Page 53 of The Beast King's Bride

“Stop, Jas. Nobody is even looking or listening. We grew up together, for Maab’s sake. You’re only bowing to make fun of me.”

“Never, Sire.” But a grin flits over his face.

With a huff, I limp into my room and it’s a relief to finally let the mask fall.

“Just how bad is it?” Jassin asks as he pulls off my boot and I grind my teeth together. He peels the bandage off and winces. “Ugh. The sark did a number on you.”

“I wasn’t expecting it.”

“Nobody ever does, Talen. So are we going to finally talk about the incident in the bathhouse?”

“It was a one-off. The monsters aren’t awake during the day. It must be something else.”

“Or we’re running out of time.” He grabs the bottle of spirits I have on my table and pours it over the cuts. “This thing is poisonous, you know.”

“I realized,” I say drily, keeping a hiss of pain behind my teeth at the burn.

“At this rate, you won’t last to the end of your time.”

He’s teasing. I say nothing. Instead, I grab the bottle and take a swig. It burns like fire going down my throat.

“But there’s still lots of time left,” he goes on, wrapping a fresh bandage around my leg. “Years. I mean, I know her Evil Highness has taken off years for infractions but… Show me your side. I want to see how that iron-caused wound is doing.”

I let him lift my shirt, poke at every sore spot. Too tired to argue. Too damn exhausted to care.

“You’re very quiet.” Jassin wraps another bandage around my middle and it seems the torture session of the day is over.

“So observant of you.”

“I know you, Talen. You’re hiding something.”

“Only something? You think highly of me. Meanwhile, the human thinks I’m a mindless beast.”

“You didn’t do much to dispel that notion.”

“I am a beast, Jas. You know it. And I never thought I would, but I want her.”

He steps back and I expect a lecture, but he only says, “Be careful. You’re too direct with your advances. She’s human, not Fae. She may not like it.”

“She liked it well enough when I kissed her.”

“Don’t jeopardize everything for your dick, Talen. Remember how the Empress got her power.”

I wince. “You don’t need to remind me.”

“And yet it seems I do.” He glances up, eyes earnest, as he finishes pulling off my other boot and starting work on my britches. “I understand. She’s a pretty human and you’ve been run ragged by the curse. She’s a welcome distraction—but a distraction is something she cannot be. We need her. You need her. And no, I don’t mean that you need her underneath you, moaning your name. I know that look in your eye. Maab, you really are a beast.”

I laugh and ruffle his hair. “Go back to your tasks, Jas. Leave me. I’ll be fine.”

“But Talen—”

“Go. Find someone to make love to. Don’t waste your life, Jas, not for this. This is all doomed anyway.”

“Don’t say that,” he says fiercely. “We’ll manage to lift the curse. You’ll see. Ash—Princess Elayne—will do it.”

“She doesn’t even know what’s expected of her. Doesn’t even know what I am.”

“About the latter. You have to tell her.”

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