Page 78 of Insidious Monsters
I shrugged. “Must be the human in me.”
She glanced back into the ballroom. I followed her gaze to find Barathos leading Lothos away.
“Where are they going? Do you know?”
She shook her head and wrung her hands. “I should have suspected Barathos had an ulterior motive to his proposal.” She gnawed on her bottom lip. “I heard the rumors about the rift walker who slighted him. Barathos does not like to be denied. Trust me, I know. I’ve steered clear of his orbit for years, but he found me yesterday, out of the blue. He offered me the position as his nova prima.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I didn’t want to accept, but my family is in dire straits financially. Barathos agreed to clear our debt.”
Wait, so Barathos had only signed with Dahlia once Lothos told him we definitely had a contract.
He signed with her when he knew he couldn’t get me, but why? “Were you and Lothos lovers?”
She sucked in a breath again. “Your bluntness will take some getting used to.”
“Well?”
“Lothos and I are childhood friends. Our families were close, and we were betrothed for a time.”
“So what happened?”
“War. Politics. Our betrothal ended. I haven’t seen Lothos in decades.”
“Until now. What is Barathos planning?”
“I wasn’t aware Lothos would be here. I didn’t realize he was using me for some nefarious purpose.”
I arched a brow. “Really? The prince you’ve been avoiding for decades, who probably knew where you were all that time, shows up on your doorstep and offers to clear your family debt in exchange for you being his nova prima, and you don’t wonder why?”
“I wondered, of course, but…”
“It didn’t matter, because you’d do whatever it took for your family.”
She gave me a watery smile. “Barathos has been nothing but gentle and kind.”
“It didn’t look like he was being very gentle just now. He hurt you.”
She looked confused. “Yes. It’s the first time he’s done that.”
“And it probably won’t be the last.” I needed to speak to Lothos and figure out what Barathos was up to, because I was certain that this Failte was more than a welcome party for me.
twenty
LOTHOS
The door to the study closed behind me. Barathos strode over to a drinks tray and poured two glasses of nectar. He held one out to me. Declining would be rude, so I took it even though I didn’t intend to drink a drop.
“What are you playing at, Barathos?”
“Playing?” Barathos sipped his drink, dark eyes gleaming as stars burst in their depths. “I don’t play, Lothos. You know that.”
“Why Dahlia? You always said she was weak. You said you liked your females with backbone because they were harder to break.”
“I did, didn’t I?” He smirked, and I suddenly knew what his play was.
“No.”
His brows flicked up. “Are you sure about that, Lothos? You know how I like to play. Dahlia won’t survive it. It’ll break her and you’ll be responsible.”
“I am not responsible for your actions.”
