Page 52 of Vicious Princess
When I reach the edge of the room, I find shelter behind one of the massive columns framing the space. I press my back to the cold, hard stone and hold a palm over my chest as I wait for my heart to stop racing.
I didn’t expect to see King Francis nor his commander. Not tonight. Not so soon. Not before I have become a worthy opponent. An opponent who makes theirs knees weak as fear seizes their muscles.
My hands tremble. The need to scream, thrash, and tear through the crowd until I have King Francis’s neck between my fingers overwhelms me. I want to watch his eyes widen as life dims in them.
That corrupt bastard betrayed my family, my dad and mom, who both spent their lives serving as two of his most loyal soldiers. All because he needed someone to sacrifice, someone to blame for the rebellion that threatens his throne.
If they see me and recognize me…I have no clue what King Francis will do. Until I’m an Ezkai, under the protection of the Order, I have no desire to find out.
“What are you doing here?”
Daegel’s voice makes me flinch. He stands a few feet away from me, a glass of plum blossom wine in hand.
From his cold gaze and passive facial expression, I can’t tell who’s asking me this question: the Ezkai Major who loves to emphasize I’m a mere human, or the man I had sex with who was desperately panting in my ear, wanting to see me again.
I blink, then clear my throat. “I’m here with Ezkai Gavriel and the rest of the cadet group. It’s part of our history and politics lecture.”
“I’m aware. That’s not what I’m asking.”
I bristle. “Then what are you asking?”
“I’m asking why are you hiding behind a column in the middle of a soiree while hyperventilating?”
“I wasnothyperventilating.”
A corner of his lips twitches upwards. “My bad. You were on thevergeof hyperventilating.”
I press my lips into a thin line. I don’t want to tell him the truth. I don’t think I can. But if I tell him a half-truth, one about me being overwhelmed with Ezkai Academy and what it truly means to be one of the Ezkai and how intricate this world of Ekios politics is…
When I don’t answer, his voice drops a few octaves, and he says, “You should have told me you were about to join Ezkai Academy as a cadet that night at the bar.”
Anger flares back to life.
“Seriously?Maybeyoushould have told me you were an Ezkai Major and an instructor at Ezkai Academy.”
“You knew I was an Ezkai. I gave you my first name and my family name. I wasn’t hiding anything.”
“I wasn’t hiding anything either,” I snap.
I was just lost in the reckless joy of finally being on the right path to my goal. I was looking for a way to blow off steam, a way to forget all that I left behind to pursuethis.
I’m careful with my next words. “Will you…turn me in? Let the administration know I had sex with you without telling you I’d joined the academy?”
His eyebrows rise all the way to his hairline. “Don’t you think if that were my intention, I would have done it already?”
“I thought about it.”
“Clearly not enough.”
His arrogance drives me wild.
“What the fuck do you want?” I cross my arms over my chest. “In your lectures, you treat me like I’m beneath you, just like the rest of the fae, by the way.” I glance around to make sure nobody is listening and drop my voice. “But that night at the bar, if I remember correctly, you were more than eager to not onlyfuckme but also see me again. Is this asshole treatment your revenge for hurt ego and pride? Like, ‘How dare this filthyyrathirefuse to have sex with me again?’”
“Damn, you really put some thought into this. Yet still missed the mark like you so often do during my training.”
I grind my teeth, heat creeping up from my chest towards my neck and face.
Ouch.
