Page 30 of Tortured Royals

Mirelle shrugs. “You see, I think I can. And mother wasn’t completely wrong. It’s better to defeat you before you can unlock your power. Better that the demon realm is ruled by one of your power-hungry clan leaders who might be more easily manipulated, don’t you think?”

I stare at my sister, unable to speak. She’s never spoken like this.More easily manipulated?“Princess Blake is my Ahalian Touizda,” I blurt.

“Yes,” Mirelle says, turning her sweet expression on me. “And what good did that do for her? You betrayed her by bringing them all here, no doubt still hanging on to that ridiculous promise you made to me. As far as I can see, you’re not being the best mate, brother. You’re supposed to love your Ahalian Touizda more than any other. Maybe you’ll all be better off alone.”

The ridiculous promise?Her words repeat in my head, but I can’t accept what they mean.

“What promise is she talking about?” Blake snaps at me, but all I can do is stare at the stranger who has taken the place of my sweet sister.

“Oh, he didn’t tell you, did he?” She laughs. “No, of course he didn’t. You see, my darling brother has always taken it upon himself to see me as a victim who needed saving. I tried to tell him in the beginning that he was wasting his time, but he was all insistent, talking about saving me from a life of inflicting death and letting mother use me as a weapon.” She flicks her eyes up, thinking, then she counts on her fingers. “Yep, eight times I think it is. There’s been eight times when he’s come close to getting me out of Toralyn. At first it was annoying, but then it became a little game to see how many times I could foil his plans without him noticing.” She grins. “I must say, your persistence has been admirable, brother.”

“All those attempts…” I trail off, my voice rough. “I thought it was the queen?—”

“Oh, don’t insult me,” Mirelle snaps. “That old goat never had control around here. Not without me pulling the strings.” Her gaze swings to Nate in the cage. “But that time when you had convinced the shifter to take me, there was a moment there, where I thought he would pull me with him into the beast realm. And why would I want to go to that ghastly place? I had to use my fire to back him into the gateway, or I swear he wouldn’t have left without me. Of course, the thief chooses that moment to get all noble.”

A high-pitched ringing starts in my ears, and I blink at Nine Lives. AtNate. He hadn’t meant to leave her.I’d thought the shifter had deserted her and had gone back on his word. That he was so cowardly he fled the moment the soldiers arrived, forsaking my sister. For days as the queen tortured me, trying to get information out of me, I’d thought of the jaguar shifter with a hate that grew inside me with every passing hour. With every moment the flames touched me, mutilating my wings. My blood chills, and I lift my gaze, thinking how it had been my sister’s fire that had tormented me. When she’d stood beside my mother in that cell, and my mother had barked the orders, I’d thought Mirelle had no choice but to burn me. But now, if I am to believe what she’s saying…

“You made me believe the shifter fled,” I croak. “You tortured me for days before coaxing me into confessing a story about Nate. Youpleadedwith me.”

Princess Blake stares between us, her own anger now mixed with confusion.

Mirelle lets out an exasperated sigh and rests a hand on her hip. “It’s not my fault you weren’t smart enough to blame the shifter from the beginning. Why you wanted to protect him, I have no idea. What, you spoke to him for a few days, andsuddenly he was your friend? Pathetic,” she wrinkles her nose with disgust. “But anyhow, as fun as it was to see you suffer, it was getting rather tiresome by the end, don’t you think? Besides, blaming the shifter gave mother something else to obsess about. And it provided the perfect opportunity for all this.” Opening her arms, she indicates to the bloodshed around us. “Someone had to take care of mother, and it couldn’t be me. That barrier protection spell she’s always had around her has been a constant annoyance, but it looks like your pretty little demon had no problems getting past it.”

My breathing becomes short as everything I thought I knew is turned completely upside down. I turn to Nate. To the male I’ve hated for so long. To the male I’d shared stories with in that prison cell all that time ago. And then I turn to Princess Blake. My mate. My Ahalian Touizda. “Release the shifter. You admitted it yourself. He’s done nothing wrong.”

Nate lowers another inch, and sweat drips from his nose, plopping onto a scorpion just below him.

“If I am to rule successfully, I told you, I can’t let your demon princess bond with you. Five mates? It’s unheard of. Better that the shifter dies now.”

“You don’t know what you’re saying…” I mumble.

Mirelle glares at me, and I’m stunned by the hatred in her gaze. “And you, my darling brother, have always underestimatedme.”

Princess Blake snarls, launching for my sister, but Mirelle is waiting for her. Her flames circle Blake, cutting her off from all of us. Shade swoops down, her claws outstretched as she aims for Mirelle’s head, but I use my power, gently diverting the crow before she’s killed.

“No! Blake!” Mason shouts, and Mason, Alaric, and Dante advance on Mirelle, wielding their weapons as they sprint toward her.

With the flick of her hand, white flames race out, encircling them, and creating a dome of fire, trapping them within.

My sister laughs, her expression maniacal. “Oh, I am going to have such fun! Killing you all is going to be the perfect start to my reign.” Her eyes flare wide as she bares her teeth, staring at Blake and my mates, and I don’t think about what I do next. For years, I’ve remained submissive. I’ve appeased the queen and kept close to my sister. All so I could try and find the next opportunity to get her out. To get Mirelle away from the bloodshed and abuse. For years, I was so desperate to free her. But now I find out that Mirelle is the one who had been making the cage.

She doesn’t expect my magic. Not even as the air lifts her off the ground, trapping her hands behind her back so she can’t use her power, and wrapping around her neck, squeezing. Mirelle struggles, her face reddening, but I maintain my hold on her.

There was a time in the past when I’d told the queen to use me as her weapon instead of Mirelle. Queen Vespera had laughed and asked for a demonstration against my sister. I’d hesitated, and before I’d even been able to use my power, Mirelle’s fire had engulfed me. Mirelle had later said that she’d been afraid of what mother would do if she’d failed. That her magic was out of control, but I now realize my sister had always wanted to be by my mother’s side. If only to make sure she was able to orchestrate the queen’s death and take her place.

Mirelle’s legs flail as I restrict her air supply, and with her hands restrained, there’s nothing she can do to fight me. Around the arena, the soldiers stand watching, confused as to whether they should help.

“Stop, brother,” she wheezes. “I know you love me. You’ve always loved me. You wouldn’t do this.”

I step close to her, and as I watch her struggle, a wave of cold indifference washes over me.

As Mirelle suffocates, the circle of fire around Princess Blake and her mates disappears, as does the fire on Nate’s cage. The others rush to the cage, and I hear them bend the bars.

“Callan,” Mirelle rasps again, her face now an unnatural shade of blue.

I think of my mother’s radical changes in mood and the decisions she’d made over the years. Queen Vespera could be cruel, but now I wonder how many times it was Mirelle who was the one pulling the strings.

“The angels deserve better than you,” I tell my sister. “From what you’ve shown, all you would give them is cruelty. You would usher in a time of darkness.”

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