My lip curls at the writing carved into his chest:
THlS lSN’T OVER
I grimace, a few sparks of hatred reignite. The giants are our natural enemies, but the cruelty they subject to the humans is too far.
All of the remaining dregs of my ire toward humans flow out of me, like the final breath of a dying beast, just as Melisa’s smell joins us.
“Trouble in paradise?” Melisa asks.
“You followed us,” I growl. It was a bad idea because she doesn’t like blood.
“Shouldn’t you be preparing for thedual'moraanceremony?” Teo says, and I cast him a wayward glance.
“I was when I spotted you hurrying out of the cave. Your wife told me I was welcome anywhere,” she says, smiling and batting her lashes. Falseness drips off her tongue.
It’s disrespectful to the man lying on the ground, but I imagine myself blocking the ugly scene and tasting her tongue for the first time. It would be sweet, like her smell.
“You must tell no one that this has happened,” Teo says.
Her eyes narrow, and I find like her fire.
“You wish me to lie?”
“No,” Teo bites out before taking a deep breath and relaxing his shoulders. “I am asking you to help maintain the peace. We are still at war with the giants. I can promise we will protect everyone inside, but right now, our actions need to be calculated. This would cause unnecessary panic.”
Melisa bites her lip. “And what if I tell your wife?”
“I will tell her myself,” Teo says.
Her mistrust intrigues me. It’s yet another layer in the mystery of her.
“This is from the giants, yes?” she says at last.
Teo nods as she gazes back down at the corpse.
“If they wish to fight you, why don’t they bring an army right away?” she asks.
Vann interjects, “Estela reported a nasty skirmish on the night of the coronation. That has likely strained lots of relationships between the giant lords. Rholker has been cut a lot of slack. It’s hard to tell how much more his court will spare.”
Melisa nods, looking up and meeting King Teo’s eye. There’s something fearful and raw buried in her gaze.
“I used to be the whore of Foreman Eneko. He’s one of the few giant supervisors in the slave fields and has lots of information on Rholker. For example, his new bride is actually the sister of his first betrothed.” She leans in. “Word has it he killed the first woman.”
Every part of me, from the top of my head to the tip of my tail freezes. Is she offering herself again? Even the suggestion has my fists tightening and blood heating.
“I am so sorry they put you in that position,” Teo says.
I scoff. That’s it? He should be promising to bring down the sky itself upon the giants. Sympathy isn’t enough for their crimes against her.
Melisa waves him off. “Don’t be. I do what needs to be done. Which begs the question, how do you solve a problem like this? One where the giants threaten to return and lay waste to us all.”
Teo drags a hand over his face. “Information and allies, so that we might make a solid plan. We have already made great strides in coming up with strategies to attack the giants with information Estela brought back.”
Melisa looks doubtful.
I don’t like any of this.
She’s got a devious, powerful heart. I would’ve been proud to claim it and stop this from happening.