Caleb set me on my feet with a boyish grin that almost could have made me believe he wasn’t a total bastard. Ignore the dimples, Tory, he’s an award winning dickasaurus.
“You’re stupidly strong,” I grumbled as I pushed myself out of his grip and glanced at the cave he’d brought me to. We were standing on a ledge high above a sea of sparkling stalagmites which looked sharp enough to impale anyone unlucky enough to fall the ten meters down onto them. I shifted away from the edge uneasily.
“I am,” Caleb agreed, smirking like that was meant to be a compliment. “And that’s only my second best attribute.”
“What’s your best?” I asked automatically, wondering why I was even bothering to get into a conversation with him.
“That would involve us ditching our clothes,” he said, his voice dipping in pitch suggestively and making my traitorous blood flare with heat for a moment.
I glanced at his broad shoulders and mischievous eyes for all of half a second before I turned away, refusing to be blinded to his asshole nature by the pretty shell which housed it. Why do I have such terrible taste in men?
“Well I won’t be putting that claim to the test,” I assured him dismissively. “Why have you brought me here?”
“I thought you might like a look at the view,” he said, prowling towards me with purpose in his gaze.
I glanced at the dizzying drop of doom beside me and shifted further from it again. “Er, yeah. It’s great, thanks. But I really should be getting back to my lesson.”
“Don’t you want a closer look?” Caleb pressed, closing the distance between us once more.
“I can see it just fine from here,” I insisted, trying to keep my tone level.
Running footsteps approached and Seth burst from the tunnel behind us with a howl which echoed off of the cave walls so loudly that I glanced up at the stalactites which hung from the roof with concern.
“Like the view, little Vega?” he asked, shaking his long hair around his head like a dog driving water from its fur.
I looked between the two Heirs for any hint that they might be about to back off but the excitement which danced between them gave me my answer.
“I think she needs a closer look,” Seth said, stepping forward.
“Yeah, you can’t really appreciate it from way back here,” Caleb agreed.
Holy shit on a starfish.
My mind whirled with some way out of this but before I could think of a single thing, Caleb shot towards me, shoving my chest so that I was thrown towards the edge.
I fell backwards, a scream escaping me as the sea of razor sharp rocks winked at me with promises of my death.
Two hands caught mine before I could tumble to my doom and my heart leapt as my sneakers scrambled for purchase on the crumbling lip of the ledge. They didn’t pull me up but laughed as I hung at their mercy, my back to the terrifying drop below.
“Pull me up,” I demanded but my voice came out like more of a plea as fear sped through me.
They grinned at me with twin smiles of beautiful devils and I clung to their hands with all of my strength as they held me in limbo.
“Solaria has been much better off since the Vegas left the throne to the Celestial Families,” Seth growled. “Since our parents took up the throne that yours left cold, our world has been a better place. We don’t need you to come back here and claim it for yourselves. We don’t want you to.”
“We didn’t ask for this,” I breathed, my heart pounding at the thought of the drop beneath me. “We don’t want it. You can keep your stupid throne and your power!”
“That’s a beautiful offer, sweetheart, but it doesn’t change the facts,” Caleb said, his tone suggesting we were having a casual chat and no one was in imminent danger of death. “Your blood-right means the throne belongs to you so long as you prove yourself capable of taking it. And there are enough people who would support your claim to cause a civil war over it.”
“But we don’t want it!” I spluttered, trying and failing to keep my cool. “How can anyone seriously expect us to rule over a nation we know nothing about? It’s insane!”
It could have been the dim light in the chamber but for a moment I could have sworn that Caleb’s features softened a little. I hurried to continue while there was a glimmer of hope that he was listening to me.
“Look, all we want is to learn how to control this magic inside us and get our inheritance. That’s it. We grew up with no one and nothing. Before we came here we weren’t even sure if we were going to be able to keep a roof over our heads for the winter! I swear we have zero interest in claiming any throne or taking your places.”
Seth and Caleb exchanged a look but I couldn’t read what they meant by it in their expressions.
“I say we drop her,” Seth said with a shrug of his powerful shoulder which made me lurch beneath him.
My grip on them tightened with panic and my magic swirled like a tempest within me. But if I wanted to attempt to use it, I was going to have to release my grip to free my hands and there was no way in hell I was taking that risk.
Caleb’s lips twitched with amusement and panic engulfed me as I began to wonder if they might truly let me fall. No one had seen them take me down here. They could leave and pretend they’d never seen me, let someone else discover my body dashed to pieces on the rocks below.
But I wasn’t going to let them rule my fate like that. I was born a fighter and if there was even the slightest chance that I could get myself out of this then I was going to do it.
I drew on everything I’d learned about Coercion during my practice sessions with Darcy and Sofia. Sure, I’d only managed to execute a handful of simple commands and I’d never even attempted to batter my way past mental defences as strong as the Heirs were sure to have but it was my only shot. And hopefully they wouldn’t even be expecting me to try. I took my fear and helplessness and coiled it into a desperate little ball which I imbued with my utter need to escape this situation. The words pressed against my throat, brimming with power just aching to be set free as I opened my mouth.
“Pull me up,” I demanded, my tone fierce and imbued with power.
To my complete and utter shock, Caleb and Seth heaved me up over the edge to safety.
Adrenaline coursed through my veins and I scrambled away from them as their faces fell in shock at what I’d just done.
“Shit,” Seth muttered, eyeing me like he didn’t know whether to attack or retreat.
“I told you how strong they were,” Caleb growled, his navy eyes glowing with the new challenge I presented.
“Stay away from me,” I said, my tone dark.
They both hesitated, exchanging a loaded look before Caleb’s mouth hooked up to one side.
“Nice try sweetheart, but you aren’t going to slip past our defences so easily a second time.” He shot towards me before I had the chance to respond and his teeth slid into my neck as he drew me against his body.
I tried to pull my magic to me again so that I could fight him off but as soon as he started feeding, I couldn’t lay claim to it. I was at his mercy once more but at least I’d managed one act of defiance against them.
Seth moved closer and brushed his fingers against my arm for a moment. As soon as his fingers touched my flesh, a deep growl sounded from the back of Caleb’s throat and his grip on me tightened.