Malicious King: A Paranormal Royal Romance (Territorial Mates Book 6)

by Mary E. Twomey

  Lilya postures. “No. Des and I can handle this. You’re already doing more than you should.”

  A wry smile crosses his face. “The people argue less if something comes from me. They fear me more than they do the two of you. This is a hit no one’s prepared to take. I’ll not have them blaming you for it.”

  “Ronin, don’t.”

  But it’s already done. Ronin kisses the back of my hand before he parts from my side. “The two of you need to stay in here. I’ll send Destino in, as well. I don’t want the visual of the three of you attached to this horrible swing.”

  “Ronin!” Lilya argues, but with a nod from Ronin, I keep my arm around her to anchor her to the spot. We both know he’s right, but it feels all wrong.

  The whole of Drexdenberg is about to shatter.

  Chapter Six

  A Mess of a Person

  Lilya

  I’m trying not to be a mess of a person, but tonight I’m settling for not appearing as a mess of a person, which is the best I can do. I’m composed, but my insides are banging around without hope of settling any time soon.

  Adeline’s not quite as composed, and I admire her for the honesty of it all.

  “Word’s been sent to Alexavier?” Adeline asks, pacing back and forth in the receiving room. It’s an innocuous label for this space, as we don’t actually receive all that many guests. For some reason, no one’s a racist, but everyone would rather stay away from the fae queen. Funny how that works.

  “Yes, but it will take days to get there.” I’m probably supposed to say things that might bolster us, but I can’t manage anything short of despair. “Des will be fine. He’ll be okay.”

  I say it, but we both know I don’t believe it.

  “A week-long call for leaner living isn’t going to keep morale up where it needs to be, given tha we have no solution in sight.”

  “Morale is what it is. Ronin’s speech ended with an urgency for unity. Checking in on your neighbor, and things like that. It’ll help.”

  Adeline’s jaw is firm with defiance, not of me, but of the system that moves too slow for her liking. I recognize it as the same listlessness I see in Salem whenever I’m suffering. Ronin’s shouldering more of the burden of ruling than he should have to, and her animal won’t let it be what it must.

  What we both wish it wasn’t.

  “There weren’t any children or teenagers when I was growing up in Neutral Territory. I was the only one.” I’m so awkward. I’m starting this all wrong. “What I’m trying to say is that I didn’t have friends past the age of eight. I’m not very good at this, but I want to be.”

  I’ve finally said something strange enough to still Adeline’s pacing. She blinks at me, her auburn curls partially pulled from their bun atop her head. “My da used to send me outside to do chores when he had guests over. His proper children got to play, but I was separated because my mammy was a different breed.” The corner of her mouth tugs up. “I’m not very good at this either, but something tells me we’re the kind of lasses who can learn just about anything. Tha’s the thing about survivors. Adaptable.”

  I let out an airy laugh through my nose. “I like the way you put things. I guess we are survivors.” I run my palms along my thighs, wiping off the slickness that gathers whenever I debate talking about myself in any real way. “I’m poisonous.”

  As soon as I admit this aloud, I know I’ve gone about this all wrong.

  Adeline’s brows raise and then she narrows her eyes skeptically. “How’s tha?”

  “I told you, I’m not very good at this having a girl friend thing. Honesty’s the way to go about this, right?”

  She nods once.

  I should shut up. Why would I tell her the worst thing about myself? I want to keep her around, not push her away. Yet I want her to know me, not just stay because she thinks I’m good when I know parts of me were born bad.

  “When I was a little girl, first learning spells in the classroom, we were supposed to grow a small plant. I was so proud of mine. I didn’t realize it was poisonous until everyone in the room dropped dead, and I was the only one alive.” I soak in the horror emanating from her and press deeper into the childhood wound. “My father is General Klein. He couldn’t stand his daughter being an accidental killer, so he faked my death and dropped me off in shifter territory when I was eight years old, hoping a shifter would finish me off.” I motion to the three long lines on my face.

  Adeline’s feet go shoulder-width apart and her hands slide to the small of her back. I wonder if she knows she does that every time she slips into guard-mode in her brain?

  “Jays, in your folder, it mentions tha your father tried to kill ye as an adult, and he’s in prison now. I didn’t know he did tha when ye were a wee lass. Tha’s awful. And in your profile, it mentions tha ye don’t do magic. I didn’t realize it was because…”

  “Because I’m an accidental mass-murderer?”

  Adeline swallows hard and averts her gaze. “I didn’t realize, is all.”

  I stand and take up the mantle of pacing, since Adeline’s gone still. “And my father did try to kill me again as an adult. That’s why he’s in prison. He tried to kill Des, too.” I lean against the stone wall. “So I have very little patience for attempts on Des’ life. This whole thing needs to be dealt with now. I know we have to take the time to trace our way through the proper channels and whatnot, but anything coming for my husbands sets my nerves on fire. They’re my family, and I didn’t have a whole lot of that growing up.”

  “Understandable.”

  The silence that settles makes me worried I’ve said too much. Well, I know I’ve said too much. More than I’ve confessed to most. But something in me doesn’t fully regret it. I don’t want to go my whole life never being known by another woman.

  Here comes another bit of truth, bubbling up in me like a foul belch. “The staff was told that I can read people well, so I was able to decide which soldiers were worth keeping around and which ones to dismiss. That’s not entirely true.”

  I watch as her eyes widen, her hackles beginning to raise at the prospect that I might not be correct in my judgment they believed as law.

  I hold up my ringed hand. “This is from Fiora, the woman who raised me in Neutral Territory. When I touch someone with this hand, I can tell if they’re being truthful. I’m not special; my ring is.”

  Adeline’s mouth drops open as she factors in this new information.

  Again, there’s too much silence.

  I’m about to say anything to break the awkward tension, but Adeline blurts out a rushed, “I’m Sir Muttrend’s bastard daughter.”

  It’s not what I thought she would say, but I’ll take it. “Salem mentioned your lineage. He’s not a fan of your father’s.”

  “The good people never are, and Salem is a good man.”

  For a moment, I think she might leave it at that, but finally, she muscles up the courage to be known.

  For women like us, it’s an effort to peel back the coverings we’ve had to armor ourselves with over the years.

  “My animal is the lebnest monster. Or was, anyway. Your mammy calmed her down, so she’s back to who she was born to be. Lalita was always an odd animal, being tha I’m a half-breed, but she didn’t come out without my say-so when I was younger.” She inhales a long drag, as if she’s steadying herself. “My da sold me when I was a teenager.”

  My breath catches. I know portions of her story, but it seems I’m getting the raw version she rarely lets see the light of day.

  “It’s rare for a half-breed to have an animal at all, and mine had never existed in nature before. There were fae scientists who wanted to study me, so Da handed me over in exchange for a small fortune.”

  I step toward her, wanting to hug this poor woman, but I know it’s not the time. Her chin is up and her shoulders back, which is part of the armor she must’ve had to invent to get through such trauma.

  She’s right. We are survivors.
<
br />   “I don’t remember much of it. They didn’t want to be seen, so they didn’t have to be held accountable for what they did. I know they took my blood. I know they were fae. I know I was unconscious for a couple weeks while they took what they needed from me.”

  “Clouds, Adeline! Tell me you’re joking!”

  But I know she’s not. It’s a wonder she’s found anything to smile about since then.

  “When they dropped me on Da’s doorstep, I knew I couldn’t go back there. So I took the money they’d sent me home with to pay my da, and left. I had to. I knew my animal had changed. Lalita had been vicious, but she was also controlled before they took me. She had a sweetness to her. After they did their experiments, she grew to be an enormous beast tha came out and took over. Her gaze didn’t just intimidate; it addled their brains. They turned my sweet animal into a monster, and then turned me loose in Jacoba. I think they meant for me to destroy my homeland, unleashing something so mammoth with a teenager holding the leash. Tha’s when I knew I would be good at protecting my homeland. Protection, in general.”

  “I can’t imagine. Adeline, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”

  Though there is a couch in the room, Adeline leans against the far wall and sinks to the floor, sitting in the lowest spot as her shoulders droop. She pulls her knees to her chest, and for all the fight in her, in this moment, she looks like a little girl.

  “Maiseline’s my half-sister. Ye know tha. I’m sure ye know most of this. She was always good to me, no matter how Da tried to devalue me to his proper children. When she fell in love with a man below her station, Da intervened. The poor farmer boy was never heard from again after Maisie announced she was going to marry him. My sister showed up on my doorstep a couple years after I’d moved out, pregnant and cast out of the family for carrying the babe of a lad Da deemed as beneath the family name. He had her beaten, hoping tha would do away with the child, but it didn’t.”

  Bile churns in my gut that anyone could be so cruel. I know a little of Maiseline’s past, but the details are dreadful.

  “Maiseline was scared of something, but I couldn’t get out of her just what. When Da’s men came to take her home so she could have the baby done away with for good, Lalita came out to defend my sister and her babe. Only it wasn’t the animal I’d known. Lalita was stories high, fire-breathing and terrifying. Maisie looked into Lalita’s eyes, and it addled her brains. Even now tha she’s restored, she doesn’t remember what else she was running from tha day. It was the men who beat her, sure, but there was something else I couldn’t get out of her.” Adeline rests her chin on her knees. “Maybe tha’s for the best. If the only thing tha died was her secret, I suppose tha’s a win.”

  It’s clear to me now why I knew Adeline was the right person to open up to. “We’re the same,” I tell her, and then cross the room to sink to the floor at her side. “You and I, we’ve both done serious damage—killed people, even—without meaning to. We both have danger in our magic. We were sold out by our fathers.” The similarities keep coming. “And we fell in love and mated with men outside our own race.”

  Adeline turns her face toward me as the gears click in her mind. I can see her adding up our stories and coming to the same conclusion. “I didn’t see my life going in this direction. I thought it was going to be nothing but madness and isolation. I didn’t count on meeting Ronin.”

  Finally, a grin splits my face. “Right? I thought I would always live in Neutral Territory, using my ability to hold poison in my body to heal some of the people that had been tossed out of their territories. When I met Des, I’d never even been on a date before.”

  Adeline giggles, and the sound of it relaxes parts of me I thought might be bound up forever. “I like this,” she admits, motioning between us. “I’ve got no one to sort through it all with. I’m worried tha any day, Ronin’s going to wake up and realize how badly he’s wasted his time, slumming it with me. I don’t understand how I landed here.”

  Compassion floods me. I don’t brush her feelings away with a callous, “That’ll never happen,” even though I know it won’t.

  Instead, I reach over and unhook her hand from around her knee, squeezing it tight. “I know what that’s like. All I can say is that Ronin’s a smart guy. He knows why he’s with you. So you can spend your time keeping him at a distance, or you can finally take what fate’s given you to make up for all the crap you’ve had to endure. This is our chance, Adeline. We have a chance to be happy. To affect change on the world that tried to break us, so fewer women are broken how we were.”

  I can see Adeline touching the boundary she’s allowed to define her reach for too long. “Good things like this don’t happen to me.”

  I shrug. “I guess you can’t say that anymore.”

  She blinks as if I’ve slapped some sense into her.

  I don’t say another word. Instead, I wait for hope to creep into her features, turning the boundary she’s accepted for too long into pure myth.

  It’s the perfect time for Ronin to let himself into the room we’ve taken over. “Hello, ladies. Are you well?”

  Adeline’s still in her shock, so I answer for the both of us. “All things considered, yes. How are things out there?”

  “Quieting down, but we can thank the daylight for that. There will be more questions and concerns come nightfall, I’m sure. But all in all, it could have gone worse. Blood rationing is never good news, but I’m glad you let me break it to the territory.” He blows out a gust of nerves. “Now all that’s to be done is solving the problem of finding the person responsible for polluting the blood supply. Simple enough.”

  I snort at the Ronin-ness of that statement. “I love your optimism.”

  “Yes, well, it’s either that, or admit we’re on the brink of collapse. I think I should like to hold my chin up as long as I can manage it, yes?”

  “Another Ronin-ism. I love it.”

  He runs his hand over his face, and I know he’s starting to feel the exhaustion. “It’s nearly morning. I’m going to be up for hours still, trying to get to the bottom of this. Care to join me?”

  He’s asking the both of us, but Adeline merely gapes mutely at him.

  Again, I answer for us both. “Of course.” He walks further into the room and offers his hands to heft us up, but Adeline simply stares at the offer as I get to my feet.

  “Darling, are you alright?”

  Adeline stares at him in confusion. “Ye love me.”

  Ronin’s head tilts to the side. “I do. Are you just now realizing that? You needed to hear me say it a hundred times before you believed it?” He tsks her, finding levity wherever he can, even on this dreary day.

  Adeline’s not following his humor. “Ye love me. Ye just told the entire territory you’re in love with a shifter woman. I’m Sir Muttrend’s bastard daughter.”

  Ronin’s brow creases. “I do wish you’d stop referring to yourself that way. I would never use that statement if I was introducing you to someone.”

  “You’re not leaving. It’s not too good to be true. If ye were only half in this, ye never would have told the territory and risked the scandal.”

  Ronin crouches down before her, concern painting his face. “Darling, are you well? You’re worrying me. Of course we’re not too good to be true. I’m fully in this. Fully yours. The scandal of loving you is of no concern to me.”

  The air is thick with tension. I know I should leave. This is their moment, whatever it is, and they should have privacy to work their way through it together. But I can’t look away. Goosebumps break out on my arms, and I know the world is about to change all over again.

  Adeline’s voice comes out a whisper as her eyes mist over. “Ask me again.”

  Ronin frowns. “Ask you again? Are you well? Is that what you want me to ask you?”

  Adeline’s legs fall from her chest to cross before her as she leans toward him. “If ye ask me again to marry ye, I’ll say yes.”

  My hand cove
rs my mouth, but that does nothing to stifle the scream that works its way between my fingers.

  Ronin’s shock forces him to falter in his crouch, but he manages to press his hand to the floor to steady himself. It takes him a moment, but finally, he’s maneuvered himself onto one knee, his hands fusing to hers as a fire burns in his eyes. “Adeline Muttrend, will you marry me?”

  I scream again, unable to help myself. I want to jump up and down. I want to shake her because she pauses for an entire breath before answering.

  Her words come out slow as a tear slides down her cheek. A smile finally finds her face. “Aye, Ronin. I’ll marry ye.”

  Chapter Seven

  Secret Sisters

  Adeline

  I’m engaged.

  Do I look different?

  I’m not sure how it feels yet, because no sooner had we reached tha epic step, than too many guards and officials came into the room, making it headquarters for figuring out our next move.

  Parchment’s been rolled across the ottoman and lists are being made, cataloging everyone who has a hand in the supply chain, all the way back to the vampire filterers.

  Benny’s a natural leader, so it’s no surprise he lays out the plan once we see all the pieces scrawled out on the paper. “It’s daylight now, but when night falls, we can go out and start questioning everyone on this list, starting with the person last to touch the blood, and working our way back from there.”

  I glance at two of the shifter soldiers. “Waiting for daylight’s not a worry. I can start now with a handful of shifters.”

  Too many people shake their heads. “The palace needs to be guarded more heavily now than ever. A famine on the horizon means riots.” Benny motions toward the door. “This sort of thing makes people irrational. Plus, I doubt any vampire’s going to take a questioning from a shifter seriously.”

  Lilya guffaws at the bluntness.

  I bristle at the racist statement, but Destino shrugs, defending Benny’s assessment. “I don’t like it any more than you do, but it’s the way things are. We need vampires questioning vampires. It’s the most effective means.”