Ruins of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #3) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,130

face, and his eyes narrowed on me. I trembled with rage and fear, knowing that Knox knew where my family was and had known since we’d first entered the Nine Realms.

Dimitri’s body dropped to the ground at my feet, and I exhaled slowly. I wiped my hands off on the white bride’s dress, holding Knox’s icy stare.

“Can’t start my reign with traitors in our midst, now can we?” I whispered, demurely holding his stare.

Knox smirked, nodding at Dimitri’s body while his men moved into the space in front of me, hefting the corpse to toss him aside. Blood dripped down Knox’s face as he stepped closer to me, lifting my chin to force my eyes to meet and hold his.

“I know where your family is hiding, Aria. I’ve known since the moment you entered the Nine Realms. I’ve allowed them to remain in place because it hasn’t benefited me to gather them yet. I captured Callista with Dimitri’s help. I picked her because she was the softer one between her and Reign, knowing you were more attached to her. I placed a tracking spell on her, using it to send in one that would attach to anyone else she came into contact with that carried the same bloodline. I know about the sanctuary, and I have allowed it to remain running. Not because of you, but because you’re gathering those witches with the promise of your protection, and they’re amassing within it, which will, in return, make them easier for us to capture. All I have to do is say the words, and the warriors within their vicinity will change that. I can kill them all, simply by sending word to them. So, I’d be very careful with your next words because lives depend on them. Do I have your attention now, little girl?” Knox chuckled, watching the tears that slid from my eyes while I nodded, unable to get words out. “I expect an answer,” he snarled, and I swallowed.

“Yes,” I whispered hoarsely.

“Are you going to marry me, or am I going to give the word to murder your people?”

“I will marry you,” I agreed, fighting to stop the sobs that threatened to explode from my lungs at what was happening.

“And what else?” he asked, lifting one brow with the question while searching my face.

“What else do you want from me?”

“I want you to give my people a show tomorrow. If you can’t awaken the deity, you’re still to dance for them and make it appear as though you have awoken Bel. When you prepare for our wedding, you will be the happiest bride this world has ever seen. You will make them believe our union is your choice and that you’re excited to belong to me. I expect a beautiful, radiant bride tomorrow. I expect her to welcome me to her bed, giving me no issues with our wedding vows or wedding night. You will make the witches believe you are entering into this union to protect them, but that you’re also with me by choice.”

“You want me to pretend that you didn’t force me to be your wife?”

“That’s exactly what I want,” Knox snorted. “I’ve been ahead of you every step of the way, Aria. I know that you were told to use your body to get to me. I know that you’re playing hard to get, so I would be on my knees for you, begging for access to what you assumed I want most from you. Pretending to be attracted to me should be easy enough for you. After all, you’re here to seduce me at the behest of your aunt, aren’t you? Get close to the king and make him want you more than he wants this war. Wasn’t that what she told you? And you, the obedient little bitch that you are, thought you were actually skilled enough to seduce me? I eat women like you for breakfast, turning them mindless and against the cold, heartless villains that sent them to me in the first place. You’re not even on my fucking level, Little One.”

“I wasn’t sent in to seduce you, Knox. I have not tried to seduce you yet. Have I tried to show you I am not evil? Yes, a thousand times over. Have I succumbed to your touch? Yes, because whatever is within me, it wants what is inside of you. Seduce you, though? No. I’m just trying to survive you. You’re too jaded, too broken, and too damn fucked