Page 98 of Happily Ever Crowned (Underworld Royals 1)

Noxia provided a fresh start, a land without pain or memories. A land I could lose myself in without anyone noticing. That was where I needed to be.

“We’ll be back soon,” Valora whispered, handing me her bouquet of white flowers—the same color as her beautiful dress. “Adrik is keen on consummating the marriage as quickly as possible.”

A genuine smile crossed my face at my friend’s enthusiasm for getting to the bedroom this time around. The pair left with a hungry growl from Adrik, his new wife giggling in his arms as he swept her from the great hall.

No one followed. New kingdom, new rules, and the newlyweds didn’t want to share their private moment with anyone.

Finally. Some normality, I thought, slipping through the shadows and out into the newly planted gardens. The bramble-like structures had been replaced with greenery and flowers. I set Valora’s bouquet near a particularly beautiful display and sighed as I walked through the maze of bushes, adoring the life protruding from the grounds.

“Zay?” Grigory’s voice came from behind me, causing me to stiffen.

“It’s Zaya,” I reminded him for the hundredth time today. The millionth time since we’d met.

He ignored my correction. “Aren’t you joining the festivities?”

And watch you hit on everything that moves? No, thank you. “I needed some fresh air.”

“What you need is to have some fun.” He waved a beer mixed with blood in my face to demonstrate his point.

I batted it away. “I was having plenty of fun before you came outside.”

He looked doubtful. “More like wallowing in self-pity.”

“Says the male who is refusing to speak to his mother over Valora’s birthright,” I countered. But to be honest, I agreed with his feelings on the subject completely. She lied to him, kept too many secrets, and put my best friend through hell. To say I disliked Lux would be an understatement.

But I knew this topic would make Grigory leave me alone because anything and everything regarding Queen Lux pissed him off right now.

“Are you trying to piss me off, Zay?” he asked, eyes narrowed. Most would fear a look like that from the esteemed Prince of Noxia, but his blood had linked us. Indefinitely. I could see inside his mind just as he could see into mine.

Another factor of his acquaintance I hated. Almost as much as his ridiculous nickname for me.

“Zaya,” I growled through gritted teeth. “I’m going back to my room. I’ll come down again when Valora and Adrik are back.”

Grigory grabbed my hand and pulled me close to him. “Don’t be—”

My hand cracked across his cheek, causing him to stumble backward. I jumped at my reaction, brushing my mouth with my fingertips, gazing at him with wide eyes. It’d been an instinctual reaction to someone touching me. A male. Here. On these grounds.

I’m going inside. “I-I…” I swallowed, the words trapped in my throat.

“No, I shouldn’t have done that,” he said, his voice softening. He set his beer on a nearby bench, his expression falling into a mask of softness that I hated. It was the look of a man handling a frightened animal, and I didn’t want to be that frightened animal.

“It’s…” I trailed off, unable to voice it.

“The grounds.” He took a step forward, his hands before him as if to warn me of his intentions, to show his lack of a threat. “What happened to you here is a nightmare no one should have to live through. But you did. And you’re stronger for it.”

“Then why are you looking at me as if I might break?” I countered.

“Because I don’t want to get slapped again.” His lips twitched, his head angling to the side in a more playful manner. “And because you’re going to dance with me.”

I snorted. This arrogant side of him I could handle so much more than the one that pretended to care. “Go find another bridesmaid to fuck, Grigory.”

“Oh, I will. But I want to dance with you first.”

“Foreplay?” I taunted, arching a brow.

“Everything in life is merely an interlude to pleasure,” he replied, his grin wicked. “Dance with me.”

“No.” I abhorred male touch. It made my skin crawl. And the knowledge that I had the blood of one coursing through my veins brought bile to my throat. “I don’t want to dance.”

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