However, for this, I’d deal with it.
I looked down at the back of the Royal Guard my boots rested upon. With compulsion, I’d gotten what I needed to know from the fair-haired man before I snapped his neck. Killing him wasn’t necessary. I didn’t plan to be here when the compulsion wore off, but the thing was, he’d known what was going on in here during the Duke’s lessons. I was sure the other Royal Guard who often watched the door also knew, but this one had gotten hard as he recounted how the Duke made her undress from the waist up and then bent her over the very desk I sat at. Then he took a cane to her skin. Sometimes, Lord Mazeen watched. More than once, she’d left this room barely conscious. There was no telling what they’d done to her.
“Fucking bastard.” I kicked the dead guard in the side, sending him skidding across the floor.
My stare fixed on the long, slender cane propped against the corner of the mahogany desk. Was it this one he’d used to punish Poppy? Or one of the others by the credenza? Anger simmered in my gut, hard to keep in check.
I’d done a lot of terrible things. Horrific shit. I’d killed in cold blood. I’d killed in anger. Blood that I’d never be able to wash away stained my hands. I was a monster capable of monstrous acts, but what Duke Teerman had done to Poppy? What he’d likely been doing to her for years? That was below even me.
You care about her.
My fingers curled around the arm of the chair. I truly didn’t believe a person needed to care about someone to be infuriated and disgusted by how others treated them, but I’d lied to Kieran.
This wasn’t about revenge.
It was about her.
I turned my head from side to side, easing the building tension as I stared at the cane. All I saw was the blood draining from the lower half of Poppy’s face when she realized what she’d said the day we left her lessons with Priestess Analia. I could hear that slight tremor in her voice even now. I knew what it was.
Fear.
Actual fear, from the girl who snuck out and roamed the city at night. Who went up onto the Rise during a Craven attack. I felt my anger rising. And it was more than that. It was the role these bastards had played in everything forbidden to Poppy—what they’d taken from her. Friendship. Physical contact. The freedom to explore. To experience. She couldn’t even choose what she read. And because of the lengths she’d had to go to, the risks she’d had to take to have just a taste of those things. But worse yet, it was the shame I heard in her denials.
All of that factored into why I was willing to take these risks.
It didn’t matter what came next. That I’d inevitably become the cause of the fear filling her voice. That she was another monstrous act I was in the process of committing. I hadn’t thought of that as we walked back to the castle the night before when I was thinking of choices. She would not choose to stay with us once she knew our truth.
But I would not cause her to feel shame.
If I did?
Then that would become yet another act I would never be able to cleanse from my soul.
The sound of footsteps reached me. My grip on the chair arm relaxed.
Duke Teerman opened the door to his study, letting it swing shut behind him. I caught the faint scent of iron. Blood. He’d taken about three steps before the bastard realized the chamber wasn’t empty.
“What in…？” Teerman halted. One side of my lips curled up as I slowly turned the chair to face him. Those dark, soulless eyes went wide. They widened even more when he noticed the dead guard. “The fuck?”
“Good afternoon.” I leaned back, propping my booted feet on the smooth, shiny surface of his desk. I made a grand show of crossing my ankles. He hadn’t yet dressed for the Rite—too busy getting a snack in. “Your Grace.”
The pale-haired fucker recovered quickly. I had to give him that. He straightened and dropped his cloak on the settee. Anger tightened the skin around his mouth. “I must admit, the utter disrespect of your actions has me at a loss for words, but I assume you must be here to turn in your resignation.”
I tilted my head. “And why would you think that?”
His nostrils flared. “Because you’d have to be a fool to believe you’d keep your role as a guard when you leave this office.”
“Well, for starters, I’m not going anywhere.” My smile spread as the Duke went rigid. “And secondly, I cannot behave disrespectfully toward someone I never respected in the first place.”
His too-red lips parted. My gaze dropped to the crisp collar of his white shirt. There was a small red drop there. Messy eater.
“You’re out of your mind.”
“I’m out of many things.” Reaching over, I picked up the cane. His gaze shot to it. He took a step forward, his large hands curling into fists at his sides. “Patience is one of them. I’ve been waiting for you to return for some time.” I paused. “Dorian.”
He halted once more, his back going straight as he stared at me. Understanding dawned in his features. He’d finally figured it out. Who I was. What he’d gladly welcomed into his guard and allowed to sleep beneath his roof. Why I was here. His eyes shot to the door.
“Run,” I urged. “I dare you.”
Duke Teerman locked up.
“Ah, there it is.” Running my fingers up the length of the cane, I leaned forward. “A flicker of intelligence is to be found.”
“You,” he snarled.
I folded my hand around the end of the cane. “Me?”
Teerman’s lip peeled back. His chin dropped as a low growl rumbled from him. “The Dark One.”
“So they say.” I gave him a tight-lipped smile. “But I’d prefer if you addressed me properly. It’s Prince Casteel Da’Neer.”
“And here I thought it would be traitorous bastard.”
I laughed softly. “That works, too, but you forgot a part of that title. It’s traitorous, murderous bastard.”
His throat worked on a swallow. “Is that so?”
I nodded.
“Do you plan to commit an act of murder?”
“Always,” I murmured.
A muscle throbbed at his temple as a long moment passed. “I know what you’re planning. You won’t get away with it. You have to know that.”
“I do?”
“You’re in my home, in my city—both of which are full of my guards.” He tipped up his chin. “All I have to do is yell, and you’ll be surrounded. There’s no way you’ll escape.”
“Then what?” I asked.
He smiled. “Then I’ll send your head back to the Queen.”
I snorted. “That sounded entirely dramatic and grossly incorrect.”
“And what exactly was incorrect?” He inched back a step, clearly thinking I hadn’t noticed.
“Your city is not full of guards loyal to you. It hasn’t been for a while,” I told him. Somehow, the Ascended grew even paler. “And you have no idea what I plan.”
Teerman laughed then. “You think I don’t know?”
“Well, you had no idea we’ve been in your city and home for quite some time,” I remarked. “You see, I wouldn’t want to give you too much credit.”