Page 35 of The Coveted
I do enjoy the struggle of a good challenge, though, dear Áine. I think Daelon preferred to fight you for your submission too. It makes it all the more… thrilling. Rest assured you will be conquered just like everything else in my world.
I shut him out, chasing a limp spear of asparagus around my plate as my blood boiled. More visions of killing Lucius and destroying his precious castle flitted through my mind.
“Áine?”
I looked up to see my half of the table looking at me. Taryn’s eyes were narrowed as she waved a hand in front of her body to bring me out of my daze.
“There you are,” she laughed. “I asked if you were down for a decent party after dinner?”
God, no.I just wanted to be able to retreat and lick my wounds in peace.“Maybe. I’m a bit tired.”
“I think there’s going to be a post-party party too,” Sebastian said, exchanging a glance I didn’t understand with Taryn and Christine.
They all smirked, but Serena rolled her eyes. Abraham chuckled, his hand in hers. He wore red again, which complemented his warm, dark brown skin. They were definitely a cute couple. I could even see the way their auras melded together in soft pastels of devotion and deeper reds of intensity, as if fused by the strength of their relationship. Renata appeared to be somewhere else, paying us no attention as she twirled her dark brunette hair around her finger. I was annoyed yet again by her beauty, especially at the delicacy of her shoulders and collarbones in her deep, blue dress.
“I don’t think Áine is that far along in her acclimation,” Taryn chuckled, plopping a tiny potato in her mouth.
Sebastian’s hand found mine for a moment. “Oh, please. Just because she lived with humans her whole life doesn’t mean sheisone. She’s a witch, a powerful one at that. And an artist, for the King’s sake! Did she tell you she discovered a gift?”
Taryn shook her head. “You discovered a gift… today?” she asked, scrutinizing me curiously.
I was still hung up on whatever witchy party she didn’t think I could handle. It was probably a witch orgy. Yeah, that checked out. “I guess so.” I shrugged.
“How strange. But you came into your power late too, so maybe you’re just a late bloomer,” Serena offered. Her blond hair was pulled up in a high bun, with a couple curls framing her sharp jaw. She was wearing a conservative black gown, with a lace trim that covered all the way up to her collarbones.
I nodded.Uh huh. Let’s go with that. I couldn’t very well say that I could probably tap into any gift I desired, since I had access to all the natural forces of the Universe. The only thing that was truly mine was energy reading, but that I had to keep to myself. The rest sort of felt like borrowing, like I was a card-carrying member of a vast magickal library of resources. That made it all the more necessary I kept my mouth shut and placated Lucius. If his perversions were killing off original magick, then maybe I was one of the last things that stood in his way from enacting the witch apocalypse.
No big deal, as usual.
I had to make a laundry list of excuses in quick succession to steal some time away for myself. While the others moved to the throne room for the night’s entertainment, I snuck away to the gardens. I needed a break. Especially from seeing Daelon all cozied up and laughing with my enemy—the man who just whispered some real creepy shit into my mind aboutconquering me.
When I teleported to the cherry blossom tree, I nearly gave a nearby servant a heart attack. I mumbled a sheepish apology. Her eyes lingered on me for a moment longer than comfortable as she passed by, giving me a look that read sort of like,I mind my own business.
I wondered what decided a servant’s station in this hierarchical society Lucius had constructed. Were they all descended from witches of the old ways? Or were they just weak in power? It was hard to say, but like a lot of things in the castle, their reality seemed ignored and forgotten.
I moved on autopilot, the fresh air renewing my spirits. I felt pulled to the blooming pink tree, where I found myself gazing up at its snaking branches, as if I was waiting for it to spill secrets. It made me feel sort of like a crazy person, but I was used to that at this point. I reached out toward its trunk, and its energy met mine, like an invisible, static force. It was warm, wise, and old, like that of a crone. I gasped when something more passed into my fingers, as if we were energy sharing.
“Don’t let Lucius see you doing that.”
The connection broke, and the tree pulled its energy back. I turned to face Daelon, and I had to stop myself from running right into his arms. “Why is that?”
He cocked his head, looking from me to the tree. “That was the Queen’s tree. She raised it from a sapling, and she sat here on this bench every single day to look at it.” He shook his head, as if rebooting his brain. “Are you all right?”
“As usual, I find myself unsure how to answer that question,” I laughed, but in Daelon’s presence, my defenses soon crumbled.
He sighed. “You’re shaking. I can’t—I can’t touch you here. Someone could see.” His jaw was tight, and his eyes strained. The feet between us felt like miles. “Lucius wanted me to brief you on your new duties. He wants you to start reading everyone’s energy when they interact with him or talk about him. He wants to know exactly who to watch out for. Then he’s trusting me to ensure that you’re telling the truth. He wants names, soon.”
“What if there are no names to give?” I asked, staring down at my nude heels.
“Then you make them up, Áine. If you are of no use to him, then you’re as good as dead, especially after the debacle with the servant girl. It will buy us time.”
I crossed my arms in response to his fierce tone. I sure as hell wasn’t going to be sending innocent people to their deaths, even if they were insufferable, vapid witch socialites. I shook my head. “He thinks he can convince me to join him. Or at least force me into it. I’m afraid that if something happened to me, we would have nothing. Which I know sounds just as narcissistic as Lucius…”
“But it’s probably true,” Daelon finished. “I won’t let either of those things happen. My mom instilled in me a roadmap to keep you safe. It’s my life’s purpose. It will be fulfilled, no matter what I have to do.” He reached out for a moment, then dropped his hand back to his side.
“This blows,” I said.
“The understatement of the century.”
