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It’s never the enemy who attacks outright who will strike your killing blow, he’d taught me. It’s the one who hides in the shadows and waits. The one who strikes when you’ve finally looked away. Those are the true predators to fear.
“You haven’t been quiet or obedient for a day in your life.”
“You’re a menace, Bellator.” “Was a menace. Now I’m a professional, serious adult.”
“You still have that look on your face, you know.” “What look?” “The ‘I’m in the mood to murder someone’ look.”
But I was made of swinging fists and rash words, my edges too jagged and my temper too hot. Nothing about me was delicate.
Earlier my rage had been molten metal, red-hot and flowing in a river of destruction. Now it had cooled and solidified into something steelier. Something sharp and unforgiving.
When I lay awake in bed, conjuring up memories of my mother’s face, it wasn’t her beauty that came to mind. It was the freckle on her chin and the creases at her eyes. The nick on her ear from a horse with an angry bite. The way her smile hitched just slightly to the left when she laughed.
“Fine. Back to protocol. To please Prince Luther, I’m to stay down on my knees until His Future Majesty is fully and completely satisfied.”
“My darling Diem, you asked how I knew your mother was the one? The truth is that I just knew. There was never a decision to make. Whatever path she was on, that was where I belonged. By her side, and by yours. Any other option was unthinkable.”
He stopped. His eyes darkened as they unapologetically roamed my body. “Did they hurt you?” he growled.
“It would be an insult to dismiss you so easily, and I wouldn’t dare do you that disrespect. I recognize a threat when I see one.” His gaze roamed a languid path down my body, his assessing stare making me feel as thoroughly touched and as intimately exposed as the day he’d searched me for weapons. “And you’re as dangerous as they come.”
He’d stolen all my certainty with his lips, and now the only thing left of me were questions I wasn’t strong enough to answer.
