Page 61 of Queens

My fists unclench, and I straighten out my spine as I shift my attention to the spot Rexton’s gesturing to. It’s south of my suggested location, and I don’t love it. We should keep looking north.

I sink my teeth into my bottom lip, evaluating the other spots I’ve been eyeing these past few weeks. None of them will work, not the way I want them to. Not the way Wrath needs them to. The location Rexton turned down was the best of them.

This wouldn’t be a problem if Aziel weren’t so stingy with Wrath’s finances. Our resources were drained during the war, but that was over twenty years ago. Things are better now.

Besides, Lust is drowning in wealth. They have more money than they know what to do with, and I don’t have the same reservations as Aziel about tapping into it. He and Gray chose to operate their kingdoms as two separate entities, but David is weak.

I’ll force him to submit to Wrath. I’ll absorb his kingdom.

It might anger the other realms—and maybe even the fates—but I’m not concerned with that.

“Well?” Rexton urges. “What do you think?”

I frown. “I want to be farther north.”

Rexton snorts. I take offense.

“What?” I snap.

“Nothing.”

I spin, facing the smirking demon. “Why are you laughing at me?”

“I’m not.”

“Yes, you are!”

I glare at him, at his upturned lips and crinkled eyes. Heislaughing at me, and he’s doing a piss-poor job of hiding it. Only yesterday, he was concerned I poisoned his tea, and now he’s openly laughing at me. He must not value his life.

Chapter Twenty-Six

REXTON

CASSIA IS INSECURE.

She’s insecure, jealous, and angry. She’s also mean, argumentative, and a fucking nightmare to work with.

I’m trying to remain polite, but she doesn’t make it easy. I managed to win over Mammon, for fuck’s sake. The queen was paranoid after Luca’s death, terrified to the point of shutting down her borders and locking herself inside her estate. She used up most of Greed’s resources having teleportation shut down within her borders, and she spent the entirety of her family wealth to have extra protections placed on herself.

I won her over, though. I convinced her to marry me into her family, and I slit her throat less than twenty-four hours later.

Earning Cassia’s forgiveness shouldn’t be nearly as challenging as that was.

I’m going out of my way to appease her, to prove that I’m not trying to steal her kingdom or take Wrath’s loyalties away from her. I’m thriving in my role, and I’m actively holding myself back so she doesn’t feel intimidated.

It hasn’t helped, and the few successes I’ve had have only further fueled her hatred for me. If anything, you’d think she’d be grateful that I murdered Mammon. Cassia had no knowledge of the protective magic that Mammon coated herself in. Cassia wouldn’t have been able to kill the demon queen, and she would’ve died trying.

She knows this, I shared the details immediately upon returning to Wrath, but Cassia is refusing to acknowledge it. She’s ignoring the blatant truth, and it’s infuriating. I’m not looking for her to thank me, but not hating me would be nice. It washerbrother I avenged, for fuck’s sake.

And she had the audacity to suggest Luca was an affair child I conceived with Charlie. The mere accusation, especially coming from her lips, is enough to have me killed. Aziel seems to like me well enough, as do Charlie’s other males, but if they thought for even a second that I was looking at their mate the wrong way…

I don’t want to imagine what they’d do to me. Aziel and Silas are the only ones strong enough to kill me, but Gray sure would make my life miserable. Cassia doesn’t care about that.

No. The princess only cares about herself.

I storm the length of my apartment, tracking mud across the hardwood floors.

The meeting with the generals earlier today couldn’t have gone worse. Cassia is upset that I won’t agree to her desired location, and she’s being exceptionally petty about it. In good faith, I still suggested a location change to the generals.