Page 133 of Their Rejected Queen

Arwan tilts his head, then slides one of his rings off his finger. He hands it to Sofia, who considers it for a moment before hesitantly taking it. “That’ll deter them for a little while,” he assures her. “Long enough for you to get to one of us. But it’s Liliana they want, not you.”

“Why do they want me?” I ask.

Arwan falls to one knee and looks up at us. My mouth drops open at his submissive posture. “Because you are the future queen, my dear, and they want you on their side. Not mine.”

So they don’t want to kill me.

They want to own me.

Get in line, assholes.

I consider Arwan for a moment, but he doesn’t move from his position on the floor. Instead, he bows his head and patiently waits.

“Put on the ring,” I instruct Sofia.

She glances at me but dutifully places it onto her finger. I can’t be sure, but it feels like her presence has been muted the second she puts it on.

Is that why I never see Arwan coming? He wears some sort of bespelled artifacts?

“I’ve been training with the others during the evenings,” she says as she squeezes my hand again. “If you really think it’s okay, I can join them and check up on you later.”

The time limit hits me square in the chest. We have only thirty days until the Monster Games begin. I hadn’t considered that means Sofia has to prepare, too.

And I don’t want to do anything to be the reason she’s not ready.

“Go,” I tell her.

She waits until I release her fingers, then she walks through the open doorway.

Arwan finally raises his head, and blue motes reconstruct the door when she’s gone, giving us privacy once again.

“You’re afraid of me,” he observes as he eases onto the edge of the bed. It dips with his weight, and I hug the pillow I had been holding to my chest like it’s a shield.

“Confused,” I correct him. “I don’t remember anything you’ve mentioned so far. You haven’t told me how you know my brother, and… you haven’t told me much at all, really.”

“Your brother,” he says with a loose sigh. “He made a deal with King Njord. I have traded tonics with him before, but I’ve never liked him. He cheats and lies, which makes him a great fit for the king more so than me.”

“So you do know my brother,” I say as my lips pucker.

He hums. “Yes, I did.”

Past tense.

Because he’s dead now.

That’s still hard to believe.

“And my memory of what happened while I was out? Our… training?”

He tilts his head as his gaze falls to my lips. His blue eyes go hooded as he considers me, sending a blush heating over my skin.

Why does he have to look at me like that?

“Somatic memory,” he decides aloud, confusing me further.

“Somo-what?” I ask.

He chuckles, then slides closer to me. His fingers, dark from black magic, trail over my skin. The sensation leaves an icy trail of desire in the path he traces.