Page 146 of Kingdom of the Two Moons

“We didn’t take anything, my lady,” Everly says quietly.

Sarynx’s cold gaze snaps to me. “You, maybe not. But you, human?”

“I didn’t take anything either,” I answer sternly.

“Oh, you cunning little liar. I will have you punished. Maybe I’ll whip your new friend here,” she says, drawing her eyes over to the siren, who flinches again at the prospect. “Why flinch, little siren? I thought that was your new…kink. Or is it different if it’s not our king’s hand who administers that punishment?”

Everly’s cheeks turn as pink as her hair and she stares holes into the ground, as if they could open up and swallow her.

Sarynx strides up to her, lifting her chin with a manicured finger. “He would never make his hands dirty with you, little siren, but keep holding on to your ridiculous pining. Such a hideous pastime but fitting for dull minds like yours.”

“As is eavesdropping,” I say.

Sarynx’s head snaps to me. She bares her teeth but lets go of Everly. “Watch your tongue, or I might cut it out one day. I don’t care whether you are his latest whore, human.” She comes for me, her teeth still bared.

“Try and see how that goes,” I say with a hell of a lot more confidence than I feel. But her aura tells me she won’t attack. Not yet.

Everly’s eyes flash to me, surprised, but I’m too focused on Sarynx to care.

“Leave, siren, before I change my mind,” she drawls, her azure eyes never straying from mine.

Everly throws me one last, apologetic glance before she runs for the door.

I don’t blame her. I’m actually glad she went.

“You. Nothing but a feral girl with interesting talents. A tiny, snapping monster and a pain in the ass since you came here.”

I take a step towards her. Maybe it’s true. Maybe Iamferal, because right now I want to sink my nails into her skin and draw blood.

“Maybe I am. But if Caryan still cared for you, he’d be drinking your blood. And if he was, he’d seeeverythingyou are, so maybe he’s tired of that, and that’s why you’re jealous,” I snarl right back at her.

I don’t know where the words came from, but by the look on her face they hit home. I read all of it in her aura, and guessed the rest. But I should know better than making another enemy. Yet, I’m tired. Tired of her hate. Tired of her jealousy.

Sarynx’s eyes widen, and for a second, her perfect façade falters. She hisses, “You’ll regret that.”

“I’ve long given up on regrets. So why not just get it over with right here? If you’re so keen on putting a knife into myback, why not try it now?”

For a sliver of a second, I think she will, indeed, come for me now. But she doesn’t, although fury burns stark and bright around her, like a firestorm, laced by yellowish streams of envy and ugly, grayish streaks of hate. But underneath…fear.

“You’re afraid of me,” I say, not believing it myself.

She raises her chin but doesn’t deny it.

“You’re afraid of the powers I might wield,” I continue.

Her blue-painted mouth slices to the side into the hint of a smile. “Let’s skip through the unpleasantness, shall we? You’re sharp. Sharp enough to cut yourself. Yet have you ever wondered what Caryan will make you do? Do you know how he is when he wants something? Ruthless. Merciless. His path paved by corpses. Do you think he’ll stop with you? Whatever it is you have that is of interest to him, he’ll eviscerate it. Squash you in his palm and drink up your very essence, until you’re nothing but a brittle husk. A ghost. If you stay, you’re on the road to damnation.”

I don’t let my face show anything while I watch her aura. I wish so desperately to find a lie there, but there’s none.

“If that’s so, why doyoustay?”

She lets out a laugh that sounds hollow and empty. “Because I have nothing he wants from me he has not already taken. Nothing more I can give or offer him. I understand what it takes to be with him. What it gives. But you? Have you? Do you even know what he wants from you?”

My blood slows. My stomach is suddenly tight, but not from hunger.

Her smile spreads into a knowing grin. “Maybe he doesn’t know it yet, either,” she muses, looking me up and down. “But the time will come. And once he does, there’s nothing you can do. You can just beg that you’re ready to give it. And should you ever decide to bite through the leash, he’ll pull it so tight you will suffocate. Because he doesn’t tolerate disobedience in any regard, little girl.”

I swallow against the knot in my throat, the ache behind my ribs. My mouth is dry when I ask, “What should I do?”

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