Spring (Evermore Academy #2) - Audrey Grey Page 0,135

never forgive you,” I whisper.

“Forgive?” The Winter King arches a bored brow. “Such a mortal concept, forgiveness. He will be upset . . . but after you marry the Spring Prince and the bond between you and my son withers into a distant memory, he will come around. And if he doesn’t, well, perhaps Hellebore can explain.”

Hellebore lovingly finishes depositing his spiders into a small silver box lined with black velvet before turning to me. “Do you know why the Bloodstar flower is so effective? Besides being the most lethal poison in existence, it’s the most rare, and the cure almost non-existent.”

“You bastard.”

“There is an antidote that will prevent the poison from taking hold for a time, and if the Winter Prince and his friends behave, it will be administered every seven days.”

Oh, God. That’s how they’ll control Valerian and the others. Threatening to withhold the antidote if they don’t do as told.

A sick feeling crashes over me. I fight through it, struggling not to drown beneath the unrelenting waves of revulsion and horror. Struggling to be strong for my mate, my friends.

To find a way to save them.

Hellebore waits until the enormity of his meaning flashes over my face before adding the final nail in my coffin. “Only I possess the true cure. Which they will all receive after you formally become my loving, dutiful wife, and all your powers with you.”

I suck in a breath as the walls seem to close in around us. I can’t breathe. The feeling of being trapped descends, and with it comes a wild sense of desperation. “I’ll pay off our marriage arrangement, buy it out somehow.”

Hellebore laughs. “Orc’s breath, you’re adorable. Our future together is going to be so very entertaining. Especially considering that, as my fiancé, I no longer need your permission for anything, including touching you.”

Hot nausea simmers below my breastbone. “I’ll kill you before I let you touch any part of me.”

Hellebore’s chuckle echoes over the marble walls, and I want to carve his eyes out. “Behold, king, a rabbit who believes itself a wolf.”

I bare my teeth, near-rabid with a seething fury. This rabbit is going to rip out your throat someday, Prince.

The Winter King lacks Hellebore’s mirth as he regards me. I hate the disinterest in his hard gaze. As if I’m nothing, unworthy of more than a passing glance.

He shifts his attention to Hellebore. “Do what you will with her. My son possesses a misplaced sense of loyalty to his companions. He might gamble with his own life to retrieve his mate, but he won’t risk the lives of his trusted friends for her. As long as the poison runs through their veins, he will behave.”

In this moment, my hatred for Valerian’s father rivals my loathing for Hellebore. The Winter King has to know that, after what happened with Valerian’s mother, this final treachery will crush whatever’s left of Valerian’s wounded heart.

Both Fae males whip their heads to stare behind me—

The mahogany doors explode in a burst of fire, wood splinters slamming into the nearest wall. My mother strides in ready for battle, flames flaring from either side of her open hands.

Her fiery gaze flicks to my friends above, darts to the Winter King, and then settles on Hellebore.

To her credit, her shock barely registers before she composes her face into a fearsome mask. “I will buy off my daughter’s marriage contract. What’s your price? Land? Jewels?”

Hellebore’s lips twitch. “There is no price on love, isn’t that what mortals say?”

“The betrothal was never made permanent with magic before she died.” My mother stalks toward us until she’s close enough that I can smell her exotic perfume. “By Faerie law, we can still buy out the offer.”

“Fine, present me with my parents, alive and unharmed, and you may have your daughter back.”

My mother blinks, just barely masking her shock. I get the feeling very few Fae ever surprise her. “That was your aunt’s doing, not ours.”

“No. My aunt was simply being true to our nature as Evermore. She sensed weakness and acted upon it. I don’t blame her, but I do blame the Winter Prince for trying to take what was promised to me.”

His eyes gleam as he turns my way. “Our future marriage, secret as it was, formed powerful ties between our courts, and when the Summer King was forced to kill you to keep you out of the Winter Prince’s hands, my parents lost that alliance. They died all because one petulant, greedy Winter Prince