"Welcome, Durandahl," he said. His voice was smooth, not soft, or light. It held the right amount of gruffness in his tone, but it was a warm voice.
I inclined my head to him respectfully. Let's act nice, shall we?
"Magnus, I presume."
His eyes lit up with a fraction of surprise. Which only made him smile even wider. "I'm impressed. I'm partial to my privacy, so I'm keen to know how you came across my name?"
I thought about lying to him but disregarded it. I have a feeling he's far more dangerous than he lets on. He dismissed the maid and left me alone with him. It’s better if I’m upfront with him. "A man named Phineas told me after I tortured it out of him."
Magnus frowned. "I see…I'm unfamiliar with that name, which disturbs me. It means someone's been talking that shouldn't."
"Let me solve the mystery for you. He learned it from one of your henchmen. A man named Darren."
Magnus sat back in his throne, propping his chin under his hand in thought. "Thank you for your honesty. That's a rare trait these days. Hmm. I'll need to have a talk with him about the need for secrecy."
I stifled a chuckle, which Magnus didn't notice. "Might be a bit of a one-sided conversation."
"Oh?"
"I killed him."
Magnus stared at me for half a second before letting out a hearty laugh. It was a good laugh. Full of mirth. He nearly doubled over from it. It took a lot of the tension out of the room, and I relaxed a bit.
"Any particular reason why you killed him?"
"He made himself my enemy."
That earned me another laugh. "It seems you are as stubborn as I am when you want something. I think I like you."
Well, there it goes. I'd had enough of the jovial tune Magnus was playing and dropped the humor from my face. "Yeah, you like me, liked me so much you kidnapped me, not to mention the fucking army you sent after my family."
Magnus stopped laughing and looked at me strangely, almost admonishing. He smiled a dopey grin and spoke. "Ah, yes, I do hope I can convince you to forgive me on that front. I'll admit I didn't handle that the best, but I can't exactly take all the blame for that."
"The fuck you can't!"
He wagged his finger at me. "As a matter of fact, my men had orders not to engage unless they were attacked. You were the one who jumped the gun and attacked first. By the time my messengers got there, your guild had killed all of my men."
"Your messengers were a guild of vindictive assholes with a grudge against us."
Magnus held up his hands and shook his head. "Which was a blunder on my part. I should have vetted them more thoroughly before sending them out. One of my lieutenants vouched for them, and I took their word for it. A mistake, I admit."
"What were you even doing there? Why send an entire army after us?"
"I sent those men to reclaim something I lost many years ago. It was supposed to be a simple meeting, not a bloodbath."
I threw up my hands and resisted the urge to strangle him. "What were you even after in the first place?"
"Something personal that I'm not inclined to share with you."
"Then what am I doing here? Why did you bring me here?”
At my words, his eyes lit up with humor again. He leaned back in his throne and smiled at me. It was a knowing smile that said he knew something I didn't. "Oh, I'm not the one who had you brought here, I'm afraid."
I did a double-take at his words. What? "Then who did?"
"I did."
I turned at the new sound. It was a woman's voice. Dark and rich with just a hint of bitterness. I'd never heard the voice before, which confused me, until she walked out.
She was beautiful, that much was clear, but it was the sharp edge of a blade. Beauty meant to cause harm to any who stepped too close. She had long, golden hair that flowed down her back like a river, and a dagger point chin. High cheekbones complimented her long ears that poked out from under her hair.
I knew her, even though we'd never met.
She looked the spitting image of Eris, though older and so much crueler, as her bumblebee eyes regarded me with curiosity.
"So, this is the human who's stolen my daughter's heart?"
Oh, Hell.
###
End of Book One
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading my novel!
It means the world to me that you’ve made it this far and are reading this. I hope you enjoyed the novel and are excited about the sequel. On that note, if I could beg a favor? If you’re reading this and you enjoyed the book, then please leave a review. Reviews decide whether an author lives or dies, and taking a minute or two to write a single sentence review makes our day. If you loved the book, please tell me your favorite parts, or if you hated it, go right ahead and troll me into oblivion, I probably deserve it. But whichever you do, please leave a review. And this isn’t a purely selfish request. The more reviews this book gets, the faster I can get the sequel in your hands. The sequel will be published regardless, but if my publisher picks up the sequel, it will happen much faster than not. So please, by the nine kings of Hell, please review my book. I’m on my virtual hands and knees here, guys. It’s a little embarrassing. Can you quit looking at me like that? :D
