“Then I have nothing else to say to you,” she quips.
“Then I suppose you’ll just have to listen,” I growl. “I know how close you’ve grown to Acubens this week.”
She purses her lips. “And what of it?”
“Has he been more forthcoming in my motives? Or do you cling to him just to spite me?” I ask, pushing my plate aside.
“Why don’t you ask him yourself? He’s your pet, isn’t he?” She glowers.
“Oddly enough, Acubens has been rather distant since you arrived,” I lie. I watch her closely, and I don’t miss the satisfied smirk that flashes across her face.
“How strange.” She sips her wine nonchalantly.
I grin ferally at her. “It seems he’s more your pet now.”
“Jealous?” She asks, propping her chin in her hand.
My heart pounds faster at her question, at the sly way she eyes me. I’ve never met a woman quite like Verity. Despite the way she’s been thrown into this foreign, magical world, she holds her head high. When I speak to her as Acubens, she doesn’t seem even slightly afraid. She may not be a stoic warrior like Navi, but she has a strength within her.
“What if I am?” I ask, a little breathlessly. I want to hear her answer. It’s been so easy to learn more about her as Acubens, I feel an indescribable pull towards her.
I know she cries when she watches some human entertainment called The Notebook. I know now why she refused to eat the main course two nights ago; she hates mushrooms. I know that she misses her parents, and she thinks about them every day. All day. And I know she wants to return to them. And that hurts me.
Her lips part softly at my question. “What…?”
I rise, hands pressed against the table as I lean towards her. “What if I am jealous?”
She inhales sharply and my eyes drop to her chest. “Stop it.”
“Stop what?” I ask, eyes glittering.
“Stop joking around with me,” she snaps. “I’m not in the mood.”
My eyes flash furiously at her words. She jokes enough when I’m Acubens. I shove the vase aside, opening up the line of sight between us so I can see her more clearly. “What makes Acubens so different? Better than me?”
“He doesn’t intimidate me, for one,” Verity says fiercely. “He’s nicer than you.”
I scoff. I know I haven’t intended to be kinder to her as Acubens. If anything, I’ve tried to be more aloof with her, knowing that she plans to manipulate Acubens for information. To pit us against each other to her advantage.
She jabs a finger at me. “See, what is that? I feel like every time I see you, you’re always mocking me. These dinners are hell.”
“Would you rather eat in your room?” I ask coldly, the icy feeling of rejection wrapping itself around my chest.
“I would,” she retorts, eyes flashing.
A wave of anger floods through me, sending tips of my fingers tingling. “Am I really so vile?” I whisper.
I slam my chair backwards, sending it clattering to the dark marble floor. Verity flinches at the sound. I stalk around the table towards her, the flames of the fireplace illuminating my scowl. I know Verity isn’t pleased to be with me. I know she suffers. But so do I.
I’m in front of her before she’s had a chance to rise from her chair. She twists to face me, glowering at me as I pause in front of her. I study her. She’s even more beautiful now, dressed in a wine-red silk gown that perfectly accentuates her petite frame. I swallow thickly, lost for a moment in her blue eyes.
But her scowling lips are enough to draw my mind back to the situation at hand. There’s no time for her stubbornness. No time for her to foster her resentment of me. I stoop over her, propping my hands on the arm rests of her chair. I lower my face to hers, hovering only inches from her lips. Her eyes lose the furious edge as they rove over my face.
“What are you doing?” She asks softly.
She’s beautiful. But she doesn’t care for me. If anything, she hates me. I watch her as she fidgets under my gaze, biting her plump lips. Those lips. I can’t decide if I should nibble on them or simply yell at her for frustrating me so thoroughly.
Suddenly, she drives her hands into my chest, knocking me back enough for her to squirm out from under my arms. She darts towards the door, her silk skirts tangling in her legs. “Verity, wait!” I shout, reaching for her.
But she slams the door behind her, I can hear her footsteps echoing down the hall as she runs. I drag a hand over my face, cursing myself for being too impatient. I shouldn’t have loomed over her, glaring. Of course she would run.
Finally, I stalk through the door, determined to follow her. “Where did she go?” I ask the guard stationed nearby.
He points towards the entrance of the castle. I jog after her, hoping to catch her tucked away in some corner. But she’s nowhere to be seen. Outside the castle, I find the gate open and the guards missing. I whirl on the soldiers who trailed me out, eyes flashing.
“What the hell is going on here?” I snarl.
The guards rush forward, inspecting the area. They drag two of my men from nearby bushes and drop them at my feet. Red-fletched arrows protrude from their necks. Navi appears at my side. She rips one of the arrows from a corpse and tosses it aside. “Bloodbane witches.”
I stare out into the darkness beyond the walls of the castle. Verity is out there. “I want everyone searching for her, do you understand?” Fury and panic are welling up within me.
