Page 71 of Bonded Chaos

Fucking Ryker.

I doubted it would matter if I told them I was here against my will, and that I’d gladly leave if the prince would kindly remove the contraption from my throat.

“You don’t even have the decency to be ashamed of yourself,” Celeste scoffed.

I felt my temper flare at her words, but I forced myself to remain calm. Getting into a shouting match with Lady Barrington would do me no favors.

Her eyes narrowed at my lack of response, and she took a step closer, her manicured hands clenching into fists at her sides.

“You think you’re so special, don’t you? That you can waltz in here and steal what’s mine?”

“What I think,” I drawled, “is that this conversation is pointless. I am a guest of the Crown Prince. Any objections you may have should be raised with him directly.”

Guestwas a stretch, but the venomous viper before me didn’t need to know the details of my captivity.

Celeste’s eyes dropped to the collar that adorned my throat, and a cruel smile twisted her lips.

My stomach sank with dread as I braced for her next words.

“A guest? Is that what they’re calling royal pets these days?”

Her companions tittered behind her, and I felt heat rush to my cheeks. I longed to slap the smug look off her face, but I knew better than to raise my hand to her. Her betrothal to the Crown Prince made it clear she held a position of influence within the Unseelie Court.

Instead, I stood, smoothing my skirts as I faced her.

One of Celeste’s companions, a redhead with features pinched in perpetual disapproval, piped up. “I heard she’s not even Unseelie. How the prince could lower himself to indulge in Seelie scum is beyond me.”

My spine stiffened with her words. I didn’t know how she knew about my heritage, but that knowledge put me in imminent danger.

The animosity between the Seelie and Unseelie kingdoms was legendary, and it wasn’t unusual for innocent bystanders to be caught up in the crosshairs of that enmity.

“That got your attention, didn’t it?” Celeste sneered.

Her lips curled into a predatory smile as her eyes glinted with excitement. I felt my power swirl to life inside me. The familiar hum comforted me as it pleaded with me to let it loose. To let it show these vain bitches who they were messing with.

But I needed a viable escape plan before unleashing my magic, and right now, I had none.

“Here’s how this is going to go,” Celeste purred. “You’ll make the prince lose interest in you. Run away, disappear, or fall into another man’s bed, I don’t care. But you will clear my path to the throne, or I’ll expose your little secret to the Unseelie Court and let them tear you to shreds.”

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. If I could get the prince to lose interest in me, I’d have done it already. The man was controlling and possessive. I doubted there was anything I could do to make him leave me alone. He had already ensured I couldn’t run, and if I fell into another man’s arms, he’d sooner kill them and fuck me on their corpse just to remind me who I belonged to.

The man was unhinged like that.

Despite the impossibility of the task Celeste was asking of me, I was unable to deny the very serious nature of her threat against me.

But I also couldn’t cower before this woman. Those who thrived on intimidation and control never relented unless someone forced them. Even if, by some miracle, I convinced Ryker to let me go, she wouldn’t be satisfied until I was crushed beneath her boots, with no chance of ever rising to threaten her ambition.

Decision made, I squared my shoulders and lifted my chin.

“Lady Barrington,” I began cordially. “It speaks volumes about your own insecurities if you feel the need to resort to threats just to hold the attention of a man.”

Celeste gasped and took a step back as though I had slapped her.

Pressing my advantage, I reclaimed the space between us before continuing. “Have you ever considered that perhaps the prince’s desire to be rid of you has nothing to do with me, and everything to do with the vile person you’ve proven yourself to be?”

Celeste’s face flushed with anger, and her eyes narrowed to slits.

“How dare you speak to me that way! You’re just a common whore, unworthy to even breathe the same air as nobility.”

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