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“What?” Daemon asks, pulling me up from the bed to stand.

“Is it weird that I’m nervous to see Zypher again? Everything just feels so icky now that I know he wasn’t supposed to be letting his pack do all of that to me. I just don’t feel comfortable with the chance of being alone with him again.”

“Sweetie… He’s not going to lay a hand on you,” Daemon says, cupping my face.

“Okay,” I say quietly.

“We should get going. We have a long drive ahead of us,” Callum says.

We pull up to City Hall in Estroria, and I sigh. I’m not ready to face Zypher or Morwen. Now that I understand what they did was wrong, it makes me angry. I am furious with myself for not seeing it sooner and for how normal it felt. I am angry that I got off when Morwen raped me. I know that it’s not something I was in control of, and it felt wrong, but I wish I could go back and at least try to fight. I have taken hit after hit from these people and never second-guessed it.

Daemon opens my door, and I reluctantly get out. We are already getting looks because it is not often that the Three Kings visit the cities. That is going to change with me around. The people should know their leaders and see that they are invested in their well-being. I know they were overwhelmed with the curse, but they don’t have to worry about that anymore. The people of Grimitara should not be required to have blind faith.

“We are walking to his house?” I ask.

“Yes,” Kael says.

“His maiden… Can I get her alone and talk to her?” I ask.

“You don’t need our permission to do anything, Lilith,” Callum says as we walk down the sidewalk. No one is stopping us, but people are smiling and waving at the guys. By this point, everyone knows that I was chosen to be their maiden. They are all in for a shock when they find out the truth. “You are our mate and our queen. Just tell us where you are so we don’t worry.”

“Out of curiosity, why do you want to talk to her?” Daemon asks.

“Uhm…” I say. “There are too many people around for me to feel comfortable saying.”

“She’s like you?” he asks, and I nod.

“Yeah. We’ll distract him so you can go talk to her. I would like to talk to her myself, though.”

“Why?” I ask. My voice has a hint of an attitude as I get defensive over her.

“I just want her to know that she is safe. That’s all. I think it’s important that she sees for herself that she is in no danger.”

“Oh… I’m sorry,” I say. “I just…”

“Stop,” he says, taking my hand and kissing it. “I understand. You are rightfully wary of outing people.”

“People are looking at us,” I frown. “You can’t just…”

“Just what?” he asks with a smirk, and he stops and faces me. “Kiss your hand?”

“Yes. I am a maiden, and…” Daemon cuts me off by grabbing my face and kissing me deeply. I melt into him, and for a moment everything disappears. His hands slide down my body before he squeezes my ass with both of his hands.

“Understand this now, little witch,” he whispers into my ear. “I will fuck you in the middle of a council meeting and light the room up with you when I make you come for me. Don’t think for a second that I am concerned about what anyone thinks about what I do. You are our queen, Lilith, and after today everyone will know it. I don’t care if they find out on this sidewalk or officially through a press release. We will have that ceremony, and we will bow to you in front of the entire country.”

“You’ll bow to me?” I ask with a grin.

“Yes, ma’am. A queen holds a tremendous amount of power, but I will bow to you no matter how much power you wield.”

“Why is that sexy?” I ask.

“Because you are a little brat, that’s why,” Kael whispers in my ear before kissing my temple.

We continue our walk to Zypher’s home. I stand behind them out of habit, but Daemon pulls me up to stand between him and Kael as the door opens. “Your Majesties,” Zypher says, taken aback. “I didn’t expect you to grace us today.”

“We just have some things we need to discuss before we have our meeting,” Daemon says.

“Please, come in,” he says. When he steps aside, his new maiden is in the hallway. From the flustered look on her face, I can tell he was just fucking her. Her hair is a mess as she tries to fix it and straighten out her skirt in an attempt to look presentable. “How is your new maiden treating you?”