Page 540 of Flirting with Darkness

He chuckled, looking infuriatingly pleased by my arguing. I bit my lip. It was not in my intentions to amuse him.

“A murder and a kidnapping. Both in one day.” I squinted my eyes at him accusingly. “I’ve only known you for barely an hour, and I already despise you.”

His next drink took much longer. The sky king savored his wine, deliberately making me wait for his reply.

“The murder was necessary.” He set his glass back on the table then turned to face me fully. “Queen Relorna brought it upon herself by conspiring against me. As her accomplice, the gargoyle king will be next. As for the kidnapping…” He gave me another one of his highly unpleasant stares. “Me taking you finally rectified a huge imbalance in this world.”

“What kind of imbalance?”

He leaned a hip against the column of the fireplace. “No one can have something the sky king doesn’t have.”

“Something?” Anger boiled over, shaking me through the bone. “How dare you refer to me—a living, breathing human being—as an object for you to take as you please?”

My hands fisted at my sides, it was all I could do not to launch at him. The only thing that stopped me from slapping him was his smirk. He looked like he was expecting me to fight him, like he would very much enjoy getting physical with me.

“A rare, priceless possession indeed,” he murmured.

I heaved a breath, struggling to regain some composure. I couldn’t fight him. Not physically. If I tried, I’d lose. Another tactic was needed here.

“Well, enjoy having me here while you can.” I matched his mocking tone of voice and posture, shifting my weight to one foot and tilting my head to one side. “You’ll find soon enough that by taking me, you bit off more than you can chew. I am the Queen of Lorsan, with an army that rivals yours and a husband, who would crush mountains and drain oceans if that was what it took to get me back.”

The smirk didn’t ease off his face. My fists itched to wipe it off him.

“An army with no wings and a husband who can’t fly.” He shook his head, casually leaning against the fireplace. “Rest assured, my little queen, Sky Kingdom is where you’ll spend the rest of your life now.”

Dread slithered down my spine, prickling my skin with icy needles. He was right. Gorgonians didn’t fly. The levitating boards required so much magic to operate, it made them impractical to use for long distances. They could take people above tree tops or up a mountain, but they weren’t powerful enough to fly all the way to the clouds and above.

Here, above the clouds, Sky Kingdom had been physically isolated from the rest of Nerifir for an eternity. And it could remain that way forever more.

My crestfallen expression didn’t escape the king.

“No need to fret, my dear. A king’s pet isn’t the worst fate for a human. You’ll be taken care of in every way.”

If he was trying to console me in that fashion, he failed. I made a step toward him with every word he spoke.

“Your contentment is entirely up to you,” he continued. “If you do as you’re told, you—”

Any willingness to hear another word from him burned to ashes in the sizzling anger inside me. I raised my hand and slapped the mighty sky king across his handsome face.

I didn’t hold back my strength. My hand connected with his chiseled cheekbone with a satisfying ringing smack. Even more satisfying was the look of utter shock on the king’s face. His silver-gray eyes open wide, he froze, staring at me.

“I’m no one’s pet,” I hissed through my teeth into his face. “I am the Queen of Lorsan, a mother, a married woman, and a person to be treated with respect. Trust me, I need no army to fight you. I will defy you, every step of the way.”

He recovered quickly. Shock was replaced by rage that narrowed his eyes and tinted his pale cheeks with pink.

“You…” He grabbed my wrist. “You dare raise your hand to the King!” He yanked at my arm with so much strength, it nearly dislocated from my shoulder. “Had you been a fae, you’d die on the spot. But you’re a human, rare and valuable. Make no mistake, I will break you. Even if it takes me centuries, and I will enjoy every minute of it.”

A sudden blast of fire burst from the fireplace. The timing of it made me believe it was the king’s doing, that somehow his anger had brought forth the flames. But the fire surged out of the hearth, crackling with sparks and searing the ends of the king’s long black hair.

He cursed under his breath, leaping aside. The flash of surprise on his face told me he had nothing to do with this.

He spread wide the fingers of his right hand, his arm stretched out toward the flame.

“Down!” he ordered.

But the fire didn’t obey the king. The sparkling tongues of the flames spread out like tentacles of a lustrous magical being, licking the floor, setting the rugs and the curtains on fine, and climbing up the columns of reeds and vines. It consumed the room like a hungry beast.

The air quickly filled with smoke. Keeping an eye on the dancing flames, I backed all the way to one of the windows. The curtains on it burst into flames right behind me. I gasped, shrinking away.

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