“Your castle is most pleasing. And there is nothing I need,” I say, lifting my eyes to meet his in the hopes that I can grow accustomed to the otherworldliness of his gaze.
“That’s good to hear.” Kane nods. “I spoke with your father yesterday.”
My heart stops in my chest for an instant and I try to school my face to hide my surprise and anxiety. Surely, he couldn’t have gone to see him for why I think he must have. “Oh?” I lift my glass to my lips and cock a brow.
“You’ll be happy to know that he and your sisters are coping well with your absence.” Kane’s lips tug upwards in a cruel smile. “You might even say it was hardly noticed.”
“Ah,” I say softly, closing my eyes for a moment to let the sting of his words sink in. When I open them again, he’s watching me hungrily, like he wants to feed off my pain. “That is good to hear. I would hate for them to suffer.”
He pauses, looking at me curiously. “Well aren’t you kind?”
“Tell me, Kane, about yourself. Do you have any siblings, perhaps?” I ask, trying to change the subject, twist it on its head and save myself from his cruel probing.
“A brother,” he says, sounding bored again.
I tuck this tidbit of information away and nod. “I see, what’s his name?”
“Must we discuss my foolish brother?” Kane snaps, temper flaring.
I balk but straighten my spine stubbornly. “Of course not. We could talk about many other things. I’m simply curious about the man who is to be my husband.”
“Or are you simply curious why I chose you of all the women in the mortal realm?” Kane leans forward. “Or maybe you want to know my weaknesses to exploit them? I should expect nothing less of a woman meant to be my bride. In fact, I would be disappointed otherwise. Tell me, Briar, are you going to disappoint me?”
“You’re mocking me,” I say softly, dropping my fork with a clatter. “And I have lost my appetite.”
I rise before he can stop me and rush from the room. Kane is cruel. Kane isn’t the man I expected, no, he’s exactly what I knew I should expect. Stories and legends of the King of the Underworld should have prepared me for this. But in my stupid, childish fantasies, I saw him as a kind, misunderstood man that I could love. How stupid I am. I half-run down the halls towards my room, fear and hurt taking turns calling my adrenaline to me.
When I see my door ahead of me, I let out a gasp of relief. And when I lock the door behind me, the tightness in my chest eases. I slide down the door until I’m seated on the floor and my gown is a pool of wine around me. Moonlight filters in from the open windows and glass doors leading to the balcony. The walls in the room are red in the light, but under the moon the room gleams silver and I feel a kernel of peace in my chest.
I bring my knees up to my chest and tuck them under my chin. Perhaps it's for the best that Kane is unkind to me, that he twists my feelings around his fingers like a thread. It may make it easier to fulfill my promise to my father. I close my eyes, assuring myself that it will be fine. My second night in this kingdom will be harder than my first. Last night, I was eager for Kane’s return, eager to speak to the handsome King who wanted me. But now, I would give almost anything to be back in my bed at home, Sera and Laurel by my side. Even Rose would do.
As I nod off to sleep on the wooden floor of my room, I wonder vaguely if I’m giving up too soon.
Chapter 4
Kane
I hunch over my desk, reading glasses perched on the end of my nose. Documents written in the tightly packed, tilted style of a Lord of the Underworld are stacked in front of me. I take notes in the margin of items of interest before slipping papers across the desk to another stack. One would think running a realm filled with the stagnant dead would be simple, I sigh irritably. Willem takes notice from his perch by the narrow, gabled windows and I hear him snort derisively.
Plucking the glasses from my face I glower at him. “Do you have something to say?” I ask, scowling.
He shrugs, wings moving in time with his shoulders. “I already told you, you should be spending time with that bride of yours—not up here surrounded by these papers.”
“I’m sure you’d like that,” I snort, putting my glasses back on. “Free reign to fuck up my business.”
“Oh, I’d have a bit of fun. I’m sure you’d clean it all up later,” he says, smirking.
I curl my hand into a fist on the table, fighting back the urge to choke him from afar. Willem typically knows just how much he can test my patience, but I’m still furious over the betrayal of the mortal king, and Willem is pushing me too far too soon. My gaze cuts towards him, a silent warning, and he goes still like a deer in a predator’s sights. Slowly, Willem turns back to his own papers, invoices of Reaper activities. I relax my fist, loosing a long breath, and turn to my work.
…the second under the moon, two corpses were found soul-leeched under the House of Carrion. It was determined that…
Soul-leeched.
I swivel in my chair to face Willem, brows knitted together. “Did you know about this?”
“About what?” He drawls, flipping to a new page.
“Two of my people were soul-leeched just yesterday, down in the city,” I say, voice laced with anger.
“Shit,” Willem whispers, ducking his head and slipping off his perch. He leans over the other side of my heavy, ornate desk and pulls the paper towards him. “And they just left
