Page 75 of A Fate in Flames

“I know your name,mortal.”He dragged the word out purposefully.“What makes you think you’ve earned the right to hear your name spill from my lips?”

The way he said it sent a shiver down my spine that pooled like molten heat in my core.I hated the way it sounded coming from him.How the rough warmth in his voice twisted something inside me.

Theo and Tavrik abandoned their conversations mid-sentence, their attention now on us, angling their bodies protectively.

I gave them the smallest nod, assuring them that I could handle him.

When in fact, I could not handle him.Not even close.

Dalkhan noticed it all, his head swivelling as his gaze slid lazily toward Theo.

Theo’s entire body went rigid, blood draining from his face as his nostrils flared.His hand disappeared beneath the table, but the sharp flex of muscle betrayed his restraint.There was nothing he could do.Nothing any of us could do.

Dalkhan smiled, slow and taunting as he leaned back.He was clearly enjoying all of this—the way he kept us all on edge, watching us squirm just by him simply being here.

I refused to let him win.To let him see how much he affected me.

I lifted my cup to my mouth, fighting the tremor in my hands.A single drop escaped, sliding along the curve of my bottom lip.

Before I could wipe it away, Dalkhan caught it with his thumb.

His touch lingered, his eyes locked onto my lips.Watching.Waiting.

I couldn’t think.Couldn’t move.

He could’ve pulled away.He didn’t.

Instead, he leaned in closer, his body angling toward mine, his breath a quite drag of heat against my skin.“Do I make you nervous?”

I wanted to lie—wanted to scoff in his face.

Instead, my treacherous head nodded.

Satisfaction darkened his features, his eyes raking over me.Memorising every reaction, every tell.

I clenched my legs together involuntarily.

He caught the movement—of course he did—and laughed.

“Careful, little mortal…” His fingers brushed against my thigh beneath the table.“You’re so very… transparent.”

My lashes fluttered briefly before I snapped back to reality.

“And you,” I said, steadier than I felt, “are predictable.”

His brow arched.“Am I now?”

I met his gaze without flinching.“You think you can toy with me because it amuses you because I am weaker than you.It’s pathetic really.”

My mother was right, I never did know when to justshut up.But on I went, unable to stop.

“You’re a king, yet you’re sitting here playing games—trying to get a reaction out of… what is it you like to call me?Oh yes.Amortal.”

The grip on my thigh tightened in warning, fingers digging into the flesh just enough to border on pain.

“Is that what you think this is, mortal?”His touch transformed into maddening circles.“Agame?”

“Isn’t it?”