Page 140 of The Night Prince
Some of the tension inside me uncoils. James may not be as honorable as Callum, yet I believe him. He tried to help me in the amphitheater, even before he knew what I was. I have a feeling that there may be some good in him, buried deep.
James shrugs a big shoulder. “I know you found the idea of marriage to me abhorrent—”
“I find almost everything about you abhorrent.”
“Almost? Are you warming to me, Princess?”
“No. You’re not going to suggest we wed again, are you?”
He rolls his eyes. “That ship has long sailed away. Aye, you’re bonny enough, but I only asked you before to piss off the Southlands, and because I knew Blake was up to something. You should be in the north, with the Wolves. With my brother. His honor won’t let him marry another wolf’s mate, but still, a marriage alliance with Callum would be sensible. I hate to say it, but with all this talk of Night lately, I think something worse may be coming. We may need to unite the kingdoms to defeat this threat.”
“No,” I say.
James arches an eyebrow. “Don’t be stubborn. I know things are complicated between the two of you, but—”
“For our kingdoms to be united in marriage, my father would have to agree. He is ruler, not me.” I shake my head. “Even if he was willing to work with the people he has oppressed and killed, even if Callum could be persuaded to join forces with a monster, I will not be presented to the Wolves as a political pawn.”
My spine is like a rod as something wild and thorny jolts through me. I’m not sure why I’m telling James this, of all people, yet I feel like he’ll understand.
“My father has ruled for long enough,” I say over the roar of the waves. “He is not fit to be king. Philip has no designs on the throne, and with him in the Snowlands, there is only one heir left. With my father out of the way, the throne will fall to me. Maybe we need to bring the kingdoms together, but I won’t come to Callum as the princess of nothing, with no power or influence, and ask for an alliance. I will come to him as his equal. I will come to him as the queen.”
James’s eyes glint in the darkness. “I was planning on heading back to Highfell to challenge whoever the new alpha is, but if you need some help killing southerners, I think I’m long overdue a visit to your father.”
I assess him. Ruthless, with big powerful muscles and experience of ruling a kingdom. With me, he could shift at will, too. I don’t like him, but maybe he could be useful. It’s not as if I have many allies, so perhaps enemies with shared interests will have to do. “Hm. Perhaps.”
He releases a dark chuckle. “You really are warming to me.”
I open my mouth to refute his claim.
“Oi! Thanks for waiting!” Ryan shouts. He’s climbing up the steep rocky path toward us, his copper-colored hair plastered to his skull. His face breaks into a grin when he sees me. “Princess! How are you—”
His face pales. At the same time, the velvety scent of the forest caresses my senses, and that thread that’s coiled around my soul tightens. Ryan dips his head and scurries past James and me toward the Grey Keep. James shakes his head, amusement tickling his lips.
I turn around. Blake stands between us and the iron gates of the keep. The rain plasters his black shirt to his body, and the wind ruffles his hair. His eyes find mine, and that thread between us hums. At once, I’m falling and frozen.
Slipping his hands into his pocket, he walks toward us.
“Excellent plan, little rabbit,” he says, and I realize he was listening in on our conversation. A dimple punctures his cheek. “Would you like my help?”
Chapter Sixty-Three
Iforget how to speak.
As Blake stands before me on the cliff edge, the waves spraying the rocks below, I can partially understand Ryan’s desire to dip his head and get away from him. Dominance I hadn’t noticed before seems to roll off him. Perhaps I strengthened the bond between us, and now I’m more aware of him than before. Perhaps whatever links me to all Wolves senses the animal in him. He feels... dangerous.
It could just be how still he is as the elements rage around him, or the tension in his shoulders, despite the calculated dimple in his cheek. A streak of blood on his face mingles with the heavy rainfall, rolls down his cheek, and drips off his chin.
James grins. Widely. He grips Blake’s shoulder and turns to me. “See this? Stiff shoulders, hard biceps, tight jaw.” He points at Blake’s face. “Classic guarding signs. If I touched you now, Princess, he’d probably try to kill me.”
Blake flashes James a dangerous smile. “If you touchmeagain,I’ll remove your hand and insert it up your areshole.”
James laughs, and taps Blake lightly on the jaw. “Terrifying.” He starts to walk away toward the iron gates of the keep. Blake turns and kicks him lightly on the back of his knee, causing him to stumble. “Prick!”
“Cunt.” The corner of Blake’s lip twitches as he turns back to me. The realization slams into me that even though Blake and James would happily kill one another, Blake was part of James’s inner circle of alphas for two, maybe three, years. James knew Blake well enough to determine the true meaning of the bond before even Callum did. Perhaps they’re friends, in a way.
As the gates screech shut, and James’s footsteps are swallowed by the rain that hammers the ground and the sea, my stomach tightens. Blake and I are alone for the first time since I broke into his bedchambers and he was restrained by Lochlan’s men. We’re supposed to be enemies, working against one another, but he saved my life and I saved his.
He runs a hand over the back of his neck. He’s caged his emotions from me, but I think he feels as awkward, as uneasy, as I do.
