Page 767 of Hell Hath No Fury

“I didn’t come calling just to have you throw the door closed in my face, Merissa,” Arturo snarled, pushing forward and stooping so that his face drew close to mine.

Magic coiled in my skin, the power of the earth writhing within me as a slight shift of my fingers started the cast.

“And what was it you wanted?” I asked icily, trying to ignore the sweep his narrowed eyes took of my body in my nightgown. Iwasn’t afraid of him. I was a warrior with the power of the earth itself brimming in my veins, not to mention his princess.

“A word,” he clipped. “With my betrothed. And it might serve you to remember that the crown your family covets so greedily is only yours because of the power of the high families supporting you. You might also want to remember that pleasing me is the surest way to keep that support in place.”

“I am well aware of the power my family holds as well as yours. But that is no explanation for you turning up here in the middle of the night.”

“I heard a rumour,” he said in a low tone, shifting closer. “A rumour about a guest your parents have arriving at the castle today. A rumour I want my beloved fiancée to confirm for me.”

Dark eyes and a darker soul. Hungry, angry, hurting.

I blinked the vision away, needing to keep my wits sharp.

I held my ground, raising my chin as I maintained my position before him. He had come here now thinking to intimidate me. The big man forcing his presence on a woman half his size while she was alone and vulnerable. How powerful he must have felt standing over me in the dark, the light of the hall beyond silhouetting his broad frame like a threat as he blocked my only escape from this place. But if that was what he thought true power felt like, he needed to ask himself the real question. If I held the thing he desired then wasn’t I the one with the power?

“Speak plainly, Arturo, before I toss you from this room like the lecherous drunk I’m beginning to suspect you are,” I replied, my voice hard.

If he thought his marriage to me would be an easy one where I was forced to cower and submit, then he was even more of a fool than I had given him credit for. And if he thought he could use the threat of his size or physical harm against me then he mustn’t have been taking my gifts as seriously as he should have.

Arturo’s lip curled back, more of that ale scent curling in the air which divided us, and I didn’t make any attempt to hide my distaste. In that moment I knew I wouldn’t marry him. No matter the customs and arrangements that had been made for the unity of this empire, I would not submit my body to one such as him, no matter the cost.

“Is there a party arriving from Solaria today?” Arturo hissed, his hand moving to snatch my arm, but Isawit coming and shifted aside so that he didn’t so much as brush a finger against me.

“Solaria?” I asked and a flash of a vision stole through me.A many headed monster, a ferocious roar, an exquisite banquet with foreigners, though I didn’t get a clear enough look at them to recognise any faces.“I haven’t been told of any such visit.”

True.

“Don’t try and hide your visions from me,” Arturo said, his voice taking on a cunning note which told me that was why he had come here, hoping to force an answer from the stars about this via me.

I scoffed. “My visions are many and always changing,” I replied evenly, shutting out more of them as a distant roar echoed through my mind. If he cared so much about this, then I certainly wasn’t going to give it up to him easily.

“It would make sense for you to wish for your betrothed to have this kind of knowledge. What benefits me will only ever benefit you in the end. Once we are married and the might of our families is united under one roof, you will have to share all of your visions with me regardless.”

Have to?Oh, this asshole was kidding himself if he thought he was going to be enforcing any kinds of demands upon me whether we were wed or not.

I let my eyes widen, mouth falling slack as I faked a vision with a sudden gasp that had his eyes lighting.

“What do yousee?”Arturo demanded.

“A man,” I breathed, vines crawling across the floor behind him beneath the power of my magic, creeping closer while his greed for my knowledge left him utterly exposed to my whims. “A man with lank hair and a mindless skull…”

“What is he doing?” Arturo asked greedily, reaching out to grab me again, but Isawit and sidestepped once more. I would not let the man who killed my son’s father lay so much as a finger on me.

“Flying,” I breathed. “Without wings…”

“Flying? Why? Where?”

“Would you like me to show you?” I asked softly, temptingly, as if I was offering up the chance for himseewhat it was that Isaw.

“Yes,” he panted, reaching for my hand as if I really might give it up.

The corner of my lips twitched with a wicked amusement as I met his gaze. “As you wish.”

I curled my fingers and the vines shot out, snaring him beneath his armpits and whipping him from his feet before hurling him out into the corridor where he flew a good ten feet before slamming down on his ass and skidding away like a sack of potatoes that had fallen from a runaway donkey.

“I live only to serve you, dear husband,” I called after him as he bellowed in rage, the sound turning into a furious moo as he lost control of his Order form and shifted into his Minotaur form.