Page 47 of Cruel Crown

Her chest shook with her macabre laughter. “Damian has no heart.”

“Then you better start talking, Petal, because I will go to him and tell him how you are planning to betray him.”

“That’s why he hates me,” she said, her voice cold and icy. “We are the last borns of the founding members. The only person with as much claim to the throne is me, and he knows that. It’s why he can’t kill me, but he will kill everything I hold dear. It’s why he watches me like a hawk because he knows I am coming for his throne.”

This time when she pushed me away, I let her. She got up and walked to the door. “I had hoped that if you survived Colombia, you’d hate me so much you’d stay away because I’d rather live in a world where you hated me than a world where you were dead.”

She was about to close the door when I spoke after her. “This changes nothing for me.”

This time Daphne didn’t turn back; she just walked out.

***

The next morning when I left my room, I almost tripped when I walked out the door. A long fur blanket laid neatly folded on my doorstep. I didn’t need to ask who had done it because I knew deep in my gut it had been her.

Once I had thrown the blankets back on my bed, I walked out toward Bastian’s room. His room was higher up because he said he didn’t like being in the lower levels. It felt suffocating. I’d call that trauma, but like hell if I’d tell him that. His door was semi-opened, so I pushed it and walked in.

He was most definitely up. He was in his bed, leaning back while two women made out right in front of him. He was in the middle of them, watching them with a bored expression.

“You aren’t having fun, love?” I told him as I sat on the chair that was by the fire.

He flicked me off. “Would you like to join us?”

The women stopped what they were doing and looked at me with interest.

“Why don’t you leave us alone? I like to keep him all to myself.” I winked at them.

“I’ll see you later,” Bas dismissed them.

We both watched as they got dressed and left the room.

“Mind putting your dick away, mate.” I leaned back and pulled a smoke.

“Aw, here I thought you were going to blow me.”

“If you want my dick in your mouth, all you had to do was ask, love.” I pretended to get up and unzip my trousers.

“Am I interrupting something?” Damian walked into the room, looking at Bastian and me with disgust. I looked at him, and there was something oddly familiar in him, but at the moment, I couldn’t bring myself to point out what. I had never stared at him intently, but I knew I was missing something.

“We were about to fuck each other,” Bastian said as he spread one of his legs, and you could tell he still had a boner. Damian’s lip curled in disgust.

“I didn’t realize you two were faggots.”

Bastian shrugged. “Guess you don’t know people like you thought you did.”

He was fucking with Damian, and it was working because his jaw went hard. To mess with him some more, I strolled to the bed and sat down next to Bastian.

“Does our sexual preference matter?” I asked, then took a drag of my smoke and blew it. “I fucked Yoro before I killed him. I didn’t think you cared.”

He didn’t have to know about the bloody armchair, but I enjoyed the look he was giving me now like he had underestimated me. He fucking had. He wanted to use me against Daphne, but it was me who was going to use her against him.

“I guess next time I need a princess, I’ll send one of you two. Unless you’re monogamous?” He took a step back.

Bas didn’t miss a beat. “I like to watch him get fucked.”

Damian looked like he was ready to break out in hives.

“Was there something you needed? As you can see, I need some tending to,” Bas said as he patted his dick.

---