A Queen of Thieves & Chaos (Fate & Flame, #3)

“They still hold the money and property and title,” he agrees. “At least for the short term.”

“They’d fight to make sure that doesn’t change. The rich don’t like giving up being rich. They’d fight to keep the laws the same, or close enough that they can keep their power. They wouldn’t give the mortals any more rights, even though they don’t need their blood to survive, because they’ll never see the mortals as equal.” Status quo in my world. My old world. I’ll never see it again. That reality doesn’t bother me anymore, but I am sad I won’t see my father again. Now that I know the truth about him, about why he is the way he is, I wish I could go back and help him.

“You describe much of the east, I’m afraid. Led by Kettling, who is about to marry into the throne.” His molars grind. “The mortals would revolt in droves.”

“They’re ingesting poison to kill their keepers. They’re already revolting in droves, and they’re willing to die for their freedom.”

“It would be worse. There would be outright war.”

“Maybe not … at least not at first, and not in places like Bellcross, with lords like Rengard.” The Islorian impressed me, even if he doesn’t trust me. I wish I’d had more time to get to know him.

“Few and far between. Telor is honorable as well, but I do not have the same friendship to lean on where he is concerned.” Zander sighs. “I wish these seers’ prophecy would give us the answers we need most.” He smooths his palm over mine, matching our fingers against each other. “I wish they could help us choose the right course of action.”

“By the right course of action, you mean, should you and I do it on the altar under the full Hudem moon?”

He grunts at my crassness, but his expression remains somber. “Gesine said the seers have seen the door opened in the age of the casters. Given all that has transpired with this place, we have to assume she is right and it is inevitable, one way or another.”

“Maybe she is. She always seems to be. So we would be rid of this blood curse.” One positive.

“At what cost? Malachi as king and the Nulling’s beasts flooding these lands? How would we fight against them and a hundred hags and grifs outside Ulysede’s gates?”

“There has to be a way. He was defeated once, right?” Both Malachi and Aoife, masquerading as king and queen. “How?”

“I can tell you how it did not happen, which is with all our lands and people so terribly fractured as they are today. Ybaris, Islor, and Mordain would have to work together.” He scoffs as if the very idea is laughable.

“They did it once.” When King Ailill tried to release the nymphs the last time at Malachi’s behest and tore the veil into the Nulling. Wendeline said it took them fifty years to rid this world of the worst beasts and seal the tear.

“We did not have Neilina at Ybaris’s helm, scheming so vindictively. Islor was not being ripped apart from within. I can’t decide which is worse—the treacherous lords or the poison. I hazard it does not matter. I fear there are no alliances left to be made.”

“That’s not true.” I curl into him, wanting to feel the warmth of his body against mine.

“What is true anymore? That we are alone. You and I, and fifteen legionaries and this palace with untold power we cannot wield without causing dreadful harm.” He sighs heavily. “Atticus does not have the head for politics. He does not realize how precarious his situation is, how claiming the throne from me in such a public display has fractured the strength of it. For the first time since Rhionn, our enemies have seen it taken.”

“Maybe you need to tell him that.” We’ve heard nothing from Atticus beyond the letter we intercepted and what Rengard described. No communication between the two brother-kings.

Zander’s chuckle is low and humorless. “He is a stubborn and pompous fool, too busy enjoying that crown he’s coveted for so long to listen to anyone with wisdom.”

I’ve seen only glimpses of the brothers’ relationship, but anyone could read the power struggle that existed despite Atticus’s carefree persona. Still, their connection seems deep. “Why didn’t you have him executed when you found out he slept with Princess Romeria?” It’s become easier to speak about the Ybarisan who once occupied this body as if she was some other being.

“Because he is still my brother.” He pauses. “Why? Do you wish I had?”

“I don’t know.” What would the weight of executing his own brother feel like on his shoulders? I sigh. “But at least then he couldn’t have stolen your crown from you.”

“No, but someone else would have likely tried by now. Besides, I know firsthand how persuasive and enticing the princess was. I can’t fault Atticus for that betrayal.” He rolls onto his side again to capture my lips with his. “Though she wasn’t as enticing as this version.”

“Are you talking about other women while in bed with me again? What did I say about that before?”

His lips curl. “That you would make me pay for it.”

“Right … right … But how?” I pull away from his lips and roll onto my back, arching my body in a deep, dramatic stretch, the night air grazing the peaks of my breasts.

He accepts the blatant invitation, moving in on me in an instant, his mouth sealing over my nipple, his palm sliding up my inner thigh. A soft moan slips from me as his touch slides across my center, and my legs part to grant him better access. “I suppose this is a start.”

His chuckle against my flesh sends an electric current along my nerves, stirring a fresh, deep wave of need in my core. Our little games never last long. As soon as I feel the heat of his body against mine, I’m done for.

“Do you know how hard it is to keep myself from touching you when we are outside these chamber walls?” He echoes my thoughts as his fingers tease me. “All I can think about is getting back here with you.”

“While you’re planning war? How romantic.”

He ignores my crack. “And then when I finally have you here …” He lifts himself onto one elbow to give him a better view of my naked body. His heated eyes rake over me, stalling on my thighs to watch his hand work me over. “I can never get enough.”

“Good. I don’t ever want you to.” I roll my hips against his touch.

With a groan, he’s moving and shifting down to hook my legs over his shoulders. His breath skates across my damp core, turning my breathing ragged.

With a devilish smile, his mouth closes over me—

Knuckles bang on our door, followed by a loud “Romeria!”

“Is it too much to ask that he shows a little deference to his queen?” Zander complains.

“It’s Jarek. If the door wasn’t warded, he’d be standing at the end of our bed.”

“And then I would have to kill him.”.

I curl my hand around the back of his head, pulling him back to me, even as I holler, “What!”

“You’re needed at the gate,” comes the booming response.

“Now?” Zander and I exchange wary looks. It’s the middle of the night. “Who needs me?” I holler, at the same time Zander calls out, “For what?”

“The Ybarisans have come.”