Page 63 of Foretold

“Dad! Did Mom come back?” Vale shouts through the door.

Fuck.

At least I was still holding my shield.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Rave

“Your mother isn’t coming back. She’s decided to stay there with her friend,” I flat out lie to my son. How the fuck am I meant to tell him she’s dead? He’s too young, and I don’t want to be the first to break his heart.

“Oh, okay,” he replies, nodding like he almost expected it. “So, I’ll be living here now all the time?”

“Yes, no more back and forth,” I say, offering him a gentle smile. “You are our prince and heir, so right here is where you belong.”

“Okay, I’ll see Mom whenever she comes back to visit,” he says, more to himself than me. “I have to go to training. And then I’m going fishing. I’ll see you at dinner.”

He runs off, my lip twitching as I watch him go.

I know the truth will come out one day, but for now, I’ve bought myself some time.

Heading to my own training, I’m stopped by Soren standing with Bane, who apparently lives in my fucking kingdom these days. But I’m grateful for what he did last night, so as long as he keeps his hands off Astrid, I don’t have a problem with him. In fact, I respect him. It’s well known that he’s feared and revered, especially by the demons waiting for him to return to their kingdom and take back the throne. His fighting skills and weather and blood-tracing magic make him a strong ally. But I don’t like that he’s a good-looking bastard, especially when my spy in Chaos told me that Bane and Astrid sometimes seemed a littletooclose. That was when I fucked up, and I know she was heartbroken. I’ll never make the same mistake and hurt her again because I don’t know what I’d do if I lost her. And if sheever ran into the arms of another male, I’d have to kill him.

In fact, Bane is lucky to still be breathing.

And the only reason is the male standing next to him right now. Although looking at the two of them, you’d think they were fucking friends.

And after everything, maybe they are.

“Bane came to give us an update on Rion,” Soren explains, turning to Bane to let him explain.

He crosses his arms over his chest, his legs apart. “What Drake said checks out. Rion admitted he’s working for the Vampire King, but only because he has Rion’s mate held hostage. He’s basically blackmailing Rion to do all of his dirty work. However, there are apparently many incubi who want to get their hands on Astrid to breed her as well. They want succubi daughters and think she is the answer to end the curse once and for all.”

“Anyone who tries to breed her, or even looks in her direction with any malicious intent, will end up without their fucking head,” I seethe, shadows swirling around my hands. Just the thought of someone harming her sends me into a blackout rage.

Technically, Astrid’s birth broke the curse, but everyone wants to know why. And how. And they want to make more succubi, but there will never be another like her. My mate is one in a fucking million.

“No one will harm her,” Bane decrees, like it’s law. And in my kingdom, it most definitely is. “We’ve convinced Rion to give us information as long as we promise to save his mate.”

I don’t remember seeing any mating bands around his wrists, so they mustn’t be bonded. “Okay, that’s a good plan to have him as our spy. You let him go then?”

Bane nods, cocking his head to the side. “He was hard to break, but once he realized we knew who he was working for, he decided to trust us.”

“So what now?” Soren asks, stretching his neck from side to side, drawing attention to the scar across his neck. I’ll never forget the day I found him barely alive, blood dripping down his body.

“Now we get ready for war.”

We must be ready for anything, so I’m covering all bases.

And Astrid—I want to talk to her about her seer magic and learning to control and develop it. I know she’s had to hide it all this time, but now she should embrace it. She should be proud of being so powerful, but I know why she is scared, and it’s a valid reason.

I’m king now.

And no one would dare touch her.

I’d send all eight kingdoms to darkness for her.

“King Zython has asked Astrid to visit Chaos tomorrow night for his birthday dinner,” Bane adds, smirking. “And you are both invited too.”

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