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Those blue eyes flashed. “Queen of Secrets, remember?”

Of course, I did. But she hadn’t liked the moniker when she first heard it, and I doubt she did now. “Are you ever going to tell me? Or will I wake one morning to find myself being drowned by a punch of water down my throat?”

Devastation darkened her face. But she turned away quickly, trying to hide it.

Wha—why?

Was that why she didn’t use her powers? Had she unintentionally harmed someone, and now she was afraid of them? For a female who enjoyed stabbing so much, it seemed unlikely. But perhaps it had been someone she cared for. The Ancestors knew, I’d hurt plenty of innocent bystanders before I’d gained full control of my beast.

If that was it… well, I couldn’t broach that. She’d spit in my face—literally.

We might be willing to fuck one another, but that didn’t give me any sort of claim to her emotions. She’d allowed me to help with her quest for revenge, but even that had been begrudging.

Did I still hate her?

Part of me did.

She might have revenge in her mind, but she’d made one reckless, stupid decision after another. I still hated that she thought her life was worth nothing, that she thought she didn’t need to concern herself with running her own damn kingdom.

But hating her didn’t stop me from seeing the vulnerability and pain. And it certainly didn’t stop me from wanting to shove my cock into every cleft and crevice of that magnificent body.

But neither hate, nor lust, nor whatever else I felt for Veyka gave me the words I needed just then. I was a male of battle and bloodshed. Comfort was as foreign to me as the human realm.

When Veyka turned back, shoulders squared and eyes set in dark determination, I realized that wasn’t what she needed from me, anyway.

“I decided I’d spare you the failure of trying to tail me without getting caught,” she said, lifting her chin in challenge.

I caught her jaw in my hand, dragging her across the two feet that separated us, and claimed her mouth. I slammed my tongue into her, past the surprised lips, deep into the recesses of her throat. I took and took and took, demanding that she give herself to me. I couldn’t comfort, but I could distract. I could spin her up into challenge and fire and vitriol. Veyka met every thrash of my tongue, grazing her teeth along the insides of mine.

When I set her back down, ripping my mouth back and gnashing my teeth, canines begging to tear into her skin and taste her blood, we were both panting.

“Lead on, Princess.”

* * *

I realized very quickly the real reason she’d come to lurk on my veranda and invite me along.

Veyka needed my help.

More specifically, she needed my powers.

If she’d had any doubts in her mind, watching me turn my quarters into a veritable jungle had surely dispelled them.

She led me over the edge of the veranda, down to the one below. Then horizontally across three more of diminishing sizes. I didn’t know who they belonged to, but by the confident way she moved, I guessed that Veyka did. It was suppertime; many of the courtiers joined the communal hall in the throne room, though I never had and I knew Veyka didn’t either. But she must know who could be counted on to desert their rooms.

At the edge of the third balcony, she turned to me and pointed.

“We need get up there,” she said simply.

There was another veranda, larger than any of the ones we’d scaled, including my own. It looked to be almost as large as hers, which likely meant it belonged to someone important. Someone whose quarters we were about to enter.

But unlike so many of the balconies, which were close to others or had decorative carved goldstone that could be used for climbing, this one jutted out sharply before giving way to a sheer drop. I glanced down, noting the distance. If we fell, neither beast nor fae form would save us. Fae bodies could heal almost any wound, save decapitation, but without the assistance of a healer, we would almost certainly die from the fall.

However, our salvation was apparent.

“Ancestors be damned,” I cursed under my breath.

The balcony was crowned in a mass of sweeping ivy.