Page 320 of Kingdoms of Night

“Evolution?” I repeat.

“Originally, the southerners were taken as servants, but as your kind changed, we saw a better use. As your lifespan diminished, your kind evolved to breed more readily than ours. Pureblooded fae struggle to bear children, while mortals reproduce like rabbits.”

If I thought I couldn’t be more shocked, I was wrong. “We’re breeding stock?”

“Indeed, pretty pet. If you’d been a skilled person, we might have found additional uses for you, but there’s no other purpose for a princess, really. You’re to keep my cock wet and my balls empty until you swell with my child.”

I don’t know why I’m shaken. He’s said as much in many different ways since claiming me. But children? I’m not only to debase myself, but also bring innocent lives into this mess?

My jaw’s set, and so is my mind. I’ve never felt more resolved about anything in my entire life.

I open my mouth and say just one word. It’s final and determined. “No.”

I’d rather die than let him not only use me, but mychild.

King Dryan only laughs. And why wouldn’t he? He doesn’t take anything about me seriously.

There’s something he doesn’t understand, though.

I like children. I always have. I find them delightful; they bring out the best in us. The thought of corrupting and enslaving mine from before birth is unbearable.

So I decide not to bear it.

I get out of the bath, forcing myself to ignore the heat of his gaze, and I walk away from the hearth, away from him and the pets at his feet. He must think I’m heading to his humongous bed. He doesn’t know better. As I expected, he only thinks to act after I’ve already opened the window and launched myself in the cold, emptiness of the night below.

I close my eyes, forcing myself not to think about the inevitable pain. I’ll be free in no time. Damned, if the books haven’t lied to me, but they’ve lied about everything else, and I was already damned in this life anyway.

Something latches around my middle, and though it’s hard and cold, I don’t feel nearly as much pain as I would have expected. My fall comes to a halt, and I open dazed, confused eyes.

Dryan. He’s right here, halfway down the tower, and against all logic, I’m no longer falling. I’m going up.

Two humongous wings, iridescent like those of crows, bat along his strong back, and we fly up the tower, then right back into his room.

I notice the window’s broken, and the wine he’d been sipping stains his white rug, its cup thrown aside. He must have followed in a hurry, to catch me on time.

I never thought he’d bother.

“All right. You have my attention.” I thought him scary before. It’s nothing to the wrath I read in his eyes as he snarls down at me. “Let’s play it your way.”

CHAPTERTEN

I’m shaking on my feet, both at the enormity of what I just did—or attempted to do—and out of fear of the consequences.

I’ve seen that look on my father many a time. Until now, Dryan wasn’t angry. I crossed a line. I took back my power, interfering with what he considers his. His blue eyes are ice. I can tell he wants to hurt me. And he will.

“Cass, Iara.” He doesn’t raise his voice, but I feel his timbre resonate under my feet, vibrating in the air.

His bedroom door opens and two of his kind stroll in—the tall, slender man I’ve already encountered, and another woman, this one catching my attention thanks to the breastplate over her leather tunic and two daggers at her belt. Her muscular bare arms are decorated with markings similar to Dryan’s, and she holds herself like a knight, ever watchful and ready to draw her blades.

She brings her fist to her heart and bends respectfully.

I’ve never seen a woman act like a warrior. I’ve no doubt stared for longer than is polite, when her eyes catch mine. She raises a curious brow, taking me in from head to foot and I’m horrified to realize I’m completely naked.

So is Dryan, for that matter, but he doesn’t seem to mind.

I reach out toward the sheet on the bed to cover myself, but Dryan’s fist grasps my wrist before I can. “Oh, I think not, puppet. Badly behaved pets don’t get any privileges.”

I gape at him, but he’s already redirected his attention to the newcomers.

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