Page 15 of Surfaces
I wanted to scream.
“I’m just your easy target. You’re too lazy to look for the real—”
“You dare deny it?” Watkins had conspired to attackinnocentsat my tournament. Innocents. Not me and my guard. Not my entourage, who willingly signed up to work in my employ and understood the dangers therein. Those rebels had collapsed a stadium with families in it. Children whose unwitting parents had brought them to watch.
And he was the reason this competition, just like the stadium, was falling apart. If I hadn’t just given him my very heart, I’d wring his neck.
This line of thought was dangerous for me because my hands unconsciously unfurled and reached out, the impulse to grab him one that I couldn’t squash. For a moment, Avia was gone. The peacemaker I’d always defined myself as was erased by a rage that tinted my vision beyond red, it went purple.
“You might not have spoken the spell, but you gave that sea witch every bit of information she needed. Didn’t you?”
“No!”
“Liar!” I swept forward with a powerful flick of my wings. My hand reached out, and I shoved against Watkins’s chest, pressing his fin uncomfortably against the abrasive coral wall. He grew pale and I couldn’t tell if Watkins was more scared of my wild appearance—the translucent patches still apparent on my bared arms—or the look in my eyes. If he was smart, he’d have recognized the look was far more dangerous than my freakish appearance.
Words came to me, but they were slow and stilted as I fought a battle to retain my sense of self. “Thanks to yourfriends, several innocent people were injured, two killed, Keelan’s now mangled. The entire sarding city is panicking. And you what?Lay here in bed—”
Behind me I heard Ugo mutter, “Some bastards are—”
“Leave us!” I snarled at my guard, not having realized he’d opened the door and entered the room. If I did lose my temper, I didn’t want Ugo or Felipe anywhere nearby. I refused, unlike the rebels, to allow anyone in proximity to be injured just because.
Watkins and I both froze until the door closed with a thump.
“What happened to you?” Watkins asked, his eyes finally meeting mine, head tilting curiously.
I paused, thrown by this change in direction. Why wasn’t he still yelling? He hadn’t said a word about the rebels who hated me, who’d hurt anyone in their quest to dethrone me. He wasn’t gloating. But then … he hadn’t gloated before. I studied his eyes.
Was that concern in his gaze? Surely not. It had to be just confused disgust. It was simply an expression that I hadn’t seen from him before. That was all. Doubt wriggled uncomfortably in my stomach as I answered him with a careless gesture at my face.
“Nothing. My mage had to check me for internal damage.” The lie rolled easily off my tongue since I’d told it already. I backed away from him and turned to gather up the cloak I’d tossed down. Doing so calmed me enough to speak. “With an attack like that, additional magic and poison are always concerns for a monarch. The throne isn’t the comfortable seat you imagine it to be. Death isalwayslurking in wait for me.” That last bit was true enough. Queen Gela, the woman who’d raised me in Evaness, had dealt with assassination attempts regularly.
“And that’s fine. I accept it. It comes with the responsibility and duty of the crown I took up. What’snotfine, is when death comes for my innocent citizens.” I glared at him, and annoyingly, my eyes filled with a sudden rush of tears.
Sard it.
I turned away, not wanting him to see any emotion but anger from me. After a few deep breaths, I managed to find my snark. “Of course, my first priority after the attack was getting checked out myself. I’m only pretending to rage about the fact that children could have died today. You know, for the sake of public opinion.” My tone was as hard and brittle as ice when I found my control and managed to face him again.
I watched Watkins swallow hard and his gaze drifted to the floor. For the first time since I’d met him, his shoulders slumped. “The movement isn’t meant to hurt civilians. I don’t know who attacked the stadium, but it wasn’t anyone I associate with.”
“Try again,” I barked out, taking a step closer until my chest nearly bumped into his ribs, flaring my wings so that they made the water swirl around us in the tiny room. One of them brushed against the floating orange lantern and sent the enchanted little glass ball bobbing toward the wall and bouncing off with aplink. I glared up at him, hating the fact that he was so much taller than me. I used my wings to lift me gently so that I floated up until we were eye-to-eye.
My comment got a rise out of him. Watkins’s nostrils flared as he retorted, “You’re so sarding determined to make me your clownfish, aren’t you? Paint me with whatever stripes you want. Where the hell was I when this shite happened, huh? Where was I after? When would I have had time to help with this?”
“Doesn’t take but a second—”
“Always got an explanation. Always have a reason to blame someone you’ve labeled. Humiliating me and making me look like a sarding fool and a sellout to shark shifters everywhere isn’t enough.”
“Me? Acting like you’re innocent!Youdesecrated my castle—”
“Doesn’t put me in league with murderers!” Watkins shouted, leaning right into my face. “Vandalism and murder are worlds apart.”
Behind me, the door opened but we were both brimming with fury, too locked in our deadly stares to bother turning to see who it might be. “Get out,” I ordered, thinking my guards might again be trying to play nanny.
“Majesty,” Felipe’s deep voice was soothing. “Your voices are raised and—”
“Call Lizza to cast a sound shield then,” I snapped. “Now leave!” I’d never spoken to him that way, the guard I secretly harbored feelings for. But feelings were the absolute least of my worries right now. Feelings had gotten me into this mess. Feelings had deceived me. Naïve hope had convinced me to invite this utterly despicable man in front of me into this tournament—believing time and interaction would melt his hatred.
The door shut with athunkand for a moment, only tense silence filled the space.
