Page 14 of Bound By Roses

“I was entranced by her, though I know now that it was just the way she fucks with the minds of men.”

“Not men,” Aurelia says suddenly. I can’t even say I mind the interruption this time because if the information I have on Imelda’s powers is wrong, I need to know. “She is able to influence anyone attracted to women. Dragons are immune regardless, but some men are unaffected. Just as some women are affected. She is a risk to anyone who could be drawn to her sexually.”

I nod, so she knows I understand. That actually makes a lot more sense than it having to do with gender alone. Being able to influence minds already open to her is much more plausible.

“She got me down on the bed. I thought… Well, I think you know what I thought, but she never touched me. Unless you count driving her fingernails into me. I was paralyzed. I couldn’t even scream when she poured what felt like liquid fire down my throat.”

“Dragon blood,” she says, voice nearly a growl.

“Yes. It turned me into a beast and led me to mindlessly slaughter my father, brother, and more than half my kingdom. Since meeting Abby, I’ve learned to control the wolf inside andcan turn at will now. Or, at least, I could. I haven’t tried since the tether that tied he, Abby, and I together snapped.”

“That is why your bond returned. It was not true to begin with.” She turns to me and I’ve never seen her face so soft. “Thank you for being honest with me. Even if I do not deserve it.”

“Whether or not you deserve it is determined by your actions. Do I have any other family here? Please, tell me.”

She studies me for a long moment and then sighs. “Your sister is a seer, yes? She gets that from her grandmother. It is why I took your warning seriously when you arrived. If she inherited even a fraction of my mother’s power, she should not be ignored.”

“Is my grandmother…?”

“She was lost in the slaughtering.” Before I can respond, she adds, “I did not bring you here to fill in the branches of your family tree.”

Anger fills me again. “Then why?”

“Imelda did not come here for war. It was a demonstration of her power. A message to us.”

My brows crease together. “What message?”

“It does not matter. What matters is that this is not over. She will return, and when she does, it will not be to deliver a message. She will not stop until her son has plunged the world into darkness and all of us are dead. I tell you this away from your mate because you said you will obey her in all things. If she wants to fight, you will fight. I care not for you as a nephew. We are not family in anything more than blood, but in honour of that blood, I want to give you a chance to decide for yourself. If you do not want to risk your life and your mate’s life, leave this place. Take her away from here.”

At first, I’m too stunned to speak. I don’t know how long it takes me to recover, but when words finally pass through mylips, they’re barely audible. “You’re asking me if I want to run like my mother?”

Whatever softness was in Aurelia’s eyes has turned icy again. “Yes. Your parents chose freedom so that you and your siblings would survive. You can do the same. Leave. Abandon your crowns. Start a family and hope war does not find you.”

The words Evan had silently spoken to me through the veil flash back to me.‘Live for her.’

I shake my head. “When I first learned of my mother’s betrayal, I couldn’t understand it. Now I do. I want nothing more than for Abby to be safe, but I will never take the choice away from her. If she wants to leave, we’ll leave.”

“But you already know she will want to fight.” I can’t tell if she’s trying to protect me or if she just wants me gone.

I nod. “If I’m being honest, I don’t think I’m ready to leave this place either. I want to understand it and where I came from.” Even if the woman beside me wants no part in that.

“You may think me cold for not giving you the answers you seek, but just as you are not ready to leave this place, I am not ready to venture out of the fortress I have built around myself. There is a place you can go that holds much of our history. If you refuse to run, then when you are healed, I suggest you make the journey. By land it is tedious.”

I expected more of an argument than that. Perhaps she really doesn’t care whether I stay. “Is Erwyn going to murder me while I sleep?”

She rolls her eyes. “No. Though I suppose for that, I do owe you an apology. I wanted to warn you, but they returned early. He was supposed to be far out at sea, training Teagan in our ways. I should have known that, as our best hunter, he could not resist returning early with a kill.”

“Is that his role here? Hunter?” She may not want to fill in the gaps of my family history, but that doesn’t mean she can’t help me understand the ways of these people.

“We do not have roles in the way you are thinking, though if we did, I suppose he would be to us what your father once was to Lunae. The leader of our warriors. We had no need for such a thing before the slaughter. We were a peaceful people, only hunting in the sea for food. As the most skilled with a weapon, he took it upon himself to train those who survived to fight. He is not a wicked man. He treated your mother well and believed Evander to be his son. His world crumbled in more ways than one when she left us.”

“If your mother was a seer, how did she not know?”

Aurelia is quiet for a long moment. “Sometimes I wonder if she did.”

“Do you think she knew about me?” I don’t expect her to answer, but I ask anyway.

“What have you heard?”

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