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Adelaide gasped, snapping out of the shock that rooted her in place. She rounded the couch. “Nolan, what are you doing?”
Something wasn’t right. Nolan shouldn’t have been able to get Regulus down that effortlessly.
“Really. This could have been simple.” Nolan rolled his eyes. “I’d stay there if I were you, Lord Belanger.”
Father strode past, his face pinched with fury. Before his hand found Nolan’s throat, Nolan stepped forward and grabbed Father’s shirt with both hands. Her heart stopped as Nolan picked Father up and threw him across the room. Father hit the stone next to the fireplace and crashed to the ground. Adelaide screamed. Mother ran to him, crying out for the guards. Adelaide’s throat constricted as Mother knelt beside Father, his body looking like a discarded rag doll. He raised his head, then moaned and let his head fall back to the carpet.
Regulus stood, bent over and clearly in pain. As Nolan turned back, Regulus threw a wild punch. His fist made contact with Nolan’s jaw with a crack. He drew back for another punch, but Nolan shoved against Regulus’ chest while moving his foot behind Regulus’ leg. Regulus stumbled backward and fell to the ground with a groan.
“Regulus!” She darted forward as Nolan grabbed Regulus’ right arm and yanked it backward against his leg. The snap of bone nearly made her vomit. Regulus yelled in agony.
Adelaide pulled her dagger out of her boot and sliced at Nolan’s chest, but he evaded her blade. She stood next to Regulus, dagger held in front of her and at the ready. Nolan took another step back, and she risked a glance down. Below Regulus’ rolled-up sleeve, the sharp edge of a bone pushed against the skin in his forearm, like the bone wanted to break through but couldn’t. She gagged. His face looked deathly pale, and huge drops of sweat beaded on his forehead.
Nolan adjusted his belt and smoothed his shirt. “I must admit, I didn’t expect the mercenary to tell the truth. I hoped if he did, the good lord and lady wouldn’t believe it. A sorcerer living in the woods, forcing your obedience? How unrealistic compared to a tale of kidnapping and seduction and dishonorable behavior. I didn’t think he would, but I’d hoped Belanger would kill you, Hargreaves. He looked ready to after I spun my tale this morning. Alas, no. But I really wasn’t prepared for you to figure out the sorcerer is Prince Kirven. Well done.”
She stared, her hands going cold. Her heart raced. None of this made sense. “How do you know about the sorcerer?”
“Oh, Adelaide. If you had paid more attention to me instead of Lord Half-Breed, you’d know I’m an expert hunter.” Nolan flashed her a smile with all the warmth of knives. “That was clever, making it look like the Black Knight kidnapped you and telling that knight to tell both Hargreaves and me in order to turn suspicion away from Hargreaves. He rode straight to Arrano, where I was tearing the place apart looking for you. I had my suspicions about the authenticity of your supposed kidnapping, so I went after you with only my men. I tracked you. Right to the prince’s tower. What an interesting conversation we had.”
Her lungs felt leaden, like she had forgotten how to breathe. Dread grew in the pit of her stomach. “About what?”
“Oh, you know. Power, politics, revenge, mutual goals and annoyances.” Nolan looked pointedly at Regulus. “Plans for overthrowing the king. Normal treason things.”
No. Please, no. She gulped, horrified at her rising suspicion.
“I made a nice deal with the prince.” Nolan rolled up his sleeve, and the sight of the mark on the interior of his right forearm—two hollow black diamonds and a half diamond open toward his wrist—made her shudder. “I serve him when he calls, and I get strength, speed, and agility beyond belief...and immortality.” He pulled his sleeve back down. “I don’t understand why you were in such a hurry to get rid of it, mercenary. If you didn’t have a martyr complex, you wouldn’t have had to deal with the pain. But don’t worry.” He reached behind him and drew a dagger.
He tossed the dagger in the air and caught it, and Adelaide’s grip on her own dagger tightened as she recognized the flash of swirling ivory. Regulus’ dagger from the tournament.
“You can’t feel pain when you’re dead.” Nolan moved forward, eyes fixed on Regulus.
“No!” She lunged toward Nolan and aimed a cut at his stomach. He dodged, as she knew he would, but she was already coming around with a stab aimed at his heart. Nolan hit her arm away with his forearm, and her blade sliced across the side of his arm. He hissed and grabbed her neck. Before she could react, he threw her backward. She coughed as she hit the ground beside Regulus. Her dagger slipped out of her hand and spun across the floor.
Panting, she turned and threw herself over Regulus. She wrapped her arms around his head, shielding his torso and head, but careful not to lie on his broken arm. Her entire body shook as she looked up at Nolan. She needed to distract him.
“Why would the sorcerer want you? Why would he need you?”
Nolan paused and shrugged. “Because he gave his word he would free Hargreaves. And, for whatever reason, his word is important to him. He wanted a new assistant to help him put his plans of conquering and domination into effect.”
“He told you his plans?” Regulus asked, his voice weak and tight. He coughed and groaned. She wished he would shut up instead of drawing attention to himself.
“See, if you had been thankful for the gifts he gave you for one moment instead of fighting him all the time, he might have let you in, too. But, no. I’m certainly not going to tell you all his secrets.” Nolan knelt near Regulus’ head and met Adelaide’s eyes. She leaned lower over Regulus and held Nolan’s gaze, silently daring him to go through her to get to him.
Nolan balanced Regulus’ dagger on the tips of his fingers. “But I will tell you this—the sorcerer has promised me that he will spare anyone who is with me when he takes over. Conversely, though, I’ll be in a position to see that anyone...undesirable...dies. So it might be a good idea to curry my favor before we welcome the new king.”
“You’re not his partner.” Adelaide shook her head. “You’re his slave!”
“The contract I signed with him that promises me a duchy says otherwise.” He gave her a self-satisfied smile. “You didn’t think His Highness would seize the throne without thinking about how he would rule Monparth once he had it, did you? Even sorcerers need loyal nobles to rule successfully. Unfortunately, that falls apart if anyone alerts the king. I’ll kill anyone necessary to prevent that.” He leaned closer to her, and she shivered. “But not you, Adelaide. That’s not what I want. I want you at my side as my duchess.”
Regulus tried to push her away with his good arm, but Adelaide didn’t budge. “You’re out of your mind,” she spat.
“You don’t even love her, do you?” Mother shouted. She still knelt next to Father, who appeared to be regaining his breath.
“You’d all already be dead if I didn’t love her.” Nolan reached for Adelaide. Still shielding Regulus, she couldn’t pull back.
“If you love me, you’ll leave.” Adelaide met his eyes, determined not to flinch.
“Maybe we have different definitions of love.” He ran the back of his fingers down her cheek. “I want you, though.” His voice dropped to a husky murmur. “By my sword, do I want you.” She gulped against the fear strangling her and drying up her tongue.
“Adelaide—” Regulus coughed, the sound wet and concerning. “Move!” He pushed against her side. But she stayed frozen, as if Nolan’s touch had turned her to stone.
“I’ve set my mind on having you, and now I can’t get you out of my head,” Nolan said, his eyes tracing the contours of her face. He returned Regulus’ dagger to the back of his belt. “And so many people, including my parents—especially my parents—believe we’re engaged.” He seized her arm. “I won’t be shamed by you marrying that mongrel instead.”
