded, not Aurora. Her life wasn’t easy back then, but I tried to show her she was wanted.”

“You witnessed them trying to murder her?” I asked carefully, wanting to remove her fucking head.

Aria had been an innocent child who hadn’t asked to be born. I knew what they had done to her, but Aria never spoke of it.

“I watched them torture her as an infant. Each time I would sneak outside and sing to her until her cries stopped, I would promise her that, one day, we would be strong enough to stop them. That we’d end their tyranny together,” she admitted, her eyes swimming with unshed tears. “It doesn’t matter. I failed her. We all have failed her,” she whispered, exhaling.

“It did matter to her.”

Her head shook, and she leaned closer to the railing. “Aurora’s going to ask the council for your crown. Not in the way you assume, but through marriage to one of us. It is why she took it away from Aria. She doesn’t want just Norvalla, Knox. She wants Laveran so she can take the crown of high queen.”

“You don’t think I already know what she wants?” I countered, studying the look in her eyes. She was hurting, which Lennox could scent through me. Her heart wasn’t racing with deception, and I hadn’t caught one lie in anything she’d told me. “I’m aware of what she wants, and she can’t have my crown.”

“Marry me,” she offered. “Marry me, Knox, and have Aria. I don’t want children or a husband. I never have. I want an open relationship that has no cage to hold me in. You would get her, and I’d be free. I’d never be your actual queen and would step aside to allow Aria that right.”

While her offer was unexpected, she wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know. I knew of Aurora’s need for power, and she’d been rather transparent about having set her sights on my throne. But I wasn’t sure if Sabine realized that, if I took her up on her offer, it would mean that Aurora would have to come for her head in order to claim the crown.

“If I marry anyone, it will be Aria, Sabine.” I snorted.

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me. “The council will do whatever she wants and give her whatever she demands because she told them she could consume the magic within Aria. She promised to use that magic against her mother, but you need that magic to wield against Hecate, too. Tell me you don’t.”

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