Page 24

GWYN

After Roman leaves, I call Margot. I think she’s the one he was speaking with as he walked away, but she answers my call anyway.

“I need a disposal crew for Emile’s body,” I say.

“Yes, Your Majesty. As you wish, Your Majesty.”

I debate whether or not to say what I’m thinking.

I’m uncertain it’s my place, and I’m not sure they’ll even listen to me.

This will open up an opportunity to dissect my choices to find weakness.

But all anyone will find on an autopsy is that all my bits and pieces have cared for Roman against my will.

Despite the fact that some of this is certainly my fault, it’s information they need to know.

“Remy needs to be observed when you take him home. He’s… we had to take precautions to keep him?—”

“You’re telling us how to properly take care of your prisoner?

” Margot asks, and I wish I would have listened to my gut and kept my mouth shut.

Roman’s suicidal brother isn’t my business.

It doesn’t matter that we’ve had him living a pretty fucking cushy life.

Hale had even arranged for him to have weekly video calls with a therapist. Sure, he’d placed a tongue trap on him, so he couldn’t talk about being held captive, but Remy was held captive by his own mind more than anything we put him through.

We kept him safe, regardless of everything he’d done. And hadn’t Roman done the same thing for me eventually? I bite my tongue though, because he’ll know what to watch for. He is a good brother, after all.

“The wards will be down by the time you get there, I’m sure.

I don’t think Hale’s magic will…” I trail off, knowing that my friend will be heartbroken.

Hale has spent most of his life fine-tuning his gifts and fostering a relationship with his ancestors within the spirit realm. This is going to be painful.

“Someone will be there shortly to deal with your mess,” Margot snaps, and then she hangs up.

Slowly, I turn to face my sister, my friend, and the vampire Ascending him. “We need to take him to the compound,” I order, and Nico merely raises his brows.

“I heard your conversation with Roman. I didn’t hear his approval. You sure that’s the best place to take him?”

“Where the hell else is he going to find a bunch of vampires to fuck? Unless you plan on doing it all yourself?” I ask.

Hale stops drinking, his green eyes bright in the moonlight. He pants against Nico’s wrist, out of breath, but he has remarkable control—similar to my own when I was turned.

“That explains it,” Hale says to Sasha, and she tilts her head back and laughs. It's a relief that he’s speaking to her like normal.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“We couldn’t figure out how you’d let things get this out of control with Roman, and we totally forgot about this part.”

“That you probably fucked him senseless,” she says, looking at me over her shoulder with a soft smile.

Perhaps she thinks it’s a truce. Between our argument in Bjorn’s library and the way she just snapped at me, I’m not sure if going back to treating me like everything is normal is going to work this time.

Besides that, Sasha has always judged me for my sex life, and it feels an awful lot like that—even if I couldn’t help it.

“Did she fuck you too?” Sasha asks Nico, and Hale growls.

He adjusts in Nico’s grip and sits up, and then the fangs I’d been dreading to see peek out from beneath his top lip.

“Sasha, you should get back,” I warn, knowing that Hale is about to become very possessive of Nico.

She doesn’t listen, only placing a comforting hand on Hale’s thigh.

We didn’t know every thing there was to know about Ascensions before I infiltrated the coven, so she might not know about the possessive instinct to kill anyone who can be viewed as a threat to the one they want to fuck.

Desperately and wholly cannot help but need to fuck.

I’m kind of surprised Nico agreed to this, considering I thought he was straight. He gives off vaguely threatening mafia boss from the 1960s vibes, toxic masculinity and all.

“Where do you suggest we take him?” Nico asks. “If anyone knows that he belongs to you, then…” he trails off.

“Firstly, he’s not my belonging even if I know what you mean. Can we just take him to the penthouse?”

“Do you plan on fucking him?” Nico asks, head tilted.

His expression screams innocence, but the gleam in his brown eyes makes me wonder if he can see right through me.

While Roman exists, I doubt there can be anyone else for me.

His gaze drops from mine as he looks back down at Hale in his lap.

“I’m honestly surprised he hasn’t attacked either of you yet. ”

“Gwyn, what’s he talking about?” Sasha asks.

“Well, after Ascending, he’s going to just want to fuck and feed and feed and fuck on an endless cycle. Anyone who might stop him from doing that or anyone who poses a threat, well, he’ll want to attack them. You heard him growl at me a minute ago.”

Nico huffs a laugh, tip of his tongue passing over his lower lip.

He’s looking at Sasha when he speaks. “If a sexual relationship already exists, though, it’s not as big of a threat.

In fact, that would be ideal because then I don’t have to have anything to do with it.

He probably won’t kill you. Sasha, do you mind?

” Nico asks, and I only blink at him from where I stand behind my sister.

I expect her to shout at him or call him names or something, but all she does is bow her head.

“Sash?”

When she doesn’t say anything, I can’t help but look at Hale’s quickly reddening cheeks. Slowly, he pulls Nico’s arm away from his mouth.

“Come on, Gwyn. You know I’m bisexual,” he says.

“You fucked my sister?” I ask, confused. “I know you’re bi, but in like the ‘wow, I’m unfortunately more attracted to men despite also being attracted to women’ kind of way. You haven’t slept with a woman since college!”

I’m well aware that it’s not any of my business, but the fact neither of them has told me about it stings. Just how long have I been the odd man out?

Hale adjusts in Nico’s arm. I can’t be angry about something so fucking inconsequential when my best friend sits up, strong and alive and giving me that imperious look like I’m an idiot and he’s about to tell me exactly the reason why he thinks so.

I wish I could hug him without fear of him attacking me.

“Pussy is like…a buffet,” he says, breezy and effortless.

Nico snorts, and Hale shoots him a contemptuous glance.

“I can go to the buffet almost any time I want. There is always food for me at the buffet, and the…workers, they… Hmm, that doesn’t work for this analogy.

Whatever. What I’m saying is, I’m kind and attractive, I treat women decently, and I’m secure in my sexuality.

The…food at the buffet loves that. The lettuce practically jumps onto my plate. ”

“Hale, if you don’t stop comparing me to the fucking salad bar, I swear to god,” my sister says, and a laugh bursts out of me. The first real laugh I’ve had in so long, it almost turns into a cough.

“The buffet has everything I could ever need, and it’s generally pretty decent. But it’s not sustainable. Usually I prefer something home cooked or perhaps a steak dinner,” he says, and then with a shrug, he bites into Nico’s wrist once more.

“It was a one-time thing. It’s not..we don’t—I mean, I will, if Hale needs me to?—”

Hale shakes his head, waving a flippant hand at her, before nestling more comfortably into Nico’s arms.

“Margot did just fine when she Ascended. She fucked half the coven. So yes, let us take him back to the compound. Fine. But someone else is going to have to drive,” Nico says.

He looks pointedly downward, and I see Hale’s hand massaging him over his pants.

I bite my lip, remembering Margot driving me and Roman to the greystone, the woman having to listen while Roman fingered me in the backseat to keep me from attacking her and going crazy.

I’d been insatiable. A part of me rejoices with the knowledge that I couldn’t help it.

That the desire and obsession I’d had with Roman was just a natural product of an Ascension.

But a smaller, quieter part, is devastated that that’s all it is. All it could ever be.

Everything has fallen apart. Using Remy as leverage to keep Roman in check while I find Agnarr doesn’t work when Hale is at Nico’s beck and call.

Protecting my family has gone to shit. The only thing I still have is my vengeance, but was it worth it?

My parents are still dead, and now my friend has signed up for a life he never fucking wanted.

I’d thought to ease the silent ache of grief and loneliness in my retribution.

So why is it louder than ever before?