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10ALDRIC
“Why so apprehensive?”I couldn't help but smile at my maiden's obvious nerves.
We stood side by side on the glass beach, looking out over the Bay of Blood. Her disgust was so strong I could almost taste its acrid flavor.
“This isn't what I had in mind.” She tried to yank her chain out of my grip, the foolish thing.
All it made me do was wind the chain around my fist even tighter, drawing her nearer. There was no chance I would release the lock on the cuff around her throat, and we both knew it.
“You said you could help. And that made me realize that yes, you can. You can be of great value to me where we are about to go.” I took a moment to savor the fear written across her otherwise lovely face before gazing out at the Bay once again.
The red tinge to the water was not a trick of the light. The blood of a millennium’s worth of dragons mingled with what was once clear water.
“This was your plan for an army?” Theon barked with laughter, battering my ears.
The snide, self-satisfied fool. Only the fact that I didn’t want to jeopardize my plans which were on the verge of coming to fruition made me hold my temper in check.
“What of it? I told you, I have a plan.”
“You and your belief in this supposed island.” Theon stepped up beside me, shaking his head as his round belly jiggled with laughter. “I should have known. I should have asked in advance exactly what you had in mind. I wanted to trust you.”
“You should trust me.” I turned to him, feigning hurt. “What have I done to deserve this?”
“For one thing, we both know there is no island in the Bay.”
This again. “Brother, in your long life, have you not yet learned there is more than meets the eye? You've become boring in your old age.”
“So you want me to believe there is an island in the center of the Bay, from which you will draw your army. Is that the general idea?”
“It is,” I said, though my plan went far beyond the general.
“I don't want to be around for this part,” Dawn whispered. “Can't I go back to the castle? Or the feeder tank, at least?”
I sneered down at her, delighting in the way she recoiled from what I knew was the black of my eyes. “You wouldn't last another two days in the feeder tank before you started biting yourself like one of those rejected wretches in the market, and we both know it. Look at you.”
Indeed, she was a trembling, groaning wreck. Already so addicted to my bite that she was losing all sense of herself. “Wouldn't you rather be with me? Your Lord and Master? I can give you what you crave most.” She'd had time to rest and replenish somewhat, which meant her blood might not taste as flat and flavorless as it had when we first arrived.
“And what if there is nothing there? What if you come back empty-handed, which I'm sure we both know you will?” Theon asked.
I whirled on Theon, baring my fangs. “If it isn't there, then you can be rid of me. You've lost nothing by agreeing to go along with me. Have I held you back? Have you lost anything by agreeing to our bargain?”
“Very well, very well.” He puffed out his chest, every inch the preening peacock.
He was a thoughtful creature, but pride was his weakness. It was how I knew I could never make him believe his husband didn’t love him, that he wasn't being used.
It wouldn't be a problem much longer. Once I gathered my army, I would be unstoppable. I would locate my Omega and reclaim what belonged to me. I would destroy both Jett and Theon if it came to that. I would conquer Parris and Garret as I’d conquered their covens.
And I would rule. No half-Fae pretender would sit upon the throne. I would take command of Xerai. I would punish and destroy the Fae for what they had taken from us.
And the rivers would run red with their blood. The very thought of it, the faintest image of the destruction lying before me, caused my cock to twitch. What I was about to do would make the massacre back in Sypani look like a child’s party.
“You're certain this island of yours contains the numbers you'll need to go ahead with your plan?”
“Leave that to me.”
“Not exactly an answer, Brother,” Theon said.
“You're wasting my time,” I snarled, yanking Dawn's chain yet again.
