The Night Prince (The Wolf King, #2)(90)

I land on the sheepskin rug “You snake! You treacherous snake!”

His legs hang off the end of the bed, and he plants his bare feet onto the floorboards. He stares up at the ceiling. His bare chest moves up and down deeply. I can’t tell what he’s thinking, but I feel a thread of his frustration wind around my own.

I stand up. I’m trembling. Shaking. There’s a tornado in my chest and I can’t contain it. I’m fed up of his games. I’m fed up of being used. I’m fed up of answers being concealed from me. He had no right.

“Break the bond,” I snarl.

He pushes himself upright. “No.”

“I will make you pay for this, Blake.” I step closer to him. “I will haunt you. Every waking moment, I will make you feel me. Every dream, I will be there. Every moment of joy that you manage to feel in your sad little life, I will turn it into darkness. Break this bond, Blake, or I swear to every goddess, I will consume you until there is nothing left of you. I will ruin you. I will coil myself so tightly around you that you will beg me to release you, and still then, I will not let you go.”

He rubs his face with both hands. “You already haunt me, Aurora.”

“Then let me go!”

“I cannot!”

“Why?”

He leans forward and he clasps his hands together between his thighs. “I suppose I should tell you the truth.”





Chapter Forty-Seven





The truth.

My breathing quickens and the scent of woodsmoke and pine fills my lungs.

The hearth is warm at my back, and the fire flicks dim light across Blake’s chambers. It dances over the black silk sheets, crumpled from our fight, and the scars that mar his chest. For a moment, all I can hear is the crackle from the flames, and the wind that rattles the window.

Blake is promising me the truth. It’s what I want, what I’ve been searching for, yet my muscles tighten. There is something in the way he clasps his hands between his thighs, his jawline sharp, that makes my stomach clench.

“Well? Go on then,” I say.

He runs a hand over his mouth. “How could I have known?”

“Known what?”

His eyes snap to mine. “The events of that night, when James gave you to Sebastian. How could I have known what was going to happen?” He absently touches his bicep. There’s an indent where I sank my teeth into him. “How could I have known James would bite you? When I tried to arrange the marriage between the two of you, I meant it when I said he would not hurt you. For all his faults, I did not think he would.”

My brow creases. “I. . . I don’t understand. Why are you telling me this? What has it got to do with anything?”

“If my entire plan rested on getting you to accept the bond between us, I would have needed to ensure you were in a life-threatening situation so I could save your life.” He shakes his head. “How could I have planned the series of events that led to James attacking you? There were too many variables to control, too many things that could have gone wrong. Even I’m not that good.”

“You said—”

“No. I didn’t. You said that, not me.”

I cast my mind back to the small bedchambers in Lowfell. I had accused him of planning it all, of creating the bond so Callum would forfeit the throne. And he had said. . .

My heart stutters. He didn’t deny it, but he didn’t confirm it, either.

“What are you saying?”

“I cannot break the bond, Aurora, because I did not create it. It’s not in my power.”

I step back. The fire is hot behind me, yet my blood runs cold. “You’re lying.”

“Do you think I want this?” His voice is uncharacteristically strained. “It complicates things for me.”

My breathing is shallow. There is a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, a cold wind running through my chest. “I saw the words Anam-Cridech on the pages you burned. Is that the name of the bond?”

“Yes. That is one name for it.”

“What is the other?”

His eyes bore into mine, dark and intense. “You already know.”

I shake my head. “I do not.”

“You do. A part of you knows. A part of you has always known. Just like, deep down, Callum knows. Just like I have always known.”

My heartbeat thunders in my ears. “Tell me.”

He twists his hands together. His lips part. “You’ll have to figure it out for yourself, little rabbit. It looks like our time together is coming to an end.”

I turn, just as the door opens. Lochlan enters the room, flanked by four of his men. A half-laugh escapes Blake’s lips as he stands. “Really, Lochlan? You?”

“It’s nothing personal, Blake.” His kohl-lined eyes glint with violence, and belie his statement. I think he’s worried about what Blake might do to Kai. “I have orders from the king. You are sentenced to imprisonment for plotting against the throne. Are you going to come peacefully?”

A dimple punctures Blake’s cheek as he edges back a step. “I know Callum has told you I’m not to be harmed.”

“He thought you might say that,” says Lochlan. “He wants you to know that you’ve shown your hand. You’ve lost. We can hurt you, if we wish.”