Page 73 of Princess of Thorns and Ruin

Alec reaches inside the pocket of his jacket and unveils a long, aconite-coated blade, the scent masked by his cologne but present all the same. “Cut the bullshit and tell us the whole truth.”

Keenan purses his lips to one side, his eyes wrinkled like he’s about to smile. “Yer first-blood has what it takes to be one of mine. It’s a rare thing to find a mortal compatible with my special strain of disease. Felipe wants him dead, and for that, I cannot stand.”

“I don’t want to be like you,” Leo growls.

“Ye’ve got years to change your mind. I won’t let some old fart King deprive ye of them. Not if I can help it.” He lifts his chin in my direction. “And that necklace is actually cursed. Once you take your vows, the spell will activate, and you’ll have to obey Felipe Pereira’s every command.”

A violent chill takes a hold of me. “I—I can’t take it off.” The clasp seems to be stuck, and Alec swears as he tries and fails to snap it off my neck.

Tears flood my eyes, and I hold out an arm for Alec to stop. I need a minute to think. If the necklace is cursed, maybe a spell now prevents us from opening the clasp. The repetitive buzzing sound coming from Alec’s phone echo through the room as I draw in a slow breath.

My lover finally digs his phone from his pocket and brings it to his ear. “What?” he barks, stepping closer to the balcony.

“I need to speak with the princess. Let me in,” Lucas says loudly from the hallway, probably met with resistance by Alec’s second-in-command, Jude. “Ari… Come on, it’s important,” my ex-best-friend whines through the closed door.

No. No Ari, not after the way he treated me yesterday.

I school my face into a mask of boredom not to give my true intentions away and crack open the door. “I am your princess, soon to be your queen, Lord Pereira, and you will address me as such.”

“As you wish, your Majesty.” Lucas’ face is a graveyard, his skin so white, I almost don’t recognize him. “Something is happening. Nobody will tell me anything, but everyone is acting weird.”

I grip the chain around my neck. “What’s happening is that your uncle plans to enslave me with this wretched thing.”

Alec joins me by the door. He brings a hand to his mouth, and his edges shimmer like he’s shaking too fast for my eyes to see. “Jude. Please let Lord Pereira inside.”

Jude pushes Lucas inside the room and closes the door behind them.

“Your highness, it was Sebastian Chastain on the phone. Your brother, Victor, was just killed,” Alec croaks. “He was ambushed at the airfield.”

I stand, shocked, my blood pounding like a drum at my temples. If Victor is dead, that means…

My lover bends the knee. “Long live the Dark Queen.”

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