Page 65 of Blood On His Lips

The tone of his voice froze me for a moment. The sepulchral darkness, the ice.

“You do not command me, Renaud.”I dare you. I dare you to pull rank on me. That will not get you what you want.

Not that I had any intention of giving him what he wanted. Ever. Unless it was the sweet solace of death. I would house his ashes in the same urn as my heart.

He held my gaze. “Take my hand, bonded. Come with me before you say something you regret.”

It was an offer, and a threat.

“I repudiate your claim, Prince.”There must be consequences for your lies.

No one around us moved. No one had moved for some time now. I bowed, because no matter how frozen my anger, I was still my people’s best defense against him. Rejecting him in public was defiance enough. I would not foolishly salt the wound with insolence. There was. . .clarity in setting aside anger.

I heard ugly laughter, but it was all I my mind.Is that a challenge, Aerinne?Darkan asked.Do you truly think you could withstand me if I bent my attention to conquering you?

I wasn’t certain of anything, and he knew it.

“And the feud, Lady Aerinne?”

I turned again and walked away. “The breach between us has nothing to do with the feud, Prince. Faronne will still be at the table. We do not break our word, and we do not lie.”

I felt his thin smile, the lack of amusement it contained. “Do you think I have waited, planned, denied my own desires for this long only to see my goal thwarted now? By a halfling girl?”

“You’ve asked me this question before.” Now at Numair’s side, I turned and looked at Renaud. There wasn’t enough space between us. “You will plan as you will, Prince. Faronne will plan. Perhaps, in time, we will find out who is the best of planners.”

His gaze was as cold and dark as I felt. As I watched, he unfurled his wings to their full width. “I accept the challenge. You always were foolhardy is issuing them. There is still the other matter, however.”

Numair stiffened. I waited.

“I gave a command, Lady Faronne. Which of your people will die tonight, by your hand? Choose a death.”

Numair’s hands clamped down on my shoulders, and he pulled me back a step. He must have been afraid I would snap and snarl, lunge towards the Prince. But I was done with all of that.

The protective gesture drew Renaud’s notice. Color drained from his face until he reminded me of the first day of his waking, the Prince of ice and graves.

“A volunteer,” the Prince said, whisper soft. It chilled me more than his anger, more than the blood and fury of meeting him on a battlefield. “Bring Lady Aerinne to me, and the hands of the boy. Perhaps then he will learn the folly of touching what belongs to his Prince.”

ChapterTwenty

My mind broke.

Again.

So tiresome.

It had happened so many times over the years. It was a wonder there was any of it left, and to be frank, I was a little tired of my own fragility. I was certain that if Lavendre hadn’t been imprisoned all these years, I would have been forced to toughen up. Admittedly, Édouard was one of the few of my House who didn’t coddle me in some fashion. In a flash of understanding, I realized he was, indeed, the only one who didn’t treat me as if my half-humanity made me this breakable thing. How much of his seeming dislike was writhing impatience?

I sank into the black, and when I shot back up, it was chaos all around me. Battle steadied me. Battle was as close to me as my own jugular vein.

“Cover Numair,” I ordered. He was in the most danger. I’d lose my life before I let him lose his hands.

Faronne fought savagely to repel the Prince’s retaliation. I looked around, frustrated because this wasn’t working. It would be smarter to play along. Accept him until I could lure him somewhere safer, less public, into a less homicidal mood. Repudiating him had been a moment of defiance, an indulgence in my hurt and anger.

You can’t do that shit anymore, remember?I told myself.The stakes have changed.

“Forget me,” Numair shouted. “Get the Lady out of here—Juliette, grab her andretreat!”

I met Juliette’s gaze once, and that was enough. Numair was not Lord here.

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