Page 176 of Blood Day

What are his real motives?

Why did he insist on training Emine and Lily together?

Was it all a ploy to lull me into a false state of comfort? A way to ensure we worked together?

Or did he truly intend for us to become partners?

I could approach this a few different ways. I could wait until Silvano arrived and be honest about Khalid’s offer forthe sovereign position, then tell him I’d only played along because I’d been trying to ascertain his true motives.

I could go to Khalid with a warning about Silvano’s impending arrival and see what sort of plan he had in mind. Then I could carry it out in hopes that Khalid meant his sovereign offer. Or I could use the plan against him by allying with Silvano.

Or I could just ask for his plan and evaluate his sincerity from whatever idea he suggested.

I could also put all my cards on the table and be honest. But that required me to know what I wanted.

Which I didn’t.

Other than Lily, I truly wasn’t sure what I desired.

Being a sovereign had never appealed to me. However, if it meant I could keep Lily, I’d consider it.

A position of power would afford me a great deal of authority. And being a sovereign would place me just under a royal, making me superior to everyone else.

The question was—which royal did I want to serve? Khalid or Silvano?

I didn’t trust either of them.

But Silvano was my maker. Serving him would be better suited. Except he’d never let me keep Lily. He’d use her as a pawn to control me. Or destroy her just to remove the potential distraction.

And Khalid… I wasn’t sure I could completely bow to him. But he’d made it sound like he would help me on numerous occasions.

Did he mean it?I wondered as I parked the car outside the palace.Or is he playing me?

I gritted my teeth.Only one way to find out.

If this was all an elaborate ruse, then the game was about to end with Silvano’s arrival.

Which meant I wouldn’t lose much more by going toKhalid now because if he was working with my maker, then he would have already given Silvano all the information anyway.

However, on the off chance that he wasn’t working with my maker, I needed to use this new friendship.

It wasn’t my usual strategy to work with others. But I recognized the need in this situation to seek out assistance where I could.

I teleported out of the car, not bothering with dropping the keys by the door or any other formalities, and went straight to Khalid’s quarters.

The scent of fresh blood reached me, suggesting I might be interrupting a meal with Emine. Although, if he cared about her like I suspected he did, then he’d want to move her to safety as quickly as possible.

Silvano might not be able to take a toy from another royal, but that wouldn’t stop him from trying.

I lifted my hand to knock on the door, but it opened before my fist met the wood.

Khalid’s inky irises met mine, confirming he’d just fed. There was some evidence of it on his white dress shirt as well, along with a tear in the fabric across his chest.

Emine must have clawed him,I thought, amused.

“Oh, good, you’re here,” Khalid drawled, leaning against the door frame. “It saves me a call.”

I arched a brow. “A call?”