Page 211 of Claimed By Fangs and Darkness

I let my eyes round as I clutched my throbbing cheek. “Whyme?Why do you needmeto marry Aster and do your magickal dirty work when there are countless Servants of Lillian who wouldgladlytake my place?”

Conrad stared at me like I was stupid, as if stunned I didn’t understand.

“You seriously don’t know, do you?” he asked after several seconds passed.

I angled my head, studying him, but remained silent.

“Because witches who wield shadows and conjure storms have been kissed by Lillian and her underworld,” he said, his voice rising and falling with an inflection that was cruelly patronizing. “And you’re a child of both Helia and Selena—making you blessed bythreemajor goddesses—with a chaoswitch nature. There aren’t that many of you, believe it or not. Juliette tried to mimic the phenomenon, I assume by reading Aster’s obsessive ramblings on the subject.”

My head was spinning. I wasn’t kissed by Lillian. But Hekate was a dark, chthonic goddess, just like her.

“If not for your rarity, I assure you I would’ve already delighted in your death,” he drawled, nearly sensually. “The last time one ofyoumade it into the history books, it was to help Earle Augustus unite a fallen, war-torn realm and become King Earle of Ravenia.”

Wait, what?

“She was erased from most accounts, of course, given she was both a mortal and a woman. She would’ve weakened Earle and his rise, as well as the legitimacy of all born-exclusive institutions.”

Well, wasn’t that just typical.My mouth opened and closed, but no words came out.

“Aster’s father passed down his love of history and ancient texts. Aster was fascinated by the idea of a witch who stood at the crossroads between the heavens and hells—to put it mildly. I didn’t take him seriously, at first. No one did. But when he proved that you were the one who destroyed the coven in Isoldeandthe witch who’d conjured a storm over Etherdale, my sentiments shifted. I read his work. I studied Juliette. And then I met you.” Conrad exhaled. “I see how you fit, just as your predecessor fit into the story of Earle’s rise. You weave fates. You’ve made a lowly clan of bastards into something so much bigger than they ever would’ve been without your goddess-blessed power.”

I shook my head. Aster’s obsessions finally made sense, but they were being used to paint yet another religious myth that wasn’t rooted in reality.

“I’m not blessed by Lillian, and it’s not because of me that Kylo’s clan is holding their own. They were preparing long before I arrived.”

I shut my mouth tight, realizing I was still being questioned despite Conrad’s momentary pause.

If anything, his reveal of information and sudden reprieve from torture was yet another manipulation tactic.

He watched my lips with a smirk. “Like I said, I despise weakness. If Earle once fell in love with a conniving mortal, then he was never meant to rule forever. I have no such romantic sentiments. You will be useful, or you will be nothing.”

He suddenly yanked me up to my feet, his face inches from mine. His breath reeked with copper.

“Now which will it be?”

66

KYLO

As soon as Idris said the words,That is not Evie,everything made sense again.

“Oh my gods,” Harmony said.

“Oh mygods,” Vesper echoed.

Blade’s mouth was wide open.

“We need—fuck, we need witch bondage,” I said.

“On it.” Blade finally closed his mouth, then he rushed off in the next blink.

Idris set down the frying pan. “She didn’t grill me about a potential love interest,” he said with a shrug. “Flowers under Evie’s care wouldneverwilt. Nor would she ever destroy any part of a garden out of anger. Finally—you said she coughed up blood, and Evie said that Juliette was physically sick from stealing power. But the love interest thing,thatwas the most damning.”

“So youdidn’tmeet someone?” Harmony squeaked.

Idris rolled his eyes.

Harmony sighed and shook her head.