Page 36 of Tortured Royals

I’ve only visited it once. The night when the king put on the ball for Princess Blake to find her mates. Or, I guess I should say, for the king to gas us all and leave us in Perstalia in his twisted competition.

That night I’d gone to the ball with one mission. One target—the demon princess. To kill her in front of the king, and make him suffer for what he’d done to my brother, West.

And now I stand here, watching over the peaceful city. Anger twisting in my soul. Seeing Queen Vespera had only made it worse. As Blake’s birds turned to ash, and I heard her scream, I wanted to make the queen hurt. To make that wicked bitch suffer for what she’d done. But then that power had come from Blake—something unnatural and dark.Enchantress.The demon princess might be my mate, but that doesn’t mean Lady Fate was right to match us.

And now that I’m here in the demon realm, I can’t escape everything that’s happened. And everything I’ve been working toward since my twin brother was taken from me. I couldn’t kill the demon king’s daughter, nor could I kill the demon king when we were in Toralyn, but I could kill him here. I could finally avenge West.

…And lose my mate in the process. I shake my head.My enchantress.Even now, I doubt myself.

Like I’ve summoned her, Blake’s scent fills my nose, warm honey and cinnamon instantly working to disarm me, but I don’t let it consume me. No, when the little demon tries to sneak up on me, I pivot, my blade in my hand. She curses, dodging my attack as I knew she would. My blade swipes at the air above her head,and I lunge at her again. She’s quick, ducking out of reach, and it’s only then that I realize why she’s not deflecting me using her own weapon.

She’s in a different outfit, an oversized t-shirt, and she doesn’t have her weapons belt. Her hair is soaked to the tips, and the scents of her other mates are all over her. Instantly, my cock hardens at the thought, but this all just makes me more irritated. I can tell she’s toying with me, taking it easy like she’s playing some kind of game.

Growling, I don’t hold back as I attack her, no longer completely myself but a mess of emotions, fury flooding my veins.

“Fuck, Alaric,” she curses as she darts around a tree, and my blade sinks deep into the trunk with a loudthwack. I wrench the weapon out, snarling, and toss a spare blade at her feet.

“Pick it up,” I rumble, and I run at her again.

She leaps to the side, making no move to grab the weapon. “I’m not going to fight you, asshole! I thought we were past this.”

Past it?When we were in The Haven, I could almost let myself pretend she wasn’thisdaughter. The demon king’s. But now I’m faced with reality, torn and broken.

“Pick it up,Enchantress,” I say again through gritted teeth, and she lets out an exasperated sigh.

“Look, I get that as a Drozac assassin you were ordered to kill me, but we’re mates, you dick. I thought you’d realized that.”

“I have,” I admit quietly, because it’s true. We’ve been through too much for me not to realize it. “But Lady Fate chose wrong.”

She flicks a loose strand of hair away from her eyes. “Yeah, that’s what I thought at first, too.”

This shocks me a little. “At first?” She twists, missing my sword that was aimed to puncture her stomach.

“Yes,at first,” she says between breaths. “But clearly, Lady Fate knows us better than even we do.”

“What are you saying?” I bite out.

“I guess, I’m saying,” she pants, still dodging my attacks. “That despite the fact you’re the grumpiest asshole I’ve ever met, I can see how Lady Fate wasn’t all that crazy placing us together.”

I get over my surprise quickly, moving again, spinning, slicing the air. “Even if that’s true, it changes nothing. Because you can’t bring him back.”

“What?” Confusion fills her face. “Who?”

“One of the Drozac,” I say. “He came here, and King Dalton murdered him.”

Frustration shows on her face, and her mind ticks. “Is that what this is about?” She blows out a breath. “And killing me is what? Some fucked up revenge because I’m King Dalton’s daughter? Let me guess, this is how you think you’ll make the demon king suffer?” She stops moving, and I halt my attacks, my gaze pinned on her. On the female who keeps making me question everything. Except now.

She lifts a single finger into the air. “Firstly, given the pain dear old dad has put me through, I’m not sure torturing me in front of him would have the desired effect,” she says. “And secondly,” she looks me straight in the eyes, lifting another finger, “your Drozac friend must have known what would happen if he came here. If I’d been the one to find him…” she pauses before finishing, “I would have killed him myself.”

My head lowers, and I breathe heavily, pain going through me. “He was mybrother,” I snarl. This time when I lunge forward, Blake doesn’t dodge me. I slam her against a tree, pinning her there, my blade pressed tightly to her throat.

Understanding shows on her face as she peers at me. My hand trembles, and I struggle to hold the blade there, conflictedbecause it feels so wrong to have a blade to her throat. To have a blade at mymate’sthroat.

“Look, I’m sorry about your brother,” she says softly. “But if it’s the guy I’m thinking of, the king found him as he was about to assassinate the leader of one of the high clans in Seral. What do you expect? That the king would just let him walk?”

I hesitate, and my hand trembles more. “It doesn’t matter why he was here. All that matters is that he was murdered.”

“He was an assassin,” she says. “You can’t blame the king for protecting one of his subjects. Any Drozac must know the risks of coming here. Just like the demons know the risks if they break any laws in the other realms. I never met your brother, but I’d be willing to bet that he wouldn’t have wanted this for you.”

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