Page 80 of A Deception of Courts

“What are you doing out here?” I asked, already knowing he could ask me the same. Issue was, I was king, and he was still an ex-Hunter. My goings didn’t matter as much as his.

“Night-time stroll to clear the head. I could ask the same of you though, Robin. Are you expecting to find someone else out tonight?” he asked, brushing past me with a harsh shoulder as he walked back out onto the main street. I looked down the alley, searching for someone or something else. But Kayne was alone – at least he was now.

“I don’t know what you are suggesting,” I replied, voice as cold as the winds ripping around me.

“Perhaps you came to find Erix and thank him for saving Duncan in a more… private manner?”

My eyes narrowed on him, just as Kayne’s smile widened. “What did you just say to me?” His accusation felt like a slap to the face.

Kayne was already creating distance between us, but it didn’t take much for me to catch up. I reached out and grasped his forearm before he could run away from the conversation. My fingers gripped his skin, hard. In the dark part of my mind, I enjoyed his grunt of surprise.

“Get yourfilthyhands off me!”

I made sure they dug deeper. “Your attempts to irk me with your comments are wasted.”

Kayne shrugged himself out of my grip, his face was flushed scarlet, lips pulled into a firm white line. “What do you want, Robin?”

He spat my name at me like it was a disgusting, spoiled piece of food in his mouth.

“A simple night-time stroll to clear my mind, and yet here you are, ruining it with your mood. Dare I ask what gets you out of bed?”

He flashed me a sickly smile. “What does it matter to you what I do with my time? You aren’t my keeper.”

All my pent-up anger came rushing out at once. This time it didn’t shy away from it, or hold guilt for the person at the other end. Better Kayne than Duncan. “I asked you a question. I suggest you answer it.”

Kayne stepped in close. His breath itched at my face, his towering posture making me smaller before him. But I didn’t feel small, not with the power readied beneath my skin. I didn’t so much as flinch as his boots cracked into mine. Kayne lowered himself until his nose was inches from mine, glaring down the length of it as he regarded me. His shallow breaths came out in silver-lined clouds beyond his pursed lips. “You don’t trust me, do you?”

“Should I?”

Kayne’s laugh sliced directly through me. I watched as his gaze flickered around me as though he searched for something. When his attention returned to me, his voice was louder and more confident. Each word he spoke felt as though it came directly from the centre of his chest. “What would Duncan say if he knew his beloved and his longest friend disliked one another?”

“He already knows, why don’t you go and ask him?”

There was no denying the way his eyes widened a fraction, proving my reply was news to him.

“But it’s nice that you finally found the confidence to admit it aloud,” I added. “Do you feel better getting that secret off your chest?”

“You don’t deserve him,” Kayne hissed suddenly. I flinched as his spit landed upon my cheek, but didn’t dare to brush the droplets away.

I broadened my shoulders, trying to match his physical prowess. “And you do?”

“Yes!” His eyes bulged. “More than you could even begin to understand.”

There was no warning before strong hands pushed at my chest. Pain jarred up my back as I landed on my ass, the skin on my palms ripping across the stone and ice.

A growl erupted from me as I pulled on my magic. The cobbled ground beneath my splayed, bleeding hands cracked with ice. Even the winds rejoiced with my desire to hurt Kayne back. But the magic’s glee lasted only a moment.

“Hurt me, go on, and you’ll have to explain yourself to Duncan. Will you lie and come up with a justifiable excuse to victimise me with your magic? What will he think of you for being the one to hurt, or worse, kill hisclosestchildhood friend?”

The freezing winds calmed, and the ice melted. My grazed palm stung as the cold infiltrated the cuts that crisscrossed them. “You cannot manipulate me, Kayne.”

He knelt down before me, eyes glowing from within. His voice calmed and was now only a whisper. “Here, let me help you up off the floor. It’s not place for a king now, is it?”

I drew my lips back, flashing my teeth up at him. I looked at Kayne’s hand as though it was a snake, ready and poised to strike me.

“Robin?”

Kayne’s smile faltered as my name rang out over the night. We both turned to look for the owner of the voice. I didn’t need to see her to know who it was, her voice was steel sharp and familiar.

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