Page 71 of The Sorrow of Shadows

I feel my anger rising that no one will explain what’s going on, but even more so at hearing what Aurelius did.

“You. Did. What?!” I grit out, turning my glare at Aurelius.

“Don’t look at me like that, Princess. I told you that you were mine and I was done pretending otherwise. The prince just needed that message as well.” He doesn’t even flinch under my gaze.

“We’ll circle back to why you found it necessary to broadcast my screams to the castle?—”

“Not the castle, just the prince here,” he interrupts to clarify.

“And why the fuck would he care?”

Neither of them says a word, their gazes locked in a battle of wills.

“To answer your earlier question—Ayden is a dream weaver,Breyla. He can manipulate and cast dreams, infiltrate them at will. He did it to fuck with you, to fuck with both of us.”

I turn my glare to Ayden. “Is that true?”

He winks at me and shrugs but says nothing. He’s still pinned to the wall, but he’s about to be on the receiving end of Aurelius's anger if I don’t do something.

I feel shadows creeping from my fingers, flaring with my anger. With great effort, I manage to wrestle them back. “Why would you do that?Howcould you do that? My mental shields are nearly impenetrable.”

“The how is simple—your shields mean nothing to me, love.”

I know I’ve lost control of the situation when Aurelius's fist lands on Ayden’s jaw, his head snapping back. “Stop calling her that.”

The crazy bastard lets out a laugh, like thepainmeans nothing.

“The why, darling, is much more interesting. Aurelius here needed to be reminded that you aren’t actually his.”

My stomach clenches in understanding of what he’s saying. The one thing I’ve struggled with the most since our first encounter—his betrothal to my mother. I open my mouth to speak, but Ayden beats me to it.

“Don’t worry, darling. I won’t be telling mommy dearest about your transgressions. But you’d do well to remember who you’re dealing with.”

There’s a thinly veiled threat in that statement, but there’s not much Aurelius or I can do in this situation.

Finally, Aurelius drops his hold on Ayden and steps back.

“Stay the fuck out of her dreams,” he demands and pulls me to him, kissing me deeply as if to show Ayden he’s wrong.

I stiffen in Aurelius's hold at Ayden’s next revelation. “In all fairness—Breyla was already having the dream; I just decided to make her partner more...interesting. It’s also worth noting that I didn't hear any complaints when she figured out it was me.”

“We’re done with this conversation,” I growl, resisting the urge to punch the prince.

As Aurelius pushes me from Ayden’s chambers, I hear him call out, “Oh, and Breyla?”

I stop mid-step and glance back at him but say nothing.

“You sound so beautiful when you come,” he purrs and winks at me one last time.

This time I’m the one pulling Aurelius back to my room, trying to keep him from killing the prince.

“What the fuck was that?” I demand as the door closes.

“You’ll need to be more specific.”

“Let’s start with, oh I don’t know, you dropping the sound shield as I screamed your name?!” I’m damn near shrieking by the time I finish.

He smirks. “Like I said,” he starts, backing me against the wall with a glint in his eyes, “I’m done pretending you aren’t mine. I just needed him to get the message.”

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