When he turned half-lidded eyes towards me, smiling indolently, I realized that yes, yes, he had.
Procuring a small flask from his pocket, he tossed it to me. I scrambled to catch the bottle, eyes scanning the inscripted label with unease. The last thing I wanted to do was put an unknown substance into my body, as the Kings seemed to be implying, especially something gifted from the King of Mages himself.
“Drink it, whore,” the Shifter King demanded. I glared at the crude acknowledgement, and I could’ve sworn I heard Lupe growl from behind his father. If the King heard it, he didn’t acknowledge it.
“What will it do?” I asked. I tried not to let them see how frightened I actually was. Surely, they weren’t going to kill me with poison. Right?
Right?
I would be ashamed and embarrassed for them if they lacked the creativity to kill me with some pizzazz.
It was Lupe that caught my attention. Fur had grown on his face and forearms, teeth elongated.
The last thing I wanted to do was out Lupe’s and my relationship to the Kings...or lack thereof. I didn’t know how the Kings would feel if they discovered we were soulmates.
Actually, I imagined they would be pretty pissed off. The type of pissed off that usually ended with dead bodies and heads on spikes.
Deciding quickly, I chugged the contents of the drink before Lupe could shift fully.
And then the pain began.
TWO
Z
The pain lasted for only a second. Enough time for me to scream in agony as my bones ripped apart and then sewed themselves back together again. Enough time for Lupe to partially transform into his bear - body turning larger, hair growing once more on his forearms, lips curling backwards into a snarl.
In all honesty, the Kings should’ve been grateful that I was able to snap out of it. I wasn’t sure if even they were immune to a grizzly attack.
Gasping, I glanced through my fringe of lashes. Somehow, I found myself on the floor, keeled over as vomit churned in the back of my throat. My stomach threatened to expel the contents of my dinner, but I held it in. The last thing I wanted to do was give the assholes the satisfaction of watching me squirm.
Granted, I was on the floor, a shivering, sobbing mess, but throwing up was the final straw.
“Impressive,” the Shadow King said brightly. “The last one passed out for hours.”
“The last one was a wimp who didn’t last five minutes,” drawled the Incubus King.
“Semantics.”
“What...what was that?” I asked, struggling to take in that precious air. I clutched my chest, afraid my heart would be ripped from it. Unbidden, my eyes flickered to Lupe’s. Claw marks marred the pillar he was leaning against, and sweat beaded on his forehead. I gave him a subtle nod to let him know I was okay, that I was alive, that I was still breathing and ready to kick ass. He looked as if he was seconds away from lunging towards me and carrying me out of the room, caveman style, but he managed to nod.
Trusting my judgement.
The Shifter King laughed, the unpleasant sound grating on my nerves. I wondered if he saw the exchange between me and his son. If he did, he didn’t comment. I worried, briefly, that he would take out his anger on Lupe later before quickly dismissing that thought in a tidal wave of anger. From what intel I had gathered, the Shifter King had never laid a hand on his son - surprising, given his wrathful nature and bigoted ideologies. He just took his frustration out on everyone else instead.
“That, my dear child, was a binding spell.” This came from the Mage King.
Had he…?
Had he brought a pillow?
One glance confirmed that, yup, he was lying sideways in his throne, a pillow under his head. His half-lidded eyes met mine.
He wasn’t as handsome as his son, Bash, but I could definitely see the similarities. The same pale skin and ash blond hair. The same dimples that appeared when they smiled.
Not that Bash smiled much, mind you. The asshole was more stubborn than I was.
He hated the mate bond with a passion. In his mind, the mate bond equaled a loss of free-will, a loss of freedom. I didn’t entirely blame him. To know that there were seven people made perfectly for me, made to soothe the jagged edges of my soul, made me uneasy. I wasn’t good at relationships or love or any of that shit. I was more of a stab first, ask questions later kind of girl.
I knew I didn’t love them. Not even Devlin, the man I had once loved with my entire heart.
At least, I wasn’t certain if I loved him.
They were strangers to me, and I still struggled to differentiate them from my enemies. I had been programmed my entire life to be wary of the Nightmare Princes. The prophecy itself had stated that these princes, these seven men who had slammed into my life like a wrecking ball, were designed specifically to either end the world or save it.
No pressure.
Realizing my thoughts had drifted from the matter at hand, I lifted my chin imperceptibly and met the Mage King’s light, playful eyes. It was just another distinction from the brooding, serious Sebastian.
“The binding spell assures your loyalty to the seven crowns,” the Mermaid King said. A cruel, taunting smirk pulled up his thin lips.
“With it, no harm may befall us either by your hand or your mind,” added the Incubus King. He pointed to his head for emphasis - as if I really needed him to spell out where the “mind” was.
Well...shit. That put a damper on the whole “kill them all” plan.
“What would happen if I break it?” I asked. If it was possible, and I didn’t think it was, the Kings appeared even more amused. The Shadow King went as far as to throw back his head in
