by Rosko, Mandy
Fiona pressed her lips together. She didn’t want to talk about this. She didn’t want to make things awkward between herself and her new family.
“Just wishing everything was back to normal. But I guess being mated to your brother means that’s never going to happen.”
“Well, not even that. I mean, you’re already his mate, but once it’s all official with the courts and the wedding happens, you’ll be a queen.”
So Flare didn’t yet know that Inferno was planning on giving up the throne.
That was…interesting. Should she tell her? Fiona didn’t know what the rules where in a situation like this. It seemed like the sort of thing she should tell her. This was Flare’s family. Her brothers. Their lives.
If Inferno really was intent on giving up his throne, then that would impact Blaze as the next in line.
“Actually, Inferno and I were talking about that, and Inferno’s decided to give the throne to Blaze.”
Flare jerked back a little in her seat. She blinked. “What?”
“Yeah.” Fiona cringed a little. “I’m sorry?” She didn’t know if she should apologize, but it seemed like the thing to do in that moment.
Flare shook her head, looking away from Fiona.
“Is it really that shocking?”
“I mean…no. I suppose not, but the idea that Inferno won’t be king…I always thought he would be…”
Maybe this was another thing that Fiona was never going to understand. For royalty, Fiona imagined things were set in stone from the moment they were born to the moment they died. As each sibling was born, they were born into a hierarchy, knowing that the sibling before them would inherit before they would.
And now it was something that Blaze’s children would be born into. Because Fiona didn’t want to have two or three kids and have to explain to them that one of them was going to be more powerful than the others. She couldn’t imagine how it would feel to be one of the younger ones, knowing that they would get less than the first born.
The realization, one that hit her only then, made her stomach clench.
No one was going to come out on top with this. This was a burden, one that Inferno was giving up because Fiona refused it.
She wanted Inferno. She wanted to be his wife and spend her life with him. But she didn’t want his crown and all the drama that came with it, whether that be assassination attempts or people talking trash about her on social media. Only now did Fiona see how selfish that could be.
And the look on Flare’s face told her just how much she was muddling up the situation.
Flare opened her mouth, as though to say something, but was cut off by the knock at the door.
A soft knock. Nothing threatening, though Fiona still jumped.
“Who is it?” Flare called, clearly not as put off by the knock as Fiona was.
Eric’s voice answered. “Your cousin is requesting an audience with Fiona.”
Fiona blinked. Tinder. What was she doing here?
Flare gestured to the door, as though asking whether or not she should answer it.
Fiona was struck helpless with that. What was she supposed to say? No? Tinder was also a member of the royal family, though Fiona had stolen the man she was supposed to be with. Had Inferno not met Fiona, or had even met her a couple of weeks after the wedding, there was no telling how this story would have progressed.
Fiona shrugged and nodded. Despite everything, she couldn’t turn the other woman away.
Flare got to her feet and went to the door. She opened it quietly.
Tinder stood on the other end, her face barely concealing her misery. From her spot on the couch, Fiona felt badly for her. Not that she would ever say that. The other woman would probably hate to have any of Fiona’s sympathy.
“Tinder, are you all right?” Flare asked.
Tinder shook her head. She came into the room, and Flare shut the door behind her.
* * *
Inferno felt something he’d rarely felt since before Fiona came into his life. Something that was becoming all too familiar with him as of late. Something dangerous.
A lack of control.
His hands were barely hands. His fingernails lengthened into points. They were fairly small, but as thin as box cutters and looked even nastier.
He stepped away from Joseph, grabbed the empty chair in the room, and yanked it in front of the other man. He sat down, his arms up on the back end of the chair. He needed a rest almost as much as Joseph did, but for different reasons.
“You’re tiring me out. Honestly, I’m impressed with that.”
Ember cleared his throat. “Inferno, maybe now is the time to stop.”
“It absolutely is not and you can fuck off if that’s the stance you’re going to take.” Though Inferno was positive his brother wasn’t just playing good cop to Inferno’s bad cop, it was fine anyway. Inferno could still use this to his advantage.
If Joseph bought it.
There was a good chance he wouldn’t. The guy was smart. Mostly.
“Why did you do those things to Fiona?”
Joseph’s head was ducked. He wouldn’t look Inferno in the eyes. The other guards standing around the room, one for each corner of the square holding cell, stood stoically, staring ahead, as though there wasn’t a traitor in their midst. Or an interrogation.
“Joseph, I don’t want to do this to you anymore than you want me to do it. You think I want to go back to Fiona knowing your blood is beneath my fingernails? Talk to me and this stops.”
Joseph said nothing.
That brief slice of patience Inferno had conjured up began slipping through his fingers. He clenched his claws into the steel frame of his chair.
“Joseph, were you working alone or by yourself? If you don’t answer me, I’m going to assume you had an accomplice and I will go looking for them.”
Joseph finally looked up at him, and Inferno knew he’d hit the right mark.
Finally.
“Who is it?”
Joseph shook his head. “There was no one.”
Inferno stood. He kicked the chair away. It banged loudly against the wall. His men who were standing there didn’t so much as flinch as the metal crashed into the wall. It didn’t hit them, thankfully, because Inferno hadn’t intended to kick it so hard.
“Inferno, honestly, stop.”
Inferno pressed his hands to the arms of the chair where Joseph’s wrists were bound. He leaned in close. The thick shackle around his neck would keep him from lunging forward and biting, not that Inferno was concerned too much with that. He couldn’t be sure if that was misguided. He’d thought he’d known Joseph. The man had worked within his household for years. Years.
And then this. Out of seemingly nowhere.
Possibly that was why this offended him so much. It wasn’t just that he’d gone after Fiona, Inferno’s true mate, the only human woman on the planet who could give him children, but it was also that Inferno never in a million years would have looked twice at Joseph.
Never would have suspected him…
“There is someone else. Who? Charrling? I know you’ve had a sweet spot for her for a while. Do you want me to bring her in here, too? Because I fucking will.”
Joseph pulled against the bonds that held him, his eyes flying wide with panic. “You can’t do that! She is royal blood!”
Finally. A reaction.
Inferno smiled. An evil seed sprouting within him. “I would.”
“Inferno—”
“Shut the fuck up, Ember.”
Inferno felt more like a dog than a dragon. There was a drop of blood finally spilled and he was honing in on it.
Ember growled low and dangerous behind him. The hairs on the back of Inferno’s neck stood straight up. It took willpower to keep his eyes on his prisoner instead of glancing back. Inferno had never heard such a sound from his brother before. He barely blinked, staring into Joseph’s terrified eyes.
Ember wasn’t done. “Even if h
e confesses to anything, at this point, there is no guarantee he will be telling the truth.”
“I don’t care. Who were you working with, Joseph?”
“This is exactly what your mate was worried about.”
Inferno’s spine stiffened. He slowly turned back to face his brother, and he was almost as ready to attack him as he was Joseph.
“I’ll tell you. I will, just…don’t hurt Charrling.”
Inferno barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Joseph and Ember could both get fucked.
Of course, he wouldn’t actually strap his aunt down and do to her what he was doing to Joseph, but these two idiots didn’t need to know that. Since, well, if she did have something to do with this, he wasn’t making promises.
“Who are you working with? Someone put you up to this?”
Joseph nodded, a tremble in his tense limbs. “It was…Tinder. Tinder had me do it.”
25
Fiona stood when Tinder came into the room. It didn’t seem right to stay seated before her. She was a member of the royal family, even if she and her mother hated Fiona’s guts. Even so, Fiona wanted to hug the other woman to help disperse the misery she might have felt, but there was no way in hell something like that would be welcome.
In fact, when Tinder looked at her, there was a hint of red around her eyes that Fiona hadn’t noticed from across the room.
“Are…are you okay?”
Tinder nodded, pressing her lips together. “I wanted to see you.”
“Me?” Fiona looked to Flare, as though the other woman would be able to offer some insight.
Flare shrugged helplessly, as though she was as troubled by this whole thing as Fiona was.
Tinder looked to Flare. “Can you leave us be for a moment, cousin?”
Fiona felt a rising tension building from the bottom of her spine, all the way up into the back of her neck. She couldn’t explain it, but she knew in that moment she did not want to be left alone with Tinder.
Fiona realized Flare was the best woman in the world when she reluctantly shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea right now, cousin.”
Tinder closed her eyes, as though struggling for patience. She removed that elegant hat, holding it in front of her. “Please, this is important.”
Fiona shook her head. “I’m sure whatever you need to say is something your cousin can hear.”
Tinder frowned. This was clearly not something she wanted to hear.
“But hey, I’m sure it’s all right.” Fiona finally let go of her inhibitions as she put her hand onto Tinder’s shoulder. “Are you worried about Joseph?” She knew the man was loyal to Tinder’s mother, though she knew better than to mention why. Her mother might be having an affair with the man. That might not be something Tinder wanted shoved in her face.
Unfortunately, even mentioning the man’s name was enough to make Tinder’s eyes glow. The woman bared her teeth, reminding Fiona that this was still a dragon she was dealing with. Even a poised princess could be dangerous.
Fiona tensed, looking back into those hateful eyes that seemed to want to burn holes through her.
Flare took Tinder by the arm, catching her attention, breaking whatever spell it was that she’d been under. “Tinder, come on, it’s time to go.”
Tinder jumped at the touch, blinked, and looked away from Fiona. “Y-yes. You’re right. I’m sorry.”
The only reason Fiona didn’t back up a step was because she was trying to not look too disrespectful. The vibe the other woman gave off was just…something else. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Tinder glanced at her before nodding. “Yes. We can speak later.”
If they did, Fiona already decided she was going to have Eric or Inferno there with her. There was no way she was going to let herself be alone with the woman who would have been Inferno’s wife. Not when she got stared at like that.
Tinder turned away with Flare. They walked back towards the door. Flare opened it, her hand lingering on Tinder’s shoulder as the other woman stood in the doorway. As though she was thinking about something.
Flare glanced back at Fiona, as though she was just as confused as Fiona was about the whole thing.
“Tinder? Are you sure you’re—hey!”
Fiona felt a heaving jump in her chest when Tinder grabbed Flare around the shoulders and pushed her hard outside of the bedroom, quickly slamming the door shut. Fiona heard the distinct sound of a lock clicking into place, despite the shouts and bangs coming from the other side.
“Whoa, whoa, okay, what are you doing?” Fiona stayed behind the couch, her limbs tense, but she had something between herself and the other woman, so that meant she was all right.
For now.
“They won’t be kept out of here for long.”
Fiona didn’t understand, and as Tinder approached her, Fiona walked around the couch, keeping it between them. “You mean the guards?”
Nothing about Tinder’s body posture or language suggested this was some innocent thing, that she really just wanted to tell Fiona something important. Not with the way she glared, the way her fists clenched and the whites of her teeth were visible.
“You took everything from me.”
Okay, so this was definitely going where Fiona had been worried it was going to go.
When Fiona had the door to her back, she lunged for it. “Eric!”
Her fingers clenched around the handle of the door, but she didn’t get her chance to even try opening it when thin, steely fingers gripped her around the back of her neck, yanking her back.
Fiona went into the air. She didn’t understand how that could have happened, but it did. She was flying. She was in the air soaring above Tinder’s head, and when she landed with her back on the carved wooden frame of the couch, she screamed even louder as she thought she might have broken her back.
Shouts sounded on the other side of the door. Heavy bangs. Inferno once told her how everything was reinforced for the safety of the royal family, and the secret escape through the fireplace was cut off, so there was no getting out there.
Tinder walked around the couch, and her lovely manicure had lengthened into gnarled claws that Fiona knew were meant for her throat.
“I’m going to kill you, you bitch!”
She had one chance left. She waited for Tinder to get just close enough to her that she could make her move. Recalling everything she’d been told in her brief self-defense lesson, Fiona had perfect balance on the floor, even if she couldn’t move. Tinder would have to come to her, and when she did, Fiona prayed her aim was on point as she kicked out her foot, cracking the other woman hard in the knee.
Tinder screamed a murderous noise as she fell back. Hitting a spot like that had the right effect, and while Tinder rolled on the ground, crying and clutching at her knee, Fiona grabbed the side of the couch.
It was amazing how she was able to feel so little of the pain in her lower back when her life was on the line, and she dragged herself to her feet, hurrying with her back hunched over to her and Inferno’s bedroom. It was her only choice, as Tinder was between her and the door, but she was confident that she’d be protected in there because it was separated from the sitting room by another door. A reinforced door she could lock.
Fiona made it inside as Tinder dragged herself, red-faced and still screeching, across the floor towards her, as though she was the one being attacked.
Fiona didn’t let the other woman get close. She slammed the door, turned the lock, and fell against the wall. Breathing hard, Fiona sank to the floor just as she heard, and felt, Tinder banging with her fists on the other side.
“Go away, you psycho bitch!”
God, her back still hurt, and her heart pounded. That had been a little too close.
“He was supposed to be mine! He loved me first!”
Fiona could shout back to her that Inferno never loved her, that he had to marry her because if he couldn’t have his proper mate, one of the Istavan hu
mans, and he needed to make baby dragons with another dragon. She was his cousin, and a member of royal blood. That was the only reason why she’d been chosen. If he had married her, it would have been out of duty and not love.
That seemed a little too cruel to point out, but considering the bitch had tried to kill her, Fiona wasn’t entirely above being petty.
“I think he just wanted stronger dragon babies. Since the ones you would have given him would have been weak.”
The banging and screaming on the other end of the door stopped for a split second before the sound picked up again, the banging twice as strong as it had been before.
The scraping noise made Fiona think the other woman was trying to dig her way through the door with her claws, and her voice sounded anything but human now.
“You bitch! You filthy, petty human! I hate you!”
“The feeling’s mutual,” Fiona muttered, though she doubted Tinder could hear her.
Those people who had broken into her apartment, the burning face cream, the awkward meet-ups…
Tinder had actually tried to kill her.
It was funny because Fiona had been getting ready to put her money down on Charrling.
The shattering sound of the main doors outside made Fiona jump out of her thoughts, and Inferno’s terrified voice called out to her, signaling that she’d made it to the end.
She’d survived.
“Fiona!”
26
Fiona heard a terrible shrieking noise on the other side of the door. It almost sounded as though Tinder was being murdered out there, but Fiona knew that wasn’t the case.
It sounded bad as she screamed, as something that sounded expensive crashed to the floor and several people struggled with her.
“Get her down! Get her down!”
“Get off of me! Get off of me now!”
Fiona felt bad for it, but she was relieved, and kind of glad. The bitch had tried to kill her. Fiona hoped this was scaring the hell out of her.
She was only able to bask in that terrible, vengeful sensation for a few brief seconds before the sound of Inferno’s voice, cool and soothing, pulled her out of that dark pit before it could leave its lasting impression on her.