Take Me

But for now, I decided to bide my time. So, rather than call him out as the lying degenerate he was, rather than risk tensions exploding with the besotted Theon, I forced myself to adopt a neutral expression. “It pleases me to hear that,” I murmured, “as she risked everything to locate and rescue you, Jett. Granted, that was a dreadful waste of time. She is quite hotheaded, rushing in headlong when sitting back and planning might have been the better choice.”

I offered Theon a knowing grin. He was always prone to taking a step back and looking at a situation from all angles before acting.

Something stirred behind those purple eyes, something which caused Jett’s features to twitch. “You know her well?” he asked in a deceptively smooth voice.

“Naturally,” I replied, just as smoothly. I would be hanged if I gave him more than necessary. “After all, I purchased her at the blood auction. Though I knew even before then that she tended to be rash which is why she basically delivered herself to us at our headquarters. She made it so easy.”

His sharp jaw tightened, and the light in his eyes turned dark, stormy. “She always was impossible to reason with.”

“Indeed.” The mere thought of her sent a craving twisting through my body, down to my very soul.

My Omega.

“There. You see?” Theon wore a smile unlike any I'd seen from him before. Brilliant, close to joyous. Thoroughly infuriating.

“See what?” I asked.

“The two of you have things in common. You don't need to behave as enemies. We can start from a place of common ground.” He was truly and thoroughly out of what little of his mind was left.

If anything, seeing him this way only confirmed my suspicions. He was not fit to rule. Not a coven, not a kingdom, not anyone.

For the time being, I was willing to play along with his inane ramblings. “Too right.”

“Then you understand why I'm doing what needs to be done,” Theon said.

It wasn't a question. Jett stared at me, expectant, and frustration bloomed in my head. Another moment or two, and it would become rage. The very idea of bowing to this mere child who only months earlier had offered himself up at the blood auction, who had so willingly allowed himself to be used, made me want to scream in rage and tear his head from his neck. How dare he place himself in such a position.

How dare Theon allow it.

“Precisely what is it you believe needs to be done?” I asked.

“It is time for us to rise up,” Theon said. “For our kingdom to become what it once was, what it was always meant to be. We will unite, and we will work together to destroy those who have subjugated us. Those who stripped from you what was rightfully yours—your Omegas and your lands—and then dared to confine you to this hellscape. Now is the time for the scales to rebalance, Aldric. It is time for us to fight.”

His eyes narrowed, brows knitting together in an expression of fierce determination. “And time for me to rid myself of what stands in my way,” Jett added.

Hot, white fury exploded in my head, rippling through me like a current. In my mind's eye, I grabbed hold of my knife and sliced into him gleefully, just as I had done before. Opening the scars with which I had decorated his body. Then, I would have feasted on his blood until he was a drained, dry husk.

Anything, so long as it meant protecting my Omega from him.

Because as far as I knew, Jaide was the only thing standing in his way. And Jaide was mine. They might have spent their miserable past lives together, they might have even shared a womb, but now she belonged to me. And no one destroyed my things.

I bit back my rage and forced it deep down inside. After all, if I wished to be smug and lord my age and experience over the child, the least I could do was call upon my centuries of expertise to disguise my true feelings.

“See, brother?” Theon crooned, still stroking Jett’s hair. “He is what we've been missing all along. For an eternity, we've waited for the right time to rise up and strike down those who stole so much from us. This is who we've been waiting for.”

Yet, somehow this supposed long-awaited prince was crippled by his sister’s very existence. He was not as powerful as Theon wanted to believe. And in his quest to prove his power, Jett would destroy the sister for whom he'd sacrificed himself. The young upstart was willing to go that far.

“You know, I believe we could strike a bargain.” I folded my arms, my gaze flicking back and forth between the two of them.

“A bargain? Of what kind?” Jett countered.

I could practically smell his suspicion.

“Give me the girl. The Omega.” I looked to Theon, lifting a shoulder as though it were the most natural request. “I purchased her, didn't I? She's my property. I would hate to think of my resources being squandered so soon after I spent them.” My lips peeled back from my teeth in a wide smile. “I haven't even begun to enjoy her.”

Theon favored me with a knowing smile, but Jett remained unmoved. “And why would we allow that?”

He truly tested the limits of my patience. “Simple. I can provide you with an army strong enough to defeat the Fae.”