Page 66 of Vicious Kings
"Oh yes." Tallon's smile widens. "Guess who awakened his muse?"
"I'm going to kill her," I say flatly. "Slowly. With fire."
"Get in line." He pushes off the doorframe, moving toward the stairs. "Caelyx has been skulking around her like a cat with amouse. Corvinus has locked himself away with his paints and his obsession. Andyoulook like you want to burn down the entire campus and salt the earth she's walked on."
"Accurate assessment."
We climb the stairs together, and I can feel the bond stretched between us. Mine and Corvinus's and Tallon's, all tangled together in a knot that's both comfort and curse. Right now, it's pulling me toward the study where Corvinus has sequestered himself, probably working with the kind of manic energy that never means anything good.
It's hard enough to keep him focused under normal circumstances.
"She refused him," Tallon says conversationally. "In front of us. Just flat-out said no."
"I know. I was there."
"This is fascinating," Tallon muses. "When's the last time anything interesting happened around here?"
I grimace. Leave it to a fucking dog to find joy in chaos. "The last time something 'interesting' happened, we spent three months rebuilding half the eastern wing."
"Details." He waves his hand dismissively. "So what's your theory? Is she here to kill him?"
I consider lying, but Tallon can smell lies almost as well as I can. "Probably."
"And you're not going to do anything about it?"
"I'm thinking about it."
We reach the study, and I can hear it now. The soft scratch of brush on canvas, the occasional muttered curse, the sound of Corvinus completely lost in whatever vision has seized him.
When his muse takes hold, he disappears into it like a drowning man pulled under by a rip current. Sometimes for hours. Sometimes for days.
"You think Caelyx is planning something?" Tallon asks, his voice pitched low.
"Caelyx is always planning something." I press my hand against the study door, feeling the wards Corvinus has thrown up. They're strong. The magical equivalent of a "fuck off" sign. "The question is whether it involves the hunter."
"I'm sure it involves fucking her," Tallon adds helpfully. "I saw him stalking her in the hall the other day. He looked at her the way a starving man looks at a feast."
"Everyone looks at her that way. She's an unclaimed omega in a university full of alphas. Fresh meat, at that."
Fae love nothing more than a novelty. Corvinus is no exception. Neither is Caelyx, apparently.
The last damn thing I need is the brothers fighting over the shiny new toy on campus.
"No." Tallon's voice goes serious in a way that makes me look at him. "Not like that. Not like someone he wants to fuck, like…a puzzle. And you know how Caelyx gets about puzzles."
I do know. Caelyx doesn't rest until he's taken things apart, examined every piece, understood how they work. And if they don't work the way he wants? He breaks them and puts them back together until they do.
"I have to admit," Tallon says, and there's something almost admiring in his tone, "she is intriguing. The way she stood there, chin up, telling a prince to go fuck himself in so many polite words. Takes balls."
"She's a hunter," I remind him. "Trained from birth to kill creatures like us. Her bravery is dangerous, not admirable."
"Maybe it's both." He tilts his head, studying me intently. "But don't tell me you don't find her intriguing."
"I don't have time for this," I mutter, turning away from the study door. Corvinus won't emerge until his muse releases him, and trying to force the issue will only make things worse. "I haveresearch to attend to. Try to make sure he doesn't get himself killed."
"I'm just a familiar," he calls after me, "not a miracle worker!"
"Is there anything youaregood for?"
