So why the hell was he letting Idria hold me hostage now?
“You would betray our sacred laws so easily, Idria?” Apex looked disappointed in her, though I couldn’t understand why. Of course she was breaking the rules! She was the bad guy here! That’s what bad guys did! “Lunaria will not forgive you if you do.”
“Lunaria will do as I say,” Idria spat at him. “As will you. Now, unless you wish to discover what color human blood is today, you will obey me. You will kneel.”
Apex’s shoulders slumped in defeat. But as he moved to bend the knee to Idria, she let out a terrible laugh.
“Not to me, Apex.” Idria nodded at Lieja, who was lingering at the edge of the crowd. “To your new mistress. To your queen.”
“What delicious drama.” Lieja looked like she’d just been handed the keys to the entire universe. “Come, Apex. If it makes you feel any better, you can pretend that we are in my chambers instead. I think I will have you kneel for me tonight, too. Though, we will both be wearing significantly less clothing then.”
Apex didn’t even give me a parting glance as he turned toward Lieja. Which…what the fuck? Here I was with a knife to my throat, apparently definitely pregnant, and he couldn’t even give me a final look to say goodbye? At this point, he looked so completely defeated, I knew his plan must have gone off the rails at some point. Either he’d underestimated Idria, or he’d been expecting reinforcements that hadn’t arrived. Admittedly, I was kind of waiting for Ronan and Gallix to burst in any minute now, blasters blazing…
But they didn’t.
No one was coming.
After all the trust I’d put in Apex, all the reassurances he’d given me…
His plan had failed.
“Do not pout, Apex.” Lieja reached up to stroke the white streak in Apex’s hair to the side. “I will be a better fuck than that tiny human anyway, I can assure you.”
Fat chance, my inner floozy growled. It figured, that out of all the times she’d make an entrance, it’d be now.
“Kneel to me, my darling, and I will make it all better in time,” Lieja continued as she gazed up at Apex lovingly. “You will be the perfect addition to my harem. My new favorite, I think.”
Slowly, Apex sank to his knees before her. I’d never seen a bigger smile on Lieja’s lips as he obeyed her.
“There. Now, you put that little human from your mind. She is very tiny, Apex. Not at all what a big, strong male like you needs.” Lieja laughed. “I am a queen, after all, and she—why, she is nothing but a mousy, pink-haired little—”
Whatever Lieja truly thought of me, I’d never know. Slut, probably. Whore, maybe. These people weren’t exactly geniuses when it came to insults.
One second, she was opening her mouth to form the word.
The next, Apex moved faster than my eyes could track, and suddenly, Lieja’s head was gone. Not exploded. Not blasted off her neck. But…completely disintegrated. The stump of her neck smoked, like the last embers of one of my father’s cigars, as her body slumped to the floor.
“Apex! How dare you—” Idria pulled the knife away from my throat and pointed it toward him instead.
Only then did Apex turn and look at me. His eyes, burning with a wild fury, met mine…then trailed quickly down my body to the floor.
Kneel.
I didn’t know what was going on, but this didn’t seem like the time to get snippy about orders. This whole time, I’d been tensing against Idria’s hold like Apex had taught me in the gardens. I relaxed and felt just enough space give way.
I’d never considered myself particularly good at following commands, but in this instance, I was too stunned to do anything but.
I knelt, and a second later, I felt something hot shoot over my head. Apex had fired, hitting Idria in the shoulder. She reeled back, gasping and clutching at her wound…
And I saw my chance.
There was a roar behind me. The Rutharian king, if I had to guess. I didn’t know what kind of fucked-up relationship he and Idria had, but it was probably safe to guess that he didn’t take kindly to Apex shooting his bride-to-be on their wedding day.
If he was tangling with Apex, I knew he’d come to regret it. My faith in my specter was freshly restored—especially now that I had finally realized what all that training in the gardens had actually been for.
Idria’s dagger clattered to the floor. I leapt for it immediately, though not quite fast enough. She dove for it at the same time. Our nails scratched and clawed at each other as we rolled, grappling for the hilt.
It wasn’t an easy fight. Idria was stronger than me. Faster. More skilled. And despite all of my training with Apex, I didn’t really see how my disadvantages could be used against her. Yes, she’d just been shot, but that seemed to make her angrier. And what did I have on my side? I was smaller than her, which meant nothing while we were rolling around on the floor like this. I was slower. And worst of all, I recalled as she twisted the tip of the knife toward me and aimed it for my stomach, I was pregnant.
I drew in a sharp breath…and found something unexpected inside me. Not my inner floozy—worthless in a fight anyway—but some untapped well of strength that I hadn’t had access to before just now. The blade trembled as Idria tried to force it into my belly, but no matter how hard she pushed…suddenly, I was able to push back harder.
Hard enough that I could shove her off of me.
Hard enough that I could wrestle the dagger from her hands, jump onto her, and sink the blade into her throat instead.
Deep, firm, and hard. Just like Apex had taught me.
Finally, all
