Page 22 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

“So what has this been? You’ve helped me. I’ve helped you. This tit for tat has been for nothing? Has only been for you to betray us?”

“Us or you?” Bree countered.

“What?”

“I feel as though you are taking this personally.”

“I am,” he answered, setting his fork down and reaching for the bread. “I have worked hard to make sure you and all the clans are taken care of.”

“Is that what Theon was doing when he ripped out Henry’s heart?” she asked conversationally.

“Henry was a problem. You cannot deny that. Theon simply took care of it.”

“It was not his place,” Bree said, her tone growing icy.

“Is it not our place to take care of the Underground? To aid you? Is that not what I have promised you?”

She clicked her tongue, sitting back in her chair and crossing her slender legs. “You are like your brother in so many ways. Always knowing the right words to say. I was worried for a while there, you know.”

“Worried about what?” Axel asked, setting his bread aside and settling back in his own chair.

“Theon is too…suspicious of everyone. He trusts no one. You, however… You are the younger heir who is trying to find his place in this world,” Bree said, picking up a goblet of her own that Axel hadn’t noticed.

“What do you want?” Axel snapped, growing irritated by the conversation that seemed to keep going in circles.

“Why, the Underground, of course.”

“Fuck off,” Axel said in disbelief. “You want the Underground?”

“For starters,” she replied, sipping on her glass of blood.

“Oh, I cannot wait to hear this,” he muttered, swiping up his glass of liquor. It wasn’t enough for him to be stuck here, injured and on the brink of destruction. Now he needed to deal with someone clearly staging a coup. What the fuck was he supposed to do with this? It wasn’t like he had any way of contacting Theon or Luka right now. All he could do was gather information and hopefully have time to do something with it.

“The Arius Kingdom seems to be under the illusion the Underground is theirs,” Bree went on.

“It is in the Ozul Mountains which lie in our kingdom,” Axel answered. “We have relations with all the people here. We take care of them. They are our allies.”

Bree only smiled. “Are they?”

“Yes,” he snapped. “I have spent the last few years making sure that is the case.”

“You have had a couple of years, Axel St. Orcas,” Bree replied. “That is a blink compared to mycenturies. Do you forget I did not take my power? I was one of the first to be banished here. I have lived in the dark for longer than even your father has lived. The Underground ismykingdom that I have let you all believe you control.”

“Let’s say that is the case,” Axel said. “To what end?”

“To that of me ruling Devram as it should have always been.”

Axel couldn’t help the laugh of disbelief. “The Legacy rule. The gods decreed it.”

“The gods sent their offspring here and left them with lies,” Bree sneered.

Axel paused, his glass halfway to his lips. “Where were you born, Bree?”

“Not here,” she simpered. “I was sent after the realm was created. The gods may not be able to interfere, but you already know that has not kept them from sending others to do just that.”

“And what were you sent here to do?” he asked casually, taking a drink of his liquor.

“You truly are becoming so clever,” she said with a breathy laugh. “But you forget I have been playing these games longer than this world has been breathing. I will not offer you all my secrets right now, but I will offer you something else.”

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