Page 157 of On Wings of Blood

We’d been paired together to be mates out of political convenience. Because my uncle needed to shore up power and Lord Pansera had shoved his daughter in front of him at the perfect time. I had no idea if my father would have ultimately approved of our match, especially considering how Regan had turned out. Even though our families had grown up together and Regan had always been pushed my way, I’d always hoped he’d let me do my own choosing. After all, he’d wound up with my mother–and with only her. That had been their choice. They’dopted not to form a triad, even though they might have been stronger with a third mate.

Sometimes I wondered if my father would still be alive if he’d formed a triad. Who could say.

I wasn’t the only one with my head in the clouds as we sat in the refectory.

Theo wasn’t even pretending to listen as Regan and Quinn went on and on about what they were going to wear to the Dance of the Longest Night and what they were going to eat and who they were going to talk to–and not talk to, of course.

He was too busy staring across the refectory at Vaughn Sabino, not even caring who saw.

I looked over at the blightborn boy. Sabino’s arm was no longer in a sling. He had it perched on the table and was holding a quill as he scribbled something on parchment. That was a good sign. I knew that Sabino had wanted to be a scout. Coregon had bragged that the blightborn wouldn’t be able to become one now, thanks to the damage to his arm. Maybe Coregon hadn’t done as much harm to the boy as he’d liked to think.

I winced, thinking about Coregon. Sometimes I still couldn’t believe he was really gone. Deep down, he’d been even more of a cold-blooded asshole than I was. But he’d hidden it well.

There were times it would have been nice to have him back. Or at least, useful. He’d been good at helping me to shut Regan up, to put her in her place. He’d helped me keep everyone in line.

He really would have been a good choice for my second.

But now I knew what he’d really been thinking. That I hadn’t been capable of managing my house on my own.

I gave Theo a playful punch on the arm. “Hey. Stop staring.” I said it low enough that only he’d be able to hear.

He jerked his head up, then glared at me.

“What are you looking at me like that for?” I said, frowning. I lowered my voice again. “I’m not the one who did that to him.”

He shook his head. “Right. And you expect me to believe that.”

I felt my face flush. “I do expect you to believe that. Because it’s the truth.”

He looked at me. “Next thing you’ll tell me Uncle Viktor didn’t tell you that you had to keep me in line. Keep me from humiliating our family with my little ‘indiscretions.’”

I leaned towards him. “You know I don’t give a fuck about your indiscretions.”

But there was no way I was going to tell him the truth about just how little Viktor cared about him. Or Marcus.

I slung my arm around his shoulder. “You’re my second now, Theo. We have to trust each other.”

He shrugged my arm off and stood up. “Maybe you should pick someone else.”

He slunk out of the refectory before I could think of the right thing to say.

“Shit,” I muttered under my breath.

The girls were still gossipping about some bullshit.

It was only when Quinn brought up the Consort Games that I tuned back in.

“You must be looking forward to putting that little Pendragon bitch in her place, Regan,” Quinn gushed. She was such a suck-up. She’d managed to crawl so far up Regan’s ass I didn’t think she’d ever come out again. But then, Regan loved that sort of thing. She only wanted girls around her who would worship her.

“Oh, I am, believe me,” Regan started to say.

I slammed my palms down on the table. “What was that?”

Regan fell silent.

I slid down the bench and positioned myself across from the three girls. Regan, Quinn, and Visha.

Visha was the only one who met my eyes.

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