Page 86 of The King's Omega
Selene spoke first. “I captured her for you, my lord. She was with these men. I told you she was a traitorous whore.”
“Bring her,” Milian growled at Selene, but his ice blue eyes on me were terrifyingly blank. “Rigol’s finally awake.”
“Did he assign you his heir?” Selene cursed when Milian shook his head.
“No. He didn’t respond to the torture, and he’s still so weak from the poison, I’m afraid he’ll die if I go much further. But now we have leverage again.” He nodded to the men in the room. “Guards, take Rigol’s men. Selene, if they resist slit the girl’s throat.”
Tarn, Lorn, and Axe did not struggle, to my shock. Maybe they didn’t think they could overpower that many guards, even if they were temporarily indestructible. Maybe it was still the blade so close to my neck holding them back. Tarn put a finger over his lips before the guards grabbed his arms. They must have a plan.
When they shoved Tarn past, he pretended to stumble against my side, and something tumbled into my dress pocket.
The dagger. It wasn’t much, but it was better than being unarmed.
The funk of suffering and illness pervaded the king’s bedchambers. If Selene hadn’t held me, knife at my throat, I would have run to him.
Rigol was lying on a blood-soaked quilt, his wrists and ankles bound with thick, stained rope. His face… Goddess, I almost vomited when I saw what they’d done. They’d beaten him badly and torn one of his ears so that it hung at an angle away from his skull. Blood matted his hair and crusted over his neck, while deep cuts on his exposed arms slowly wept blood.
His nose had been broken as well, and both eyes were swollen and purple. “Rigol!” Milian shouted. “Wake up. I have a visitor to see you.”
He tried to open his eyes, and I let out a sob before I could stop myself. “V-Vali?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” I replied. My heart ached for him, and I fought to control my reaction while Milian watched.
“No,” he murmured, eyes closing again. “Still d-dreaming.”
Milian wrenched me away from Selene and dragged me across the floor, closer to Rigol’s bed. Up close, the evidence of torture was even more horrific. “He’s been calling for you for a week, Selene tells me. For you. Apparently, he’s in love.”
“I didn’t know that,” I said, wondering if it was true. Hoping that it was.
Milian’s grip became bruising. “Lies again. I would have made you my queen. Now you’ll be my whore.”
“Not much difference between the two, as far as I can tell,” I spat, wondering where I’d gotten the courage. But then I looked at Rigol and knew. He was my king, my choice.
My Alpha.
I wasn’t sure if he loved me, but I loved him. Somehow, somewhere, I’d fallen in love with the grumpy kitten thief.
He and I together would save the country, somehow. All I needed was an idea, and a little bit of luck. But not my normal kind of luck. I sent up a quick prayer and straightened my shoulders. “Milian, I will never accept you. Rimholt will never accept you.”
“You’re already mine. You married me. You’re the King’s Omega, and mine to treat how I wish.” He clucked his tongue on his teeth. “Someday, I hope you’ll forgive me for what I’m about to do. If Selene had done her work for me, none of this would be necessary.” His icy eyes were flat, no emotion at all reflected in them, save a strange sort of measured lust.
But not for my body. He was aroused by the thought of hurting me. “You’re a monster.”
Milian rolled his eyes as if I was being overly dramatic. “Selene, get me rope, and—girl—bring that chair.” For an instant, I thought he was asking me to get the chair, until I saw a cowering servant in the corner. She stumbled over, placing the chair in front of me.
I forced my face to stillness. Luck, indeed. It was Sorcha’s eldest niece, Dahlia. Suddenly, Sorcha’s words were in my mind.Servants are invisible, and we’re always listening.
Or watching. I kept my hands low, using them to tell Dahlia what had gone on. “Vilkurn is in the tunnels,” I signed. “King’s men are all…” I hesitated. How to say powerful, invincible? “Filled with Omega juice.”
Dahlia’s lips quirked. She signed back. “Understood. What do I do?”
But I had no idea what came next. I only knew that I needed to get Rigol alone and heal him. I told her that.
Milian tied my ankles, waist, and one of my wrists to the chair. He gripped my other arm and pulled out a jeweled knife while Selene propped Rigol up on pillows for a better view. She splashed water on his face to get him to rouse, and I choked back a sob as he let out a groan of pain.
“So, Rigol,” Milian said, “I have your little pet here, and I will give you ten chances to make the right choice to keep her alive.”
I shivered. Ten chances? Why did that sound so ominous?
