Page 8 of The Reign of Blood

Kryll takes a seat on the coffee table, offering a soft yet tight smile to his friend. “I’m going to assume you didn’t know about Queen Reagan.”

There it is. The elephant in the room. The surprise that knocked us all off our feet and has us not thinking clearly.

“You would assume right,” Cass bites back in response, his jaw ticking, and my eyes narrow.

“What did your father say?” He said something. I can see it in his eyes, and honesty is the only way forward.

He runs a hand through his hair as he subtly shakes his head. “He talked in circles. Even after openly admitting what he did to Addi, he?—”

“Adrianna,” I interject, immediately feeling three sets of eyes swing my way.

“What?”

“She’s royal. Her name is Adrianna, and that’s how she should be addressed.”

“I’ll call her whatever the fuck I want,” Cass snaps, and I shake my head in distaste.

“Your kingdom protocol is lacking.”

His eyebrows knit together in confusion. “My kingdom, what?”

I hold my hands up in disbelief. “You’re such a wolf.” The grumble falls effortlessly from my lips.

“Can we get back to the point?” he grunts in response, eyes wide, but his pupils are dilated.

“Fine, you were talking about Adrianna,” I prompt, making him heave a heavy sigh.

“He openly admitted to attackingAddibut declined to admit if he was a part of the kingdom’s demise. He also advised me that his control over the queen is entirely why The Council never gives him any pushback.”

“They know,” Kryll breathes, looking at Brody, and I follow his line of sight. His father sits on The Council. Does that meanheknew?

Fuck. This is getting messy, and I’m certain it’s only just begun.

“So he says,” Cass confirms, and I can’t deny that a piece of me sees the sense and logic behind it. His father gets away with far too much shit for him not to have something over the governing body of our kingdom.

“Anything else?” I ask, but the defeat that radiates from him confirms his answer before he even speaks.

“Nothing.”

I know he’s telling the truth, but I can’t help but push. Maybe it’s because I’m getting tired, or maybe it’s because of all the revelations Kenner unraveled tonight. “Do I need to check if you’re lying?”

As predicted, Cassian rears back like I’ve punched him in the face. “You’ve never had to question my loyalty before. Why now?”

“Because your father?—”

“Is no extension of me, just as each of your bloodlines are not extensions of you. That’s what we committed to one another when we made this pact. Is that changing?”

“No.”

He searches my eyes for a moment before rising to his feet. “Good. Now, where is she?”

I should have known he would want that piece of information sooner rather than later. “In her room.”

“Her room? You let her go?”

It’s my turn to frown at him in confusion this time. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“She lied,” he snarls, and I roll my eyes at his dramatics.

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