Page 68 of Wedlock

“Falco, please. I had nothing to do with your arrest, but I can ask my aunt to invoke True Punishment, rather than put you on trial.

“You can’t be serious,” I glare at her.

“A life for a life, or two,” she shrugs. “Spider is permitted to kill your wife and son as retribution for you killing his pregnant wife. Of course, then he’ll take over your title. But justice will be seen to be done in the eyes of The Families and we can all move on from this ridiculous pantomime. In a few centuries the entire thing will have been forgotten.”

I grit my teeth at her offer.

My whole life I’ve lived under the shadow and threat of the Dartlores because of my father’s vendetta with Spider’s father. It’s cost me the woman I planned to marry, my brother, my heart, and almost my mother. If she thinks I’ll also allow my enemy to take my wife, heir and title, she’s insane.

“Princess, I can’t be plainer with you. I won’t sacrifice my family or title.”

“But you’ll have a new family,” she snaps, “one we’ll make together. With your blood and mine our lineage will be some of the strongest ever known. You’ll have a new title, one of king consort…”

“Revna, I can’t marry you.”

“WHY?” She screams, stamping her foot.

“Because,” I answer quietly, the truth hitting me hard as I utter the words, “I’m in love with my wife.”

51

“He’s royally screwed, Wolf says ruefully as he skols his scotch and pours another, “literally and figuratively.”

“That’s not helpful,” Jag shakes his head.

I look from one to the other where I sit on the couch, Wolf standing near the bar, Jag seated at Falcon’s desk. The study seems somehow bereft of life now that its owner isn’t here; he always seemed to dominate every room he was in. Or maybe it’s just that I only ever noticedhim. Either way, I can’t help but compare Jag to my husband as he sits behind Falcon’s big mahogany desk. They’re both extremely handsome men in their own ways, imposing physiques, royal, rich, and powerful. Yet, he just doesn’t hold a candle to the man I married.

“If his only option is to marry the Princess, then he’ll have to do it,” Wolf shrugs. “Men have done worse things to save their hides, and I could think of worse wenches to bed. He’ll be a king, no less, and if he still wants to fuck his little human wife, his queen will probably turn a blind eye once her belly is full of vampire babies.”

“Great, that sounds like something to look forward to,” I snap.

“It’s not quite that straightforward,” Jag says slowly, looking at me in a strange way. “The Princess has a bug up her ass about Angieandthe baby. She wants to personally ensure they’re both dead. She’s pushing the Queen to invoke True Punishment, and she won’t marry him until she sees Angie’s corpse. We need to get Angie to a safe place and hide her for the rest of her life.”

“Why?” I moan. “Why is she so crazy? I’m no threat. I’m not even worth eating, let alone killing. She and Falcon both think I taste disgusting.”

“It is strangely obsessive, even for her,” Wolf shrugs. “Although I think I might know someone who could shed some light on the matter. Falcon told me to visit Attracta and see if she has any information she can give us.”

“Asumpta’s sister?” I shake my head. “Won’t she be just as evil?”

“No,” Wolf shakes his head, “well, at least not according to Falcon. Apparently she and Eleanor are tight.”

“Asumpta is also ‘tight’ with Eleanor,” Jag shakes his head. “The bastard twins can’t be trusted.”

Wolf pours himself yet another scotch before turning back to us.

“Falcon thinks Attracta may know something helpful. She’s well-read and keeps a vast library of court documents and books. He thinks she might be able to find a legal loophole, or at the very least be able to shed some light on the conspiracy against him.”

“Why doesn’tshego see him?” I wonder out loud.

“He doesn’t want her implicated in any way,” Wolf sighs. “It’s best for her that she remain his estranged bastard sister for all intents and purposes. If you ask me that’sexactlyhow she should remain, but he’s determined I seek her out.”

“Then meet her,” Jag scowls. “In the meantime, if we can get Falcon to at least pretend to agree to the marriage we can stall for time while I look for Asumpta. But I can’t be worrying about an attack on Angie and Falcon’s heir at the same time.”

“I’ve already heard this from Falcon,” Wolf scowls, “you two think like conjoined twins. Why you can’t just mend your bridges and move on is beyond me.”

“Wait,” I interject, “Falcon said he’s going to agree to the marriage?”

“Not yet. But what choice does he have?” Wolf shrugs. “There’s too much evidence against him in this murder case. Spider has a long list of complaints; from his wife being kidnapped, to Falcon using the Queen’s name to get the dead Free Men from him. It all builds up to show your husband is a fucking psycho who will stop at nothing to get vengeance upon Count Dartlore’s house, just like his father before him. There’s even been a suggestion he could be suffering from the same mental illness his father had, and that he’ll go on a blood rampage next and then drop dead.”