Page 126 of The Umbra King

Tallent stood and placed his hands on his hips, hanging his head. “You couldn’t leave Nina alone, could you?” She couldn’t make sense of what he was saying. “She only wanted happiness, you know, and you took that from her. Youhumiliatedher.”

His scornful laugh grated her ears. Something about him had changed.

“She was crushed when she heard the lies you spouted about being the king’s mate.” Tallent’s face hardened with hate. “As if the king would be mated to someone like you.”

She flinched, and her pulse skyrocketed as she scrambled backward off the bed. “Why are you doing this? Nina was terrible to me from the start.” He moved, and she stepped back, cursing Caius for barricading the main entrance to their room. “You were supposed to be my friend. How can you take her side?” She gasped in horror. “Did you hurt Bellina?”

“It had to be me,” he said simply. “Nina is a work of art, and you know how much I love art.” His smile was deranged, and she set her feet, ready to fight. “I’ve always admired her beauty, and when she started working at the hobby store, I realized how wrong I’d been about her. And you.”

Rory shook her head frantically. “No, Tallent, she manipulated you. That’s what she does. You don’t want to do this.”

His head tilted to the side. “Yes, I do.”

He lunged for her, and she jumped out of the way to run for the bookshelf, cursing the stupid thing for having a button instead of a knob. Tallent grabbed her by the hair and ripped her backward, making a scream tear from her throat. She was cutting her hair as soon as possible.

She turned on her heel, shoving her palm into his elbow, hyper-extending it, and he howled with pain as he released her hair. Fighting was her only option, and she prayed Tallent had no training.

Not waiting for him to attack, she charged at him and drove her foot into his knee, causing him to double over. He righted himself, and the look on his face made her gasp. He was completely mad, and her heart broke for the friend she thought she had.

He swung wildly, but she ducked and delivered a brutal right jab that snapped his head back, followed by a left jab to the throat. Grabbing his good arm, she flipped him over her shoulder, straddled him, and began punching his temple, his eye, his cheek, his mouth, and anything she could connect with. He’d betrayed her, and he’dhurtBellina.

The bookshelf door blew off its hinges, and shadows filled the room, but she didn’t stop. Strong hands pulled her from the ground, and she struggled against their hold. “It was him!” she screamed, trying to get back to Tallent, to punish him for what he’d done.

The shadows receded, and Caius’ arms held her steady as she struggled. “Look at him, Rory,” Caius said against her. “Lookat him.”

She stopped moving and glanced at the bloodied heap on the floor. The side of Tallent’s skull was partially caved in, and his eyes were glassed over. Her chest heaved as she stared. “He hurt Bellina,” she rasped. “He attacked me.” She was coming down from her hysteria, and the icy calm of The Butcher took over. Damning the guilty was familiar; it was home.

“Let me go,” she commanded, and Caius obliged, noticing the change in her. She crouched beside Tallent. “If I had my hooks, I would display you for the town to see.” Standing, she stood and turned to Caius. “Find Nina. She will pay for what she has done.”

Examining the knuckles on her right hand, she sighed. Potions would be needed to heal her broken bones.

Caius didn’t question her. “We’ll find hertogetheronce we clean up this mess. You have my word.”

She gave a single nod and left to shower. “Remove the barricade on our main door, or I will do it myself.”

Caius’ lips twitched. “Yes, Your Grace.”

39

Nina satin front of her dressing table, combing her hair a little rougher than necessary. What was it with these men? Not one of them could manage to finish the jobs she’d given them. She sighed and pulled open the drawer to check her potion supply.

When she was in Erdikoa, she often helped her mother make illegal potions to sell in the underground market. Their specialty was concoctingunsavorypotions made from normal, everyday potions.

She and her mother would spend hours in her mother’s workshop, mixing different things and trying them out on random volunteers. It was a stroke of luck Nina was also born an alchemist, and she shadowed under her mother from the time she was old enough to walk. Luckily, the potions in the pharmacy were already made, and mixing them didn’t need magic. The spells fused on their own.

Few alchemists were as talented mixologists as Nina and her mother. Even if they found her out, she knew Caius wouldn’t send her to hell. He loved her, no matter what the little butcher bitch said.

A stronger potion was needed to work on stronger men. Her current mind-bending potion wasn’t potent and only worked on the weak. She found men who looked at her with desire, spoke withthem to see how gullible they were, and when she found the perfect candidates, she would lick the potion from her finger, kiss them, then immediately lick her other finger containing the antidote.

With regular doses, they were putty in her hands, wanting nothing more than to do her bidding. She was meant to be queen, and before Aurora came along, she was well on her way.

She’d tried the potion on Caius once, but it hadn’t worked. He was too powerful. Finding a way to make her potion stronger would be her next course of action.

Just then, she heard the door to her apartment fly open, and before she could stand to investigate, Lauren, an imposing member of the legion, stepped into her bedroom with murder in her eyes.

40

Rory stoodbeside Caius on the dais, flanked by Sam and other enforcers as Lauren dragged Nina in by the arm. “What is the meaning of this?” the red head demanded. “I have done nothing wrong!”

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