Page 65 of Dark Fire Kiss

Which was fitting, since I was probably going to die here.

My stomach twisted. I didn’t even know who was going to kill me. My father? If he was alive, he probably wouldn’t have bothered to send warriors after me. That left Aleksander or Grigory, and I honestly wasn’t sure which one was worse.

“Welcome home, Halina.”

My brother’s voice rumbled in the darkness. He sat on the throne dressed in black leather, his long hair pulled back from his face. My father’s ruby ring hung on a gold chain around his neck.

Grigory stood next to the throne, his reddened gaze pinned on me.

I jumped to my feet. “H-How long have you been there?”

Aleksander’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Long enough. I forgot how poor your night vision is.”

For some reason, the insult didn’t land as hard as it used to. I dusted off my butt. “Yeah, well, maybe if you weren’t dressed like Catwoman I would have noticed you.”

He frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Just a movie.”

His expression soured. “You’re different.”

“Because she’s been playing the whore for those creatures,” Grigory said, giving me a look like he’d like to kill me and then stuff my corpse and use it for target practice.

Aleksander went very still, his gaze never leaving mine. “Did you mate with them, Halina? Is that what happened?”

Apprehension lifted the hair on my nape. If they killed me, Bram and Fergus might die. Heartbreak was the only surefire way to kill a dragon. It had killed Bram’s parents. I couldn’t let that happen to Bram…or Fergus. But I had no options! The only tactic I could think of was to drag the conversation out as long as possible.

I met Aleksander’s stare. “You sent me for the tears. Didn’t you receive them?”

Grigory hissed. “You’re in no position to ask questions!”

“You’re wearing father’s ring,” I told Aleks. “And his dagger.” The hilt glinted on Aleks’s hip.

Aleks shrugged. “I was his heir.”

“Was? Is he dead?”

“Don’t you feel it?” His gaze grew intense, like he genuinely wanted to know. “The Blood has chosen.”

I…didn’t. But I wasn’t going to admit it. He didn’t need any other reasons to mock my weaknesses. “Well, congratulations on getting the throne.” I’ll just see myself out.

“What happened with the dragons?” Aleksander asked. “Did you sleep with them?”

Every cell in my body recoiled. I wouldn’t let him take something sacred and make it tawdry. I’d watched from the shadows as my father wielded diplomacy in this very room. Sometimes, the best way to answer a question was by asking another one. “You sent me for the tears. I got them and I sent them back. Why didn’t you give them to father?”

“He died.”

“Before or after you withheld the tears?”

Grigory’s voice was sharp as a knife. “Watch your tongue, whore.”

Rage flooded me, and I forgot to moderate my tone. “If I’m a whore it’s because you made me one, Uncle. Or did you forget about threatening to rip out my throat?”

“A role you were born to. Like mother, like daughter.” He flashed his fangs. “You should have never been permitted to live. I should have smothered you, just like I did her.”

All the air left my lungs. “You…” He’d killed my mother. My voice went hoarse. “Why?”

His eyes flashed as red as my father’s ring. “Every weakness makes the territory vulnerable. Ludovic fucked anything that would stay still long enough, and look what it got him. A bastard halfling with no power and a humiliating death.”

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