Page 255 of A Touch of Poison
Pathetic, but all I wanted.
Jaw clenched, I dug my fingernails into my palm.
I needed to do this. I could help assure the peace. And there would be some way to get back. Eventually.
One step up the dais. Two.
The queen’s mouth curled.
She’d done this deliberately. What better way to get rid of me than sending me to Dawn? Hadn’t Bastian always warned me about setting foot in that side of the palace? Hadn’t he feared what his enemies might do once they knew I was important to him? Now everyone knew, and the queen had placed me in their hands.
The world throbbed in time with the pounding in my head. I yanked in my magic as I realised it wasn’t my pulse but that of the power around me. The last thing we needed today was for another king to get killed.
I clung to that thought—beautifully practical—as I approached the new Day King.
Eyes soft on me, his smile was almost kind, like he understood my shock and horror. His hand moved an inch higher and I blinked at it dumbly for a second before taking it.
His skin was warm and smooth, and a faint masculine scent wafted up my nose as I bent closer, closer.
Some instinct shrieked at me, but I didn’t understand the words. Alarm. Danger. That much I knew. Hadn’t I always understood those things?
The moon’s darkness slid off the sun as we entered the last phase of the eclipse. Light hit the king’s cuff, twinkling on the intricate stitches of Dawn Court’s rising sun.
As I brushed my lips over his knuckles, my breath caught.
In the embroidered insignia glittered thread made of scarlet entwined with gold.
The king’s smile widened, showing his sharp teeth. “Welcome to Dawn, Katherine. It’s going to be a pleasure to have you.”
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