“Well. It is good that we arrived when we did, is it not?” Idria’s smile broadened. “He will soon be your king as well—and I, your queen.” Her eyes narrowed suddenly. “Which begs the question as to why you are not on your knees, Apex. That is the correct greeting for one’s monarchs, you will recall.”
“Of course. Forgive me.” My jaw dropped as Apex took a knee before Idria and bowed his head low.
Pleased, only then did Idria shift her gaze toward me.
“Goodness. I almost did not see you there, Atlanta, you are so small and puny. Almost forgettable, would you not say, my king?”
The king’s eyes crawled over me, lingering for far too long on my breasts and my hips for comfort.
“Pretty,” he grunted. “She will do nicely.”
Do nicely for what exactly? I was desperate to ask, but when I looked down to Apex for guidance, his head was still bowed. He wouldn’t even look at me.
What the hell was going on here? Just when I’d started to trust Apex…now this was being sprung on me?
“Will you not kneel as well, Atlanta?” Idria pressed her fingers to her collarbone and looked deeply offended—though, I was pretty sure that was just an act. “And here, Apex had told me that he had trained you so well…”
I gritted my teeth. As far as Apex had explained it to me, my so-called training had all been for show. He didn’t seriously expect me to bow to this terrible woman, did he?
“Apex,” Idria said. It sounded like a warning. “Tell your bitch to heel. I do not believe I need to make myself clearer.”
“Apex—” My eyes searched for his, but he was still refusing to look at me.
“Kneel, Atlanta,” he hissed back at me.
I shook my head. This was wrong. All of it absolutely reeked of wrongness. What was he playing at here? Ronan and Gallix had said so much that reassured me earlier, but none of this felt reassuring. Idria had called me his bitch and he had said nothing. Was it still just an act, or was this for real?
Slowly, Apex turned his face up toward mine. His lips pulled back in a snarl.
“Kneel,” he growled. “Do not make me say it again.”
“Oh, Apex. You should not spare her so.” Idria strode over to me and pulled her hand back so fast that by the time I realized she was going to strike me, one cheek was already burning from where her hand had connected. My other cheek was cold, kissing the tile of the floor.
I held my hand against the place where Idria had hit me as I pushed myself up off the floor. My skin was on fire. I could bet that she’d left a bright red mark. When I looked to Apex, he didn’t even seem to have noticed that I’d been hit. He wouldn’t even spare me a quick little glance.
After all that talk about protecting me, and he hadn’t. He wouldn’t even look at me to make sure I was okay.
I stayed on my knees and felt my heart breaking.
There’d been no love in Apex’s voice when he ordered me. No gentleness. No attempt to stop Idria from slapping me to the floor. Nothing at all.
Whether this was an act or not, it didn’t matter.
It didn’t feel like one.
Not anymore.
“There you are, little human,” Idria purred above me. “Exactly where you belong. Apex has obviously been too soft on you, but that ends now.” She turned to Apex. “I expect you will beat her for this insolence later?”
“Of course, my lady.” Apex bowed his head. “You are correct. I have been far too gentle with her. I will not treat her so kindly in the future.”
Idria shrugged. “You had to gain her trust somehow, I suppose. But trust…perhaps we put too much stock in that. I think obedience from Atlanta would serve us all much better now.”
Trust. Just a few minutes ago, I’d had more faith in Apex than ever. But now…Idria was right. We’d all put too much stock in that, apparently. How was I supposed to trust Apex when he’d just let Idria strike me down like that, and done nothing? Gallix and Ronan had said that he had a way of double-crossing people…
But this time, it felt like I was the one he’d double-crossed.
16
Apex
She thought that I had failed her.
She thought herself to be betrayed.
I could see it in the way she was shaking there on her knees. She glared up at Idria so defiantly, I was surprised that Idria did not raise a hand to her again for it. There was disgust curled in her lips, fury clenched behind her teeth. She had no idea that I felt the same, though I was not fool enough to show it. Nothing would have given me greater pleasure than to rise up and rip Idria’s head from her shoulders for even thinking of harming Atlanta. To avoid doing so was taking every iota of my well-trained strength and resolve.
Anyone who hurt Atlanta deserved a slow, painful death. But there was no way of telling Atlanta that in this moment. No way that would not undo everything we had been working toward.
Atlanta thought that this was the end of my plans for her.
She thought wrong.
“Do not look so angry, little human,” Idria cooed. She placed her hand atop Atlanta’s head and stroked her hair back, like she was petting an animal she had just chastised for chewing up the rug. “All of this gets easier, I promise you. The better you obey me from this moment onward, the easier it will be.”
“Easier for who?” Atlanta growled back at her. “For me, or for you?”
“Did Apex not tell you, little one?” Idria moved to me and placed her fingertips beneath my chin to turn my face up towards hers. “That was
