Page 22 of Risen
But Robin was already struggling with her instincts and her lack of control over our current situation with Acacia and the emperor, and everything else that was going on.And this was one step too far for her.
“That may be how the world works foryou,” she said in that soft, deadly tone that hid a furious predator.“You may get to bend everyone to your whims and take what you want.But the rest of the world doesn’t operate that way, omega.Alphas don’tshare.What use is loyalty if it’s divided?”
I clamped my mouth shut on the urge to point out to her that she was wrong.That she shared plenty of things with Martina, who was also an alpha.That the court was all loyalto each otherand that was more powerful than the singular loyalty a ruling alpha demanded.She was too far gone, gripped by the instincts of the beast inside her.And my arguing would only make it worse.
She slid from her seat, shaking off my hand as her fiery aura swelled and ebbed, swirling and unstable.“Is there anyone in my court whoisn’tfucking the naga these days?”she spat out.
I rubbed my forehead as a headache started to form.“Robin—” I started, despite knowing better.But she cut me off.
“No.I understand why you’ve chosen to bond yourself to the disgusting snake.And your pet faun follows you wherever you go, so I can hardly be surprised at his lusting after him as well.I’ve made an exception for you because of our circumstances, Ruya.And I’m sure the whole court will need to lean on the naga asshole when this is all over and I am gone.”Her aura flared with searing heat, but her voice was ice cold.“But I refuse to let everything I’ve built keep slipping away.I won’t share any of my other mates with another alpha while I still draw breath.”
The water rippled as she moved across the pool and onto dry land, and we were all silent until her powerful, unstable aura left the cave.Everyone was probably as aware as I was that trying to speak to her now would only make things worse.
“Dusek.”Sadavir’s voice was full of understanding.
“Bud, don’t even try to run off and mope,” Sanka said, his tone far less understanding, and more exasperated.“You didn’t do anything wrong.That’s just her dragon alpha bullshit talking.You know full well she can share just fine.”
“You clearly have horrid taste in men,” Yukio said, his dry tone cutting through the tension as evenheadded his support.“But nowhere in our pledge to this court did any of us ever agree to let the alpha tell us who we can fuck.You haven’t done anything wrong, bubak.Stupid, maybe.Bound to cause issues.But notwrong.”
Martina sighed.“Dusek.She’s just mad because she’s been waiting for you to get past your issues and crawl into her bed for a few decades now.It’s just jealousy.Fueled by a little missing-magic insanity.Don’t take it personally.”
Still, the bubak was silent, his dark aura hovering in the center of the pool as if he had completely frozen, shut down and unable to move.
“Can we please talk about something more important than Dusek’s relationship dilemma?”Josh said flatly.
I tilted my head in his direction, surprised at his coldness.Surely he, of anyone, could understand Dusek’s need to belong and be seen—and his attraction to Sadavir.“What is more important than keeping this court together when everyone seems dead-set on cutting themselves off from the connection we all so sorely need?”I demanded.
He sighed.“Maybe the fact that she just admitted, out loud, that she doesn’t plan to live much longer.Did you all know that your alpha was planning for this whole revenge thing to be a suicide mission?Surely you are not okay with this.I thought you loved her!”
Oh.That.
I slumped, my shoulders rounding with the weight of his words.“I already knew,” I murmured softly.Maybe I should have told the others, tried to muster them to help me convince her that it didn’t have to end that way.But that felt like a futile endeavor and—
“We all did, I think,” Martina said flatly, halting my self-flagellating thoughts.
Sanka sighed.“Yeah.I just keep telling myself I’m being paranoid.But… yeah, it’s been obvious for a while now.”
Yukio make a “tsk,” of sound, and the buzz of his wings sent a fine spray of water misting into the air around us.“She’s just being dramatic.All assassins have a moment here or there when they tell themselves the same thing.That the mission is worth completing at any cost, yadda, yadda.Stop making those disgustingly sad faces.”
He sounded confident, but I thought there was more hope in his words than true conviction.
Sadavir surprised me when he spoke, calm determination echoing along our bond.“I should not have pushed her as I did.I only thought to bridge the gap between us and ease her self-isolation from you, Ruya.”His big hand stroked over my head and down my back.“And I only thought to help Dusek feel included.”
He sighed.“I have spoken with the elders, and they have agreed to offer support when we go up against the syndicate.I promise your dragon will not bear this responsibility alone.There will be no need for her to make such a steep sacrifice.”
He wants to protect her.Cicely’s whisper in my mind echoed my own shocked thoughts.
And just what didthatmean?
“Come here, Ru,” Sanka said, jolting me out of my spiraling thoughts.“Sadavir didn’t bring us all down here so you could leave just as tense and stressed out as ever.”I let him turn me around, then groaned when he moved behind me and started massaging my shoulders, letting his firm touch and the hot water ease the tension there.
I tried not to let it get to me when I felt Dusek silently leave the room.The full moon was looming, and with it, Acacia’s meeting with the emperor and the syndicate’s downfall.There would be time to repair all these new rifts in the court later.Once our mission was complete.
I hoped.
Chapter 10
Josh
