44. Addi

FORTY-FOUR

"Is this really necessary?" Janie asks from across the table, glaring at Leticia like she's the outsider, not me. Leticia doesn't pay her any mind as she leans in closer to me.

"When the clock strikes midnight, I can challenge you again. Be ready." It's a promise, not a warning, and my gut clenches.

She doesn't get to have him.

I'm not saying I want him; I just…fuck.

Emotions I refuse to let out rattle inside of me as someone looms behind Leticia.

"Now, now, girls, we don't truly want to celebrate the new moon with a duel, do we?"

Leticia stills, eyes wide when she hears the voice, and I look behind her to see who it is. The air that exudes from him screams leader, and the way both Janie and Leticia respond to him only confirms my suspicions. It has to be Cassian's father.

A deadly grin spreads across his face as he meets my stare. "You must be Addi Reed, the girl causing quite a stir."

Clearing my throat, I nod, standing as I remember my father's lectures on greeting other origins. "Alpha Kenner."

Leticia shifts from between us, and I groan, hating that there's no longer anything standing in his way.

"What the fuck was that about?" Cassian growls, storming toward us with his hands fisted at his sides.

"Son."

"Don't play coy; it doesn't suit you," he bites, facing off with his father.

"I don't know what you want me to say. When Dalton didn't come back with you straight away, I came looking. I just happened to find the lovely Addi Reed in the process."

Cassian turns to me, scanning his eyes over me to make sure I'm okay. His jaw tics, making it clear his father is full of crap, and Dalton pulling him away was all part of a plan to separate us.

Alpha Kenner follows Cassian's line of sight, turning to me with an assessing stare. "For a fae, your ears are…lacking."

Asshole.

"I'm aware."

He inches closer, assessing exactly what I'm self-conscious about. "The scars are neatly done. A professional, for sure. Was it done on purpose?"

What the fuck?

I shake my head. "Not by me," I grumble, ready for him to leave already. Deep in my soul, I know I'm being lured into his trap, and he's in no way done with me yet.

"So you're happy being a fae?"

What the fuck kind of question is that?

"Always."

He reaches out, and it takes everything in me not to shrink away. The tip of his finger ghosts over the scar on my left ear as I sense Brody inching closer behind me and Cassian snarling behind his father.

"Who did this to you? It must feel like your identity is incomplete."

His words are like poison. Just as he intends.

"I feel perfectly fine." It's the truth. I may be self-conscious about them, but it doesn't make me feel any less of a fae without my signature pointed tips.

"How?"

I know what he's asking, and as much as I scramble for an answer, I know there's no use in lying. I'm not the best at it, my heart always giving a little murmur, and he'll be able to see right through me. My pulse is already erratic enough, a sensation I don't hide because that would only cause more confusion as he tries to get a read on me.

"I was attacked as a child."

His eyes widen as the corner of his mouth turns up just an inch. "You poor thing." I've sensed more sympathy from a wilted flower. If he thinks I'm falling for that, he's truly mistaken. "By who?"

I frown at him. Nobody asks that. Not that many people know the details behind my ears, but still. There's intrusive, and then there's that question. There's no use lying, though. Despite how awkward the truth may be.

"By a wolf."

A gasp echoes from my left, and I know it's Janie. It cuts through the rising tension thickening around me, but the same shock isn't evident on Alpha Kenner.

No.

Instead, there's a sparkle in his eyes.

"How?" he pushes, and I shrug. "How?" he repeats, more demanding this time.

"Father, that's enough," Cassian bites as Alpha Kenner leans back, tapping his finger against his chin.

"I'd recognize your eyes anywhere," he murmurs, so quiet I'm unsure if I heard him correctly. Whirling around, he finds Dalton a step behind him. "Fetch her." There's glee in his voice as he turns back to me, and with every passing moment, my gut sinks.

"What's going on?" Kryll asks, and I wince, panicked that Kenner will lash out at him, but he seems to go unheard. Not by Cassian, though, who turns to me, storming by his father to get to my side.

"We're leaving."

"You're going nowhere," his father snarls, pointing his finger at his son in warning before turning back to me.

I'm acutely aware that the entire gathering is staring this way, and the music doesn't seem as loud as it did earlier. Here's the scene Dalton was talking about. I was just hoping it would center around Cassian and not me.

I should have known I wouldn't be that lucky.

A menacing smile takes over Kenner's face as his presence seems to loom around me even more. "I've sliced the ears of a fae before." I freeze, blinking at him as his words take root in my veins. "A small girl," he adds, an air of triumph oozing from him. "Not just any small girl…you."

My pulse rings in my ears. "Me."

The word parts my lips as I try to wrap my head around what he's saying. I don't think, I don't consider, I don't do anything but launch myself at him. I reach for two daggers at my waist, ready to pierce this fucker with them, but Cassian manages to intercept me, pinning me to his chest.

"Somebody spell it out for me," Cassian growls, and I wiggle against his hold to no avail. I need to use my magic, even if I reveal…no, earth magic will do. It has to.

"Let go of me, Cassian. He needs to pay," I snarl, my blood burning through my veins with the need to get my revenge. Kenner laughs, arms out wide at his sides as he basks in my rage. Let him. "What you did to my sister." My heart aches, and it fuels his sadistic glee.

"Ah, little Nora, right? Was that her name? I can't remember."

Fuck him.

Fuck him. Fuck him. Fuck him.

"She was just a baby," I spit, the world fading away until all I see is him. I need Cassian to put me down so I can connect with the ground.

"How is she?" he asks, but I understand what he really means.

"Alive, no thanks to you." Agony twists into fury through every ounce of my body.

"How are her legs?"

Fuck this.

Fighting against Cassian's hold, I try to reach him again as his voice booms in my ear. "What the fuck is going on?"

A cry echoes from behind Kenner, drawing his attention away from me for a second, and I let the world seep back into my vision. I need to think, and I need to think fast if I'm going to bring him down.

Dalton parts the gathered crowd, pulling along a woman. He comes to a stop a few steps away from us, letting the woman's gaze dart around. Her frantic eyes settle on mine. Eyes so similar that my heart practically rips from my chest.

"Adrianna."

I gulp, biting back a whole different kind of nausea threatening to consume me.

"Is that Queen Reagan?" Raiden asks, cutting through the darkness seeping into my limbs.

"That's right, everyone," Kenner announces, gaze flicking between the woman and me. "Please gather round and meet Queen Reagan." His gaze settles on mine as I brace for the words I know are going to come from his mouth. "And Adrianna Reagan, daughter of King and Queen Reagan, the fallen king and ruiner of the fae origin. Which makes her the rightful-yet-despised heir to the kingdom."