I lifted my head from the straw and whispered, “Liar.”
Perhaps I’d gone too far in my attempt to keep her focused on me because the rage that poured from her reminded me of the sound she’d made when she turned on Mazeen.
Fuck.
That kind of anger gave a person unbelievable strength. She reared back, breaking my hold. Then, jumping to her feet above me, she lifted her foot. I caught it before she could stomp on my throat, pulling her leg down so she didn’t run. If she did, she would likely engage another.
Poppy hit the floor beside me, and not even one breath later, I felt her fist hitting my side with enough force to crack my ribs.
“Damn,” Kieran drawled.
“Should we intervene?” Delano asked as she moved to punch me again. I blocked her with my arm.
“No.” Elijah laughed. The fucker. “This is the best thing I’ve seen in a while. Who would’ve thought the Maiden could throw down?”
“This is why you don’t mix business with pleasure,” Kieran commented.
“Is that the case?” Elijah whistled. I knew damn well he already suspected that, but he was a bastard. “My money is on her then.”
“Traitors,” I gasped as I knocked Poppy’s hands aside as she started grabbing for my head, likely trying to snap my neck. Honestly, I would’ve let her just to see if she could do it, but this had to end before she hurt herself.
Or me.
I moved faster than she could stop, coming over her and forcing her onto her back. She went for my face this time. I caught her wrists. “Stop it.”
Poppy was not ready to stop.
She lifted her hips, trying to throw me. She then pushed with her upper body, but I kept her pinned and scanned the front of her shirt. The material was dark, but it looked darker at the waist.
“Get off me!” she screamed.
“Stop it,” I said. “Poppy. Stop—”
“I hate you!” She tore one hand free, shocking me with her strength. She was strong—stronger than even I realized. Then she—
Her fist snapped my head back again. Stinging pain erupted across my mouth.
“I hate you!” she shouted as I caught her hand once more.
I pressed it back to the ground, lips peeling back as blood trickled from my mouth. “Stop it!”
Poppy stopped.
Finally.
Only her chest rose as she stared up at me.
“That’s why you never really smiled,” she whispered.
At first, I didn’t realize what she meant, and then I knew she’d seen what I’d barely managed to hide from her this entire time. My fangs.
Poppy shuddered beneath me, her arms going limp. “You’re a monster.”
I stilled above her, the pain of her words, the truth of them, stabbing deep, but I shut it off. I felt nothing. I was nothing as I said, “You finally see me for what I am.”
Poppy’s lips trembled, her eyes glistening. She pressed her mouth shut, holding back tears. The desire to comfort her, the want to see how she was injured, threatened to shatter the hold I had on myself. The fight was out of her. I needed that.
But it wasn’t what I wanted.
Still, it was what I deserved.
NOT EVERYTHING WAS A LIE
“When I told Delano to put her somewhere safe…” I told Kieran, who was waiting for me in the now-empty stables as I washed the blood from my face with a clean bucket of water.
He’d waited after I handed Poppy off to Delano and warned the others not to touch her as I went out into the cold woods.
I had to cool off. Physically. Mentally. Everything. Because I was on the brink of losing control, likely to do something I’d regret.
Like tearing out the hearts of those who’d demanded Poppy’s death.
If I did that, shit would go south. Poppy’s life was on the line. So was Malik’s. The entire fucking kingdom was at risk. I needed that calm. I found it.
I dragged the towel over my face. “I didn’t mean the dungeons.”
“Yeah, well, it’s likely the only place she won’t be able to escape and slaughter everyone,” he replied dryly.
“True. Do you know how Phillips figured shit out?”
“Not sure, but like I said before, he’d been asking questions since the moment we left Masadonia.”
I supposed it didn’t matter now, but if he’d only kept his suspicions to himself—fuck, it wasn’t the man’s fault. He’d only been doing his duty.
“Word arrived from home.” Shoving open the barn door, I started across the packed snow. “Alastir finally learned of my plans.”
Kieran cursed. “We knew this would happen no matter what Emil managed.”
“Yeah, except that’s not all.” Yanking open the side door to the keep, I held it for Kieran. “My father is en route.”
He stopped, his brows lifting. “What the fuck?”
“That was my reaction.” I quickly told him about Berkton and my plan to hold them off there. “I’ll have to convince him that keeping her alive is the best course of action.”
“And if not?”
“Then war between Solis and Atlantia will be the least of our people’s concerns.” I passed the closed doors to the Great Hall. “I will not allow my father to harm her.” Stopping, I faced Kieran. “And I don’t expect you to stand with me on that.”
He stiffened.
“You stand with me against my father, it’s treason,” I reminded him. “I will not have you ousted from the kingdom—from your family.”
“The bond—”
“That’s an order,” I said, knowing it gave Kieran an out.
Kieran’s eyes turned a vivid, luminous blue. “That’s fucking bullshit, Cas.”
“More like it’s me doing the right thing for once.”
“No, it’s more like you being a stubborn asshole, per usual,” he shot back. “What do you think Delano will do if it comes down to you and your father? Naill? Elijah? My sister? Emil? I can keep listing all those who will back you.”
“They will be given the same order.”
“Do you think that will matter? Fucking gods, Cas. You know better than that.” Kieran shook his head. “They aren’t just loyal to you because you’re the Prince. They’re loyal to you because they care about you.”
“I know,” I shot back. “And that’s why I don’t want them getting messed up in this.”
“I have a spoiler alert for you—all of us are already messed up in this.”
“No, not this.” I shook my head, looking down the hall. “Everyone agreed to support me in freeing my brother. No one agreed to this.”
“And what is this?”
I wasn’t sure I could even answer that question. All I knew was that I wouldn’t allow anyone to take Poppy’s life from her.
“It is what it is,” I answered, walking once more. “I want Jericho out of here. Send him to Spessa’s End or back to Atlantia, but he needs to be gone.”
“Wise idea. He’s a problem.” Kieran paused. “So is this.”
A dry laugh left me as I reached for the exit. “Don’t I fucking know it?”