Page 81 of Secrets & Curses of Crimson

“What the fuck are you doing, Cassius?”

I wanted to demand who his mother was, but I also knew I couldn’t give away too much. So I stuck to my original plan.

“I want to give you a chance to switch sides before Luren gets you killed.” I lied. Jesper was a dead man walking even if he decided to help me now. What he had done to Thea would never be forgiven or forgotten.

Jesper laughed.

“Team up with you and your whore wife?”

Wife.

He fucking said 'wife.' My shadows formed a fist and punched him in the face.

“Don’t ever disrespect my wife like that again.”

Jesper spit blood from his mouth and onto the floor. His eyes were crazy as he stared at me. My heart pounded because Jesper knew way more than he should.

“How did you find out?” I asked.

“My mother.”

“Your mother is dead.” I reminded him.

He didn’t say anything but gave me a smirk that had me more on edge.

“Why haven’t you told Luren?”

Jesper smiled, and I thought he wouldn’t answer me.

“Because as much as Luren thinks he’s the big player in all of this, he isn’t. I don’t answer to him.”

“I don’t understand why you involved yourself in all of this. You could have stayed in your own kingdom and minded your business. But now you will die as a consequence of being a follower of Luren.”

Jesper glared at me, his blue eyes void of any emotion.

“Thea was always meant to be mine,” he said like he truly meant it. “You stole her from me on the blood moon all those years ago. She was mine first. If you had just stayed away, then all of this would have been avoided. All I ever wanted was Thea.”

I glared.

“No, allyouever wanted was her power. AllIhave ever wanted was her.” I took a small angry step toward him.

“Despite what you think, I do care for her, but she is too damn stubborn to do what she should. She needs to be tamed. She is dangerous otherwise.”

I stepped toward him again, and he backed away.

“Sheis perfect the way she is. Thea is not some animal to be tamed.”

Jesper rolled his eyes.

“This conversation is done. I am not teaming up with Crimson. I won’t lose. Luren is just a means to get what I want, and he is playing the puppet so well that he doesn’t even know what is happening. He won't make it out of this alive, but believe me when I say I will. And I'll convince Thea to be by my side."

Jesper was not smart enough to pull this off, which means his mother was the mastermind behind all of this. Who the fuck was she, and why did it make Jesper so confident that he couldn’t lose? It was someone who knew way more than they should about Thea and me.

“I look forward to the day I watch my wife murder you as you beg for forgiveness.”

Jesper’s jaw clenched before I used my shadows to move him back to Cerithia without me. My chest was tight with worry and longing for Thea. I glanced around the room I was in before taking a deep breath, knowing what I was about to do was the act of a desperate man.

I walked out of the wooden door and was immediately met by three guards who drew their weapons on me, and I let them.

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