I prowl closer to Lucas and his eyes widen. “Get me out of here. There’s the monster, Rosalina!”
“Shut the fuck up or it’ll be me ripping your guts out this time,” Dayton calls to him, putting his arm around Farron. “But you’re lucky I don’t want to deny my girl the satisfaction.”
Farron hardly seems bothered by Lucas’s words. There are no signs of the wolf. His gaze is fixed on me, and he nods encouragingly.
“Your girl?” Lucas looks delirious. The pain is getting to him. “You some kind of whore, Pumpkin?”
A collective growl emits from the princes, but none of them step in front of me as I slowly walk before Lucas.
“These are the Princes of Castletree, and you will address them with the respect they deserve,” I say, voice dripping with venom. “As for me,” I continue, taking a step closer to Lucas until we’re practically nose to nose. “I am not anyone’s whore or your pumpkin. I am Rosalina O’Connell, the Lady of Castletree, and you will show me the respect I deserve.”
Lucas’s delirious expression turns to one of fear as he realizes the gravity of his mistake.
“Rosalina, w-wait,” he says. “I-I saved your life.”
“No, you didn’t. You stole it. The day you pulled me from the ice, you snatched my life, held it hostage, and made me believe the only way I could glimpse it was in the flash of your smile. And yet, I was still drowning, like you never rescued me at all.”
“I-I—” Lucas flounders.
“I’m not afraid of you anymore.” An angry fire blazes in my chest, and my skin feels too hot. “And I don’t owe you anything.”
Every painful moment flashes before me. He left his mark on my body with the hunting knife that night, but that wasn’t the only time. His poisonous words were as sharp as any blade, and his actions, the manipulation, dug just as deep beneath my skin.
I grab his arm, his broken fingers turning purple.
“Thief,” I breathe. “That’s what I’m going to write. For everything you took from me.”
It won’t bring back the years of my life he stole. It’s impossible for me to save the girl he hurt, but still, his screams will sound sweet. I know the blade my mate made for me will be sharp. I raise my knife and drive it down.
Someone jumps between me and Lucas, holding my arm.
“I’m sorry, Princess,” Caspian says, wild black hair falling in his face. “I can’t let you do that.”
29
Rosalina
My heart careens in my chest, fingers trembling on the ice knife. Why is Caspian here? Why does he care about Lucas? His hand is firm on my arm, his eyes a swirling constellation of stars.
A shadow looms over us. “You will not deny my mate her vengeance.”
The stars turn dark, and Caspian shoots a venomous glare at Keldarion. “Carving into a man’s flesh? This is madness.”
“Move,” Keldarion growls. “You well know I slipped off the edge of madness years ago.”
“Oh, Kel, of course I do.” Caspian’s lip curls, but then he looks to me, and there’s a strange softness in his gaze. “But she hasn’t. Don’t let her fall into the darkness as we have.”
Something in his words clears the anger from my mind. The ice knife falls from my grasp, and I stumble away from them. What was I going to do? Carve into Lucas’s flesh as he writhed helpless below me? He doesn’t deserve my mercy, I know that. But taking his own cruelty and returning it to him… That’s not me.
“This man deserves death,” Keldarion says.
Caspian straightens, putting a reassuring hand on the Winter Prince’s chest. “I agree.”
At Caspian’s arrival, the three other princes have closed in around us. Peering out from behind a pillar, Perth Quellos observes us with his bird-like stare.
He cannot be pleased to see the Prince of Thorns here.
Caspian drags his fingers down Kel’s chest before turning to me. “Let me take this monster down to the Below,” he says. “I will give you the vengeance you deserve, Rosalina. There are ways to break a soul in those chasms with nightmares you cannot possibly imagine. I will make sure he suffers every single one of them before I release him to oblivion.”
My heart thumps in my breast, the only sound besides Lucas’s whimpering. Even the other princes aren’t speaking, instead watching Caspian watch me. “Trust me.” Caspian grabs my hands, and something in me relaxes at his touch. The angry fire quiets, not dimming but settling to a comforting glow. “Princess, you need not tarnish your soul to know justice has been served. Lay that burden upon my shoulders. Let me be your darkness.”
This isn’t a bargain or a deal. I’m not sure why, but there’s something about the fierceness in his expression that makes me think, at least in this, I can trust the Prince of Thorns. “Caspian—”
“Trust you?” A soft voice slinks between us as Perth Quellos steps forward. “Wasn’t that what brought Winter to its knees all those years ago?”
“Ah, Perth,” Caspian says smoothly. “Trust me, it takes a lot of determination and just the right amount of begging to bring Winter to his knees.”
“Enough,” Keldarion snaps, snatching the arm of his advisor. “You will leave while we settle this matter.”
“What matter could bring the Prince of Thorns into your company again, High Prince of Winter?” Perth’s voice is slick as an icicle. “After I worked so hard to quell those rebellions that arose from your little Solstice Ball?”
“I invited the Prince of Thorns,” I say. “I wanted to attempt a diplomatic approach to our thorny problem.”
“Ahh yes, the human.” Perth takes a step toward me, but Ezryn moves quicker, blocking his path. Perth hesitates, no doubt remembering the treatment Ezryn gave him last time we were together. “Did I hear that right, sire? Your mate, is she?”
Keldarion heaves in a breath. “That is correct.”
“Most interesting,” he says. “Any more secrets I should know of here in Castletree?”
Yeah, one giant slobbery wolf problem. Or rather, four giant slobbery wolf problems.
“Look, it’s great we’re catching up,” Dayton says, “but this guy’s moans are really getting on my nerves. Can we just let Cas take him already?”
“Gladly,” Caspian says, shadows curling around his boots.
“I may have an alternative to murder,” Perth says, steepling his fingers. “There is an entrance to the human world in the Winter Realm. Allow me to fix his hands and I’ll send him on his way.”
“He deserves—” Keldarion roars.
“Death,” Perth says. “Yes, so you’ve said. But is this not your mate’s decision?”
Kel grits his teeth, then turns to me. “That it is.”
I look to my princes; I know their choice. Give Lucas to Caspian and let him face every nightmare of the Below. Or I could simply ask them to end him quickly. Maybe we could throw Lucas through the mirror to Castletree, but I’m not sure Perth knows about it. Perhaps it’s another of Castletree’s secrets.
The decision lays heavy on me, but I’m done giving Lucas everything I have. If he’s to die, his death won’t be from my hands. And though Perth may be a cruel man, Kel trusts him. After the vizier takes Lucas away, I’ll never have to think about him ever again.
“Take him away,” I tell Perth Quellos, trying to emulate some command in my voice.
“Rosalina, no—” Caspian snarls. “You can’t let him live.”
“My decision is final,” I say, stepping away from the princes. But when I look at Lucas, there’s no gratitude in his expression, only a vacant stare.
Keldarion’s lip curls into a snarl, and he thrusts his hand forward in a sweeping gesture. A surge of power ripples through the air. The ice binding Lucas to the pillar shatters like brittle glass. With a gasp, Lucas tumbles to the ground, his limbs shaking as he struggles to sit up. Keldarion towers over him, eyes blazing with an icy fire. “If I ever see you again, I will not show you the mercy my mate has granted.”
Perth kneels beside Lucas, tsking. He waves a gnarled hand, his jeweled crown emitting a strange greenish glow, and slowly Lucas’s fingers snap back into place. “Very well. Come with me, human.”