Page 150 of A Song of Air
Unseelie Deals
“Why haven’t you killedhim yet?”Bryson whispered into Weylyn’s mind.
As much as he wanted to lay languidly against the words and whisper to one another all night, he knew how dangerous such a thing was. Anyone could overhear. Here, at least, no one could infiltrate his mind or his thoughts. No one could listen and they could be as intimate with one another as they wanted.
“What?” His fingers paused against her hip, where he’d traced figures of stars and Unseelie animals of old.
“The king. Why haven’t you killed him yet?”
Weylyn’s entire body tensed like it always did whenever talk of the king came up. For years, he had held his hatred in so deeply, he’d choked on it. For years he had kept his plans so tightly leashed. Now that someone else knew them, he was almost afraid his mate would judge him. But she only ever asked with curiosity.
“You have had plenty of chances to kill him, haven’t you?”
“Not as many as you would think,” he confessed. “He is constantly surrounded by his courtiers. Getting him alone has not been such an easy task.”
“But what about Prince Valerio?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve been alone with him before, haven’t you? You’ve had time to kill him. The crown prince. You vowed to destroy the crown. Valerio is part of that crown. Why haven’t you killedhim?”
Weylyn resumed sliding his fingers against her hip. “Do you want the truth?”
“Always.”
“I do not know what the truth is.”
He had had plenty of opportunities to kill the sniveling Seelie heir. But anytime he wanted to, something always held him back. He told himself it was because of the dissatisfaction of the act. He would not enjoy it because the king would not bear witness to his line ending. Therefore, he could not strike. No matter how badly he wanted to.
“You know what I think?” Bryson turned so she was on her back and he leaned over her, his hair curtaining around her face.
She looked at him with a tenderness he’d never experienced before in his life. He never thought she would look at him that way. If he thought he’d loved her with all that hatred and anger she garnered inside and aimed his way, he found he loved this so much more.
“What do you think, my little mate?” He flashed his canines in a smile.
“I think you like the Seelie Prince.”
Those words had the smile dropping from his face in an instant.
“No.” Denial came easily. “Absolutely not.”
Bryson smiled wider. “You do. You like him which is why you haven’t killed him. It’s what’s been holding you back. Because he isn’t like his father.”
“The Seelie Prince is a fucking fool.”
“A fucking fool he may be, but you like him. Admit it.”
“No.”
Bryson poked his bare chest. “You do. I know it.”
“I have vowed to destroy the Seelie line. Feelings are irrelevant. That is not a confession,” he added hastily.
Like the Seelie Prince? He snorted and shook his head in his mate’s direction. The only thing he felt for the Ashera line was absolute contempt. The king was a cruel, remorseless bastard that deserved to die. The prince was an idiot who knew nothing of what it was to rule. His heart was far too soft, and it made him stupid.
