Page 49 of Vicious Fates and Vast Futures
Seren looks up tiredly. “Oh, I invited Olwyn. Hope you don’t mind, dear.”
I’m unimpressed but say nothing, of course. We haven’t figured out Olwyn’s motivations for partnering with the EA nor why she would want Alys dead. Nor have we, obviously, dealt with her just yet. Bryn wants her dead yesterday, but Adi is wavering, wanting to know why.
Olwyn ignores us and she sweeps her long dress to the side as she sits across from the queen. Her white-blond hair is piled up on her head in a fashionable, but again overdone, way. Her blue eyes rest on me for a moment before flicking away. I can feel her dismissal and it only makes me grin.Yes, spoiled princess, please do underestimate me.
However, when her eyes settle on Adelaide, I feel anger flare inside me at the way Olwyn inspects her as if she were something disgusting on the bottom of her shoe. Adi’s eyes flick to me and she raises an eyebrow at my anger dancing along the bond.
Olwyn takes a sip of tea. “Grandmother. You’re looking well. Have you started interviewing for a new captain?” Her words drip with double meaning.
Damn, what a bitch. She looks at me, gaze inquiring, then her eyes flick up and down me in a lecherous way. It makes me want to shower. I look away, to my mate, who has hate clear in her eyes.
Seren clears her throat to speak and Olwyn turns back to her. “I have, granddaughter, at the urging of my advisors.”
“Yet to find one who...fits?”
I look down at the table as my hands fist.
Seren blinks, her spine straightening. I think she’s finally figured out this cunt is taunting her. “I have not, Olwyn. And what of your time in FEC5? How did you find that?”
Oh shit. I forgot about that. While the court rumor mill thinks Adi was responsible, my mate had naught to do with that. That was all on the queen; she removed Olwyn and Avilion, probably for reasons.
Olwyn’s eyes glitter. “It was cold.”
The queen chuckles. “Yes, your mother’s temper needed time to cool off.”
I see hate flash behind Olwyn’s eyes and she answers quietly, “Yes, Mother indeed cooled off.”
Seren’s gaze turns hard and calculating. “Granddaughter, you never did tell me the details of the accident that befell my eldest daughter and former heir.”
Olwyn’s smile is chilly. “No, I didn’t, actually.”
My magic dances just below the surface of my skin; something is coming, I can tell, though I don’t know how. My hand reaches for Adi’s under the table as I slowly ease my chair back, ready for...whatever I’ll need to protect my mate from.
Seren sets her teacup down delicately and her eyes flash with the life she used to have. “You will tell me, Olwyn,” Seren says quietly, command filling her tone, “as I would like to know the cause of my child’s death. And why my contact in that court has suddenly,oddly, become...unavailable.”
Olwyn grins, her smile bloodthirsty, and I get ready to pounce. Not upon Olwyn, but upon my mate, to keep her safe.
Olwyn throws her teacup as her other hand extends. Time slows for me and I see the glow of magic around her. I jump, angling for Adelaide. Adi yells just as I crash us both to the floor. I roll so I’m protecting her body with mine and time seems to flow properly again, just as I see orange light flash over us. Thelight sears across my back like a hot iron. I use my magic to try to cool the air around it but I’m too distracted by keeping Adi safe.
Guards rush in, swords drawn, and heat glows again in the edge of my vision. I scoop up Adi and run for the door, pushing through more Queen’s Guard who are entering the fray. I look over my shoulder as I rush out and see charred bodies, including one where Seren was sitting.
Chapter Eleven
Bryn
