burst of fury, Lilac shrugged away from him. He let her.
“Like hell I can,” she growled. “You were going to let them take me. After everything, you really still believe I was involved in Laurent’s death?”
“That’s not what I said at all,” he countered, suddenly scathing. “Why does that matter, since I mean nothing to you?”
“You implied that I might’ve been aware of Laurent’s murder, even when I said I wasn’t.” Lilac poked a trembling finger at the vampire’s chest, trying hard to remember all the cruel things he’d said back in the colosseum to throw back in his face. “You had the nerve to tell him that I’d escaped. Look, I trusted you!”
“Exactly what else was I supposed to do, princess,” Garin shot back, his voice now raising. “Tell me. Should I have admitted to the faeries that I’d let you go? That we’d bargained my coven entry for your release?”
Garin reached for her hand, but she yanked it away. “By pitting you and I against each other, I tried to put it in Kestrel and his jury of lunatic’s minds that we weren’t friendly whatsoever. I was afraid of him growing too suspicious and using that as leverage to keep you; he’d figured it out and released us, anyway, but I couldn’t be sure. Kestrel is as unpredictable as he is unstable. To be quite honest, I’m surprised he let us go.”
“And what if he hadn’t?” she snapped, kicking a plump leech off her flat.
“Then…” He ruffled his hair and pretended to consider it. “I suppose, we’d be fugitives careening toward the High Forest by now, you and I both drenched in faerie blood. It’s a little abrasive on the skin, or so I’ve heard.” He threw her a devastating wink that he’d probably intended to be reassuring.
“Either way,” he added. “We’ll both owe Kestrel largely someday; I hope you know that.”
Lilac stared at him long and hard, the incandescent rage in her glare promptly scorching the amusement in his. “Was any of it true, though? Partially true? Is there some part of you that thought I deserved to be locked away by tho—”
Cold fingers clamped over her mouth, cutting her off abruptly. The too-familiar scent of something like metal coins stifled her gasp as, who she could only assume was Bastion, pressed her body against his.
“First of all, brother,” he snarled from over her shoulder. “What. The. Fuck?”
Garin reached out a calm, surrendering hand. “Relax, Bast. We’ll deal with this later. You heard Kestrel—she and I don’t have a lot of time. I have to get her back to the castle for her ceremony.”
Bastion scoffed, squeezing the princess tightly. His calloused hand crushed her lips, causing her to yelp out against his palm. “Not now? You’re gone for decades and when you finally return, the princess woman has you spellbound? Was what happened with—”
“I’m not,” he replied unenthusiastically, but his darkened irises blazed with petulance. “You were the one who wanted me gone in the first place.”
“It all could’ve been avoided, had you been honest with me.”
“I could have—should have handled it better, brother. I was afraid of what had happened to me. I could hardly believe it myself. Forgive me.”
Fingering her hair, Bastion pressed his nose to the side of Lilac’s throat, eliciting a sound she’d never heard come from Garin. It was a warning growl. Fear thrummed through her body and she froze; in a split second of alarm she backed into Bastion.
“Tell me this, brother,” the blond vampire muttered against her skin. “How do you do it?”
“Do what?” His voice was strained with defeat while Lilac’s heart thrummed erratically. She suspected Bastion certainly was faster, much stronger than Garin in the moment.
“I’ve seen the way you look at her. I am amazed at how you do it—how you haven’t truly tasted her yet. Times have changed.” Finally, he pulled away, though his grasp remained firm. “You do realize that if you fail, Kestrel will come after us.”
Garin’s nostrils flared. “I won’t.”
Lilac felt her pulse skip in her neck. Fail, she realized, meaning if she never became queen.
Because they hadn’t gotten there in time? Because the townsfolk made a big enough stink? Because Sinclair and his men returned with a vengeance? Because Garin had a change of heart and thought it enough to repay Laurents murderer by doing away with her?
“Let her go,” he snarled. “She doesn’t have time for this.”
Bastion released Lilac’s wrist and spun her to face him. Inhaling slowly, he passed his