A Queen of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales 4)

“Isn’t it interesting,” he continued in a low, rough tone, “that you both seem fine with the practice. And while you may think you are knowledgeable in his operations, I can assure you that you are not. He absolutely poaches from your lands. Weston is proof. Too bad Dolion isn’t in the habit of telling others about the prizes he acquired from their shores, or you might’ve gotten your prized wolf back. Too late. But let me mention this to you: if you plan on siding with Dolion when I raise my grievances against him, I’ll be happy to see you on the battlefield. We both know Weston will be there, and if he is, your wolves won’t be your wolves for very long.”

Xeno’s eyes narrowed. “Is that a threat, dragon?”

“Yes. And here’s another. If I hear of your continued…poaching, I will end you. However, if you play nice, I won’t feel so inclined to mention your past wrongdoings in the council meetings. Stay out of my way, and I’ll stay out of yours. Otherwise, you’re mine.”

“You’ll end me?” Xeno snarled, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see faces turning our way. The tension between Nyfain and Xeno tightened and twisted, seeming to fill up the air. “The amount of dirty deeds your father—”

“The former king is dead. My slate is clean; the demons made sure of it. You have nothing on me. Nothing. But I have all sorts of colorful information about you. Don’t get in my way, Xeno. I’ll only tell you this once.”

“Everything okay here?” Porfino had his hands behind his back as he led the server our way.

Weston had stepped forward, on the offensive. Another guy on the other side of the room had done the same, his muscles rippling and his hard eyes trained on Weston. He had to be Xeno’s beta.

“That remains to be seen.” Nyfain stepped forward to take two drinks off the tray and hand them both to Hannon. They were waters, and clearly Hannon was meant to try mine before I did. Nyfain grabbed the last and held it.

Xeno didn’t comment, his hard gaze beating into the side of Nyfain’s head. Without a word, he spun and walked toward the door. It seemed he’d lost his taste for cocktails. A few moments later, the queen followed him out.

Porfino studied Nyfain for a moment until Nyfain looked his way. There was something wild and primitive in his stare. An obvious challenge.

Porfino dropped his gaze immediately and turned, heading away.

“He seems to think he has some kind of power in this place,” Nyfain murmured, waiting for Hannon to give me back my tasted glass before walking me toward a collection of couches in the middle of the room. “He seems to think he’s a peacekeeper.”

“And he isn’t?”

“No. That is beyond his duties as steward.”

He didn’t elaborate as he scanned the room. I felt his tension and followed his gaze to the back of the room.

Dolion. That rat bastard.

He lounged in the corner, shadows draping across his stupid black suit and the ugly horns curling away from his blue hair. He had a little smirk on his face, but that didn’t fool me. At this point I was intimate with the ass basket. I’d seen the way he acted in his own kingdom, with no one of importance watching him. He lost his temper constantly, punishing his people at the drop of a hat. He was the kind of shitbird who’d cruelly kick a sleeping dog—or person—just because they happened to be in his way.

I’d watched from my cage as he walked through a demon party gone wild, pretending to smirk or smile when people talked to him, and I’d seen that carefree facade drip away the moment they couldn’t see his face.

I’d watched his eyes burn with fear and rage as Nyfain stared him down, or when he smelled Nyfain’s scent on me.

No, he didn’t fool me for a moment. He waited in that corner, with tense shoulders and a full glass, because he was worried. He hadn’t been able to kill us, and he knew he couldn’t shut us up. Worse, we would seek to destroy him in any way possible.

I met his shadow-shrouded gaze and couldn’t help myself.

I paused on the way to the couch, tilted back my head, and laughed.

When I was done, I lifted my glass to him and said loudly, “You made my life a nightmare. Cheers!” Still smiling, I took a sip.

Fuck that guy. Fuck this pretending. I’d do what was expected of me up to a point, but I wouldn’t play nice with that asshole. I’d earned my right to push back. And goddess slap me, I would fucking take it, and I’d do it in front of every powerful person I could find.