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chapter 82
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Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 83
I pour a cup of tea out for myself, pretty happy with how effortlessly I maneuver the pot one-handed, but Xiao turns over her cup and glances up at me apologetically. “I’m off caffeine. Too high strung as it is.”“Right. I should have asked. Do you want something else?”She casually brushes the air with the back of her hand. “But if we could circle back to the presence of thralls in Wyrding House? Or the lack of them, I guess?”“Yeah, it’s kind of weird, isn’t it?” I put a few lumps of sugar into my tea. I don’t even like tea very much, but it seemed like a very English and queen thing to offer someone at the time. “I mean, you’re totally right, there must be a reason the former king found thralls untrustworthy. The king and I were wondering if you might be able to find some insight into that?”My miserable attempt to approach the subject tactfully sounds sleazy and manipulative to my own ears.So, it’s no wonder that Xiao is offended. “I’m not a spy, Your Majesty.”“I know,” I say qu
Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 84
Nathan isn’t as concerned about the discovery of the secret spyhole as I am—or as concerned as Xiao wants him to be. He’s more focused on our meeting with Jonah, who’s set to arrive any minute with the outcome of the tests he ran.“Old houses like this have concealed passages all over, so that servants can move around unobtrusively,” Nathan explains, like I’ve never heard of such a concept. “And my uncle imagined malice around every corner; it’s likely he knew about the eavesdropping mechanism already. He may have had it installed for his own use.”We’re headed downstairs to the receiving room. I thought somewhere cloak and dagger like a servant’s entrance would be more fitting, but Nathan pointed out that we’re less likely to be overheard by thralls if we meet in a part of the house they’re not allowed.When he said that, I exchanged a glance with Xiao. Though we didn’t speak, I could tell she’s of the same mind as I am regarding what the servants will or won’t overhear. I plan to al
Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 85
“Five years ago,” I finish for him, though I’m sure Jonah already got there. “Invoking the Right of Accord is what put the binding on us?”“Not necessarily.” Jonah reaches into his back pocket. Xiao makes a move toward him as he does so, and he puts his hands out. “Easy. It’s an iPhone, not an IED.” He slowly retrieves the phone, shakes it a little, then turns back to us. He scrolls his finger across the screen. “Your kind is familiar with runes, right?”“Of course,” Nathan answers for both of us.Personally, I slept through that class in school.“The spell on the queen uses runes from Tyr’s aett; you’re familiar with Tyr?” Jonah pauses to check.“The Norse god of war. He sacrificed his arm to trap Fenrir,” Nathan says.“That,” I agree quietly.“Well, Tyr’s aett is all over her.” Jonah points his finger at Nathan. “And you are bound with etheric chains.”Nathan shakes his head. “I’m unfamiliar with the term.”“I think I can get it from context.” I lift up my stump and gaze at it in hor
Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 86
We haven’t been at Wyrding House long enough to completely unpack; Harriet offers to help but I don’t like people going through my stuff. Plus, Nathan and I barely brought anything with us in the first place.“I feel bad for Xiao,” I say, taking one of my shirts from the wardrobe and folding it over my arm. It ends up in a sloppy bundle, but it gets the job done enough that I can stuff it into my bag. “She just got here and now we’re turning right back around.”“I’m sure she prefers having you in a more secure location,” is all Nathan says, moving far faster than I am.“Do you think they’re going to be breaking down the door any second?” I ask, trying to keep my tone light.“I think the longer we stay here, the more likely that becomes a possibility.” He zips his small, wheeled carry-on. “We have a pissed off magician who could sell us out to the highest bidder and a house teeming with traitorous thralls.”“Only the below-stairs servants,” I say, mimicking Harriet’s pompous delivery.
Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 87
I try to think back to the man who attacked me at Aconitum Hall. I can’t remember if he had a necklace. I didn’t get a chance to notice fine details while my arm was spurting blood.“Why?” I ask, my voice barely a whisper, and probably unheard over the blowing bellows of Nathan’s panting. I ask again, louder, “Why, Harriet? Why would you attack us?”“Because you will destroy our kind!” she rages, fighting against Xiao’s hold.“How?” I demand.“You shouldn’t have invoked the right!” Harriet shrieks at us. “You’ve doomed us all!”I can’t make sense of what she’s saying, but I know it’s important. Just like I know that it’s important to keep her alive for questioning. Nathan knows that, too.But Nathan’s not fully himself at the moment.He goes straight for the old woman.“Nathan, no!” I shout, grabbing a handful of his fur. It’s about as effective as trying to hold back a train with a refrigerator magnet.Xiao pushes Harriet behind her, but she just delays Nathan; he shoves my bodyguard a
Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 88
“Black moonstone.”Xiao drops the pendant, now enclosed in a plastic baggie, onto the table between Nathan and me.He leans forward in his chair and reaches for the baggie, but I’m not taking any chances. I smack his hand away with an annoyed, “Don’t touch it!”I’m still shaking, even though we’re on the plane and safely away from Wyrding House, I’m still terrified that yet another shoe is going to suddenly drop.I made Xiao threaten the thrall pilots and leave a member of her trusted team in the cockpit as a reminder.I am not going to die today.Xiao gestures to the unremarkable looking cabochon in the pendant. “The assassin who took your hand had some in a bracelet. I think it’s fair to assume that this is what they’re using to change.”I shake my head. “Moonstone is a pretty common gem, isn’t it? I’ve never heard of it doing… this.”“Maybe that’s why we never heard of it,” Nathan muses. “If we knew, perhaps we wouldn’t need the thralls and their rituals.”“There’s thrall magic invo
Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 89
I take a breath and nod to indicate I need just a moment. Just the smallest pause to collect the scattered pieces of those memories, which all seem to be not a big deal and a Very Big Deal to my emotions all at once. “I’ve never seen someone really get hurt before. Or die. And now I feel like I’m doing it all the time. And even though we’re fine… today we might not have been.”“We’ve been fortunate,” he says, putting an arm around my back.“And that luck will run out. Eventually, it just will.” Tears creep into my voice. “Death is all around us. And I’m supposed to be making this life and protecting it.”“It’s protected.” He puts his other hand on my stomach. “And you’re protected. With my life.”“Which you’ve almost lost before.” I shake my head. “This isn’t something you can just… reassure away. I saw you. I saw your insides coming out and I heard you screaming. And that… it haunts me. I can still hear you.”“Hear this,” he says, kissing the top of my head. “You’re here, now. And I’
Betrothed To The Alpha King chapter 90
We summon council members to Aconitum Hall. The Council Chambers are at the ceremonial site, and the ceremonial site is where all the thralls are.It astonishes me that for centuries, no one—except Nathan’s uncle, apparently—had cause to suspect the thralls as a source of potential treachery. It astonishes me more that now, with proof, convincing some members of the council is still nearly impossible.“We’ve overlooked a major threat,” I try to explain to the ten men seated around the large table in the conference room. There are only ten of them because we executed the others, which makes addressing this group that much more tricky. I don’t want them to think that they have to outwardly agree with me or I’ll cut their heads off, but that’s probably what’s going to happen. “Thralls are a part of our lives every day. They’re in our homes. They’re in our school, our businesses. And they’re content to do all of that and allow us to live in luxury and ease because they can harness our mag
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