Page 97 of Slaying the Shifter Prince
Shit.
Shit!
Because the feeling in me… it wasn’t just not hate. It was… the opposite side of that coin.
I was falling in love with him.
And it had to stop.
Because although my plan no longer involved killing a prince and getting killed by his guards, I still knew getting revenge for Zinnia was the last thing I would ever do.
I had no future. Therefore, we had no future.
Breathing deeply through those thoughts, I lost track of what he was saying.
“You said a piece of her hair had been cut, right?”
I blinked up at him. I didn’t trust my voice, so I nodded.
“That suggests obsession. A wish to possess. If we can immerse the killer in that night, in the woman they were so infatuated with, they won’t be able to help but act.”
My fears evaporated as something brighter buzzed through me. “Act? What are you thinking?”
“You give a grand performance. Like that night, but…more. You look very much like her, though…” He smiled, gaze trailing over my face. “Your chin is different, your eyes sharper. But I don’t think they’ll remember that over the decade gap. They’ll seeher.”
My pulse throbbed in my throat. “A performance to lure him out?”
“Exactly. After, we’ll make it seem like you’re alone, vulnerable. You’ll extract a confession from him. Using the astrolabe, perhaps—when he sees it, he’ll react, and you’ll be able to get him to admit it was his.”
“Seemlike I’m alone?”
“I’ll be nearby. Far enough that he can’t detect me right away, but when you have him talking, he’ll be distracted and I can come closer.”
I gritted my teeth. “I don’t want you killing him.”
“I won’t. I’m just there as your right hand. You need him held down: I am your shackles. He so much as thinks about hurting you: I will keep you safe.” He swallowed. “I don’t want you hurt in this, Zita.”
It was… almost sweet of him. Maybe even sweeter, because it was futile. I knew in my bones this would be the end of me. I knew I was going to slice the killer’s throat while he crushed the life from mine like he had hers. And I didn’t mind.
But I didn’t have the heart to tell Sepher that.
* * *
Over the following weeks,we plotted and planned for my great show on our guests’ last night. Costume and set design. Music and choreography. Right down to the food and drink we’d serve that evening. We left no element to chance. Sepher’s attention to detail impressed me, though perhaps I should’ve expected it when he chose my outfits and accessories so well.
He ordered servants to set up the theatre to my exact specifications and came up with the idea for me to perform in a glowing hoop. It was something fae could make, but it wasn’t what Zinnia had used that night. When I resisted, he pointed out it would all be part of making the nightmore. I had to admit, maybe he was right. And the glowing hoop would certainly pull every scrap of attention to me.
Doing this for Zinnia was more important even than my own stubbornness.
Between the preparation, we entertained our guests every night. I resented the time more and more with each day that passed. I could be rehearsing. I could be mapping the theatre’s jumbled catwalks. I could be practising the conversation I’d have with the killer when he found me alone after the performance.
Instead, I simpered and served drinks and laughed at their stupid jokes. But the times I caught Sepher’s gaze and we shared secret smiles—they soothed my irritation. All this time I’d spent planning revenge alone, I’d never realised quite how good it could feel to have a partner.
Even though each day brought us closer to my performance and my revenge, part of me was sad. Sad that I didn’t have this sooner. Sad that I only got to enjoy it for a matter of weeks. Sad that letting it go would be the price I paid for vengeance.
But everything had a cost.
After the evening’s entertainments, I slipped away to the theatre to rehearse. Until, that is, he came and found me, which usually resulted in him seducing me, then carrying me to bed or carrying, then seducing. Whatever the order, the outcome was the same. I lay in the dark playing out in my mind the moment I would finally—finallyhave revenge until utter exhaustion sank its claws into me.
