Page 163 of Cruelly Bitten
I’d rather burn the fucking world down than sacrifice her life for it.
The hero you loved is dead. Consider me your villain instead,I added, furious at my former self for jeopardizing our souls in such a way.
Ismerelda squirmed a little beside me but didn’t reply, her mind whirring with everything I’d said and all her recollections from the past.
She’d been furious with my choices on more than one occasion. However, she’d told herself that what I’d done was right, that she was wrong for feeling upset.
Now it seemed that she was conflicted about all those instances and second-guessing her mental chastisement.
You have every right to be angry,I told her.What I did was wrong. I should have at least provided you with a voice in the decision.
Yet I hadn’t even done that.
I’d just run off and played my hand without a single care for what mattered most to me—my heart.
How did I miss that before?I wondered, studying her profile now.How was I so blind when you first woke up in the underground?
Hell, how had I missed this connection with her when she’d arrived in Rome?
I’d been too caught up in Lilith’s bullshit to realize what Ismerelda had meant to me.
Fortunately, my lioness had been ruthless and cunning when it came to reminding me of her place by my side.
I just hoped my behavior hadn’t ruined us entirely.
“They’re going to love learning that,” Ryder drawled, his words returning me to the table and our present company.
Apparently, they’d chosen to speak while I’d been distracted with Ismerelda.
“It’ll sway them to our side,” Jace pointed out.
Sway who?I repeated, unsure of what they were discussing since I hadn’t been paying them any attention.
The lycans, Ismerelda whispered back to me.They were talking about Lilith’s experiments, specifically the ones involving the shifters.
I see.I drew my thumb along her arm again.Thank you.
“And what side would that be?” Ryder asked him. “What is it you think we’re going to do here? Your king is broken.” He gestured toward me with the words, causing my eyebrow to cock upward. “And your entire plan hinged on him telling us what to do.”
“Our plan involved Cam reclaiming his throne,” Jace returned, a note of irritation lurking in his tone, thus deepening his English accent. “He’s the oldest of vampire kind, and Lilith lied about his death. The Blood Alliance isn’t going to take kindly to that, especially when they learn what she was doing with him.”
“Yes, the weapon is going to sway several of the royals away from Lilith’s reign,” Darius added.
“Which means what exactly?” Kylan interjected. “Lilith is dead. There’s no reign for them to follow.”
“There’s Cam’s reign,” Jace stressed. “He’s the eldest. It’s his rightful position. And when he tells them what Lilith was up to, no one will want to openly support her former rule. They’ll be more amenable to change.”
“You’re assuming I want to lead.” Something I would have claimed as my right yesterday, but a lot had happened since then. “This isn’t my mess to clean up or to magically fix. So what if I prefer to tell you all to fuck off instead?”
Ismerelda stiffened beside me, her surprise rippling through our bond. She hadn’t expected me to say that.
And it seemed that sentiment was shared among several others in the room.
“You were right, Jace. This was absolutely worth waiting for,” Kylan deadpanned, his hand gesturing toward me. “He’s a political genius. We’re saved.”
“What is it you expected me to do?” I demanded. “Pull a magic wand out of my ass and rewrite history?”
“That would be an entertaining trick,” Ryder mused. “But no. I think they expected you to have some sort of revolutionary plan on how to lead the alliance into a future where humans have a few more rights.”
