Page 60 of Cruelest Kiss and Fairest Blood (Tales So Wicked #2)

Lenore

M elly still hasn’t come to see me. It isn’t right.

She’s my handmaiden. Why would she leave my side?

It’s possible she went to find medicines or healers.

Our healers here aren’t accustomed to breaking magic spells.

The whole thing still sounds crazy. My father hasn’t come either.

Is he so wrapped up in Catreena that he can’t make time to visit his only daughter after her brush with death?

I’ve had hours to sit and think. The more I do, the more certain I am that Catreena is the witch. When I think back on it, all of my memories that began after I ingested the poison have a fuzzy quality to them. The conversation with Catreena where she offered me the apple is perfectly clear.

A soft knock has me jumping. I guess I’m still not over the hours of the in-between. Cassius peeks his head in.

“You’re up. I thought you may want some tea.”

I shake my head. “No tea, but if you could manage a bottle of wine, I’d be all too grateful.”

He steps around the corner with a bottle in hand. “I thought you might say that.”

We split the bottle. I’m able to relax for the first time since I woke up.

I don’t feel like talking. Cassius respects that.

He remains by my side, silently supportive.

My eyelids grow heavy but I’m too scared to sleep.

The in-between has left scars on my mind.

I fear I’ll have nightmares for years. On top of that, Harrow hasn’t visited me yet.

I can’t sleep until I know he’s safe. The wine swims through my veins.

My fireplace flames flicker and dance. I can’t let myself fall asleep.

“Lenore.” Cassius’s voice startles me awake. When did I drift off?

“What time is it?”

“The hour is late. We must get you to bed. Shall I call the maids to dress you?”

I don’t want those strange women in my room. For all I know they work for Catreena. “Would you help me?”

“Anything for you, my love.” I turn my back to him so that he can unlace me. “Just don’t go telling Melly what a terrible handmaiden I am when she returns.”

“The worst I’ve ever had. Are you still back there untying?”

He chuckles. “Women’s clothing is complicated.”

“Even for a prince so accomplished?” My teasing tone is the most like myself I’ve been since I returned.

Cassius finishes opening the dress and shrugs it off my shoulders. I keep my back turned to him as I slip on my nightgown.

“I thought you might not come back.” Cassius speaks softly. I turn, finding him leaned against my bedpost.

“Me too.”

“If I promise to be a gentleman, may I lay with you while you fall asleep? I just need to hold you. To make sure you’re really here.”

The room feels too quiet when I crawl into bed. I hold the covers up, signaling Cassius to join me. After kicking out of his boots and stripping off his collar and cape, his muscle-heavy frame drops in beside me.

Cassius’s body against mine fills me with conflicted emotions. The warmth I usually welcome is stifling. Why didn’t he believe me when I told him about Catreena? My stomach drops. They killed an innocent woman. It was Catreena who cast the spell.

Warm fingers cover my hand, pulling it away from my mouth. I hadn’t realized I’d been biting my nails. He squeezes my fingers and several of the recently torn areas of skin burn with the contact.

“What’s bothering you?”

Where do I even begin? It’s been so long since I could fully confide in someone. “I know you think I’m remembering things wrong.”

“I know the spell caused you to believe things that weren’t real.” His words make me tick with irritation.

“Right. But if I am correct, Catreena sentenced an innocent woman to death. She has to face the consequences of her actions.”

“Please, Lenore. Get a good night’s sleep before trying to take down the new queen. Nothing can be done at this late hour. Sleep.”

“I can’t sleep. It’s all I’m able to think about.”

Cassius’s hand slides across my stomach. “Maybe I can help take your mind off of things.” My abs tighten when his finger glides below my belly button. My hand blocks his path.

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m not in the mood.”

His hand immediately retracts. “At least let me hold you until you’ve fallen asleep.”

Strong arms encircle me. They aren’t Harrow’s arms. Which makes this wrong. I debate pushing him away, but give in to the close proximity. His warmth softens my muscles. Even though my body relaxes, my mind remains sharp. Something is not right. And I’m determined to figure out what it is.

I’ve been silently pretending to sleep for close to an hour when Cassius slips out of my room.

I can’t shake the feeling that something is very wrong.

My intuition is screaming at me. Everything Cassius has said makes sense.

I’m struggling to accept his explanations.

True love’s kiss . I do feel a powerful pull toward him.

But love, love is… I’m not certain it is love.

There’s something that draws me to him, that makes me crave his company.

A few weeks back I would have called it infatuation.

The strength seems to have faded, not grown.

Is that Harrow’s doing? My heart skips when I think of him.

Harrow is where my heart lies. That’s what love feels like.

This thing with Cassius is something else.

I don’t know what the hell it is. Some of the fire Cassius has always lit within me has ceased its bright burning.

Something’s up. I need to know what it is.

I’m out into the hallway and following Cassius before I can rethink it.

He’s quiet as he creeps through the halls.

When he doesn’t return to the guest quarters, my suspicion grows.

I halt my pursuit as Cassius stops to face the wall.

With one quick tug he pulls a lit sconce downward.

A passage opens up. I didn’t know about that one.

Cassius’s cape is the last to cross the threshold.

I wait until the passage seals up to follow him.

I pull the sconce and the wall opens again.

A steep set of stairs lies before me. The sinking feeling in my stomach grows.

The mystery of where this leads is eating away at me.

Grabbing a candlestick holder off the nearest table, I sneak inside.

My bare feet pad silently down the many steps. The secret corridor leads deep into the lower levels of the castle. I can’t understand how Cassius would know about his place.

Voices reach me from the base of the stairs.

Slowing my descent, I drop into a crouch.

My veins are pumping with adrenaline by the time I find enough courage to peer through the doorway.

The room before me is filled with glass vials and beakers.

It appears to be a lab of some sort. Cassius doesn’t strike me as the science type.

Cauldrons bubble and pipes release steam as colorful liquids stew.

My gaze finds Cassius as he moves farther into the room.

“There you are.” My breath catches. Cassius is not alone.

Catreena stands in the center of the room, arms crossed over her red gown.

“I had some things to take care of.” His voice is devoid of its usual warmth.

“I bet you did. Drop that ugly disguise. I can’t stand to see you like that.” Catreena glares at Cassius.

Cassius’s hand snaps out, gripping her jaw and jerking her face upward. “I don’t like that tone.”

It’s difficult to stifle my gasp. I can’t believe he’s touching her like that.

Catreena will call her guards and Cassius will be thrown in the dungeons.

But as I watch, the golden tan hue drains from his skin until he’s as pale and milky as Catreena.

The coppery brown of his hair vanishes, replaced by the same sunny blond as the woman staring up at him.

“I don’t enjoy you looking like someone else,” she grits out.

“How do you prefer me?”

“I prefer it when you look like me. Or have you grown tired of our matching faces?”

Cassius still hasn’t loosened his grip. “I’m just being smart. You don’t think people will suspect something is up if we start looking like twins again?”

Did she just say twin ? No fucking way. My gaze flicks between the two and I wonder how I could have been so fucking clueless before. Their faces are nearly identical. Pale, sharp features and hair like sunshine. They’re related. Not only that. They’re twins ?

“I don’t care what they think. Do as I say and stop wearing the disguise. I’m your queen.”

Cassius increases the pressure on her jaw until she cries out. “I think, since becoming Queen, you’ve forgotten who’s really in charge.”

“Don’t pull that goddamned power trip on me—” Catreena starts, but Cassius jerks her face higher.

“Uh uh uh. Instead of cursing like some peasant swine, let’s use that mouth for something better.

If it weren’t for me, this plan never would have worked out in the first place.

” His other hand presses down on her shoulder, forcing her to her knees.

The new matching version of Cassius releases her face, using the free hand to unbutton his trousers.

He’s hard, and the sight of it makes me sick.

“Why don’t you show a little gratitude, instead of bitching to me about every little thing. ”

“Gratitude?” She seethes.

“If it weren’t for me, you’d be sucking that king’s cock right now instead. Is that what you wanted? To be a broodmare to the elderly? I took care of it so that you wouldn’t have to sully those pretty lips on some old king’s balls. Now, open your mouth .”

I expect Catreena to shove away from him, to scream about how wrong that would be. How disgusting it is for a sibling to ask for something so lewd. Surely she’ll punch him right in the balls and run to get a guard. She can’t possibly give in to something so perverse.

My shock and confusion only grow as she opens her mouth and slides so far down Cassius’s shaft that her lips hit the patch of soft pale hair that decorates his pelvis.

No fucking way.

Wet, sloppy, lascivious sounds fill the hidden chamber as Catreena sucks Cassius’s cock with more energy and fervor than I’ve devoted to anything in my life.

What the hell am I witnessing ?

I want to look away, but my eyes can’t stop tracking the motion of her head bobbing forward or his hands tightening in her bouncing golden curls.

There’s no way this is happening. This can’t be happening.

Cassius groans, his face contorting. With a speed and precision I can hardly track, he pulls free from her eager mouth, spins her around, and forces her down on all fours.

My sweet, caring prince looks more like an animal as he shoves her scarlet skirt up and sheathes himself inside her. They both moan, the sounds loud enough to tell me they’re not worried about being heard down here.

Memories of my intimate moments with Cassius in the cabin rise to the forefront of my thoughts. My nausea spikes. The sight of him rutting into her with such beastly intensity is too much.

I thought it was just his dark side. We all have that thing within us that craves the perverse from time to time.

Now, I realize the Cassius I saw in the cabin, the one that fucked me until I cried with his fingers buried in my mouth, is the real Cassius.

The kind, romantic prince was a facade. I should have seen him for who he truly was when he had me pinned beneath him on that dirty floor.

He showed me his true colors. The mask was gone and I mistook it for a lapse in character.

I played the part of a fool so well, I deserved to be fooled.

Their screams of pleasure grow louder, ringing through my head. He fucked me with the same cock he’s using to pummel into his sister. And I let him. I came for him. My stomach lurches. I’m going to be sick.

My palm flies over my mouth. I’ve been here too long. I have to get out. The people need to know about this. Cassius said he took care of the king. Is my father dead? Is Cassius responsible? I trusted him. I gave myself to him.

Whirling, I spring to my feet. In my haste to leave, the back of my heel smacks into the candlestick holder, knocking it over and releasing an echoing clang that’s so loud it could wake the entire castle above.

I don’t need to look to know that my carelessness has been noted. The moaning and revelry have ceased. I run, sprinting back up the spiral staircase and toward the safety of the hallway above. Feet pound behind me, the sound growing closer and louder.

Breeching the hidden panel, I fling myself into the hall and scream at the top of my lungs. “Help! Someone, please?—”

Pressure splits through the back of my skull, sending fragmented pain splintering out through my eyes. Every part of my body grows heavy. I drop, hitting the cherry wood floor below. Rolling, I look up.

Cassius’s unfamiliar pale face and strange yellow eyes peer down at me. “You’ve done it now, Princess.”