I snarled, pulling back my lips and showing her my fangs. They ached in my gums, and my stomach twisted. I was hungry, and this entire situation was just making things worse. The deer’s blood I drank every night was doingnothingto appease my incessant hunger. “Excuse me? How dare you?”
“You heard me, you toothy, frustrating, ancient male,” Luna snapped, her face the color of a cherry. “You think I did this on purpose? How do you suppose I arranged all this? You have been with meevery single secondof every day since our wedding.”
“I—”
“No!” she screamed her frustration, balling her fists at her sides. “Of course, I didn’t do that! The entire train of thought is preposterous!”
“You dare speak to me in such a fashion?” I yelled, red edging my vision. “I could destroy you in half a breath. You are a mortal.”
The shadows in my veins writhed, as if proving my point. They swarmed out of me, darkening the room.
“Go ahead,” she seethed. “If you are so stubborn that you won’t hear the words coming out of my mouth, you might as well kill me. I. Did. Not. Do. This.”
Raking my hands through my hair, I slammed my fist into the nearest wall. The purple lights flickered as the dark shadows hummed beneath my skin. “I just want answers!”
Luna shook her head. “You won’t get any out of me because I didn’t do this! One second, I was talking with my friend—the only one I have here, might I add—and the next, I was rolling on the floor in agony.”
That sounded like the same thing that happened to me.
Groaning, I ran my hands through my hair. “So you don’t know what happened?”
“Kydona have mercy on my soul,” she muttered angrily. “How many times do I have to say the same thing? Imagine for a moment,Prince, that I was stupid enough to come in here to hurt you. Why do you think I would put myself through agonizing pain as well?”
I snarled. “To take the blame off yourself, obviously.”
She huffed, stomping her foot on the ground. “Good gods, you’re an absolute idiot. Why is it that males always think that females are out to get them?” She gesticulated wildly. “This. Was. Not. Me. What else can I do to prove that to you?”
The sleeve of Luna’s dress slipped, revealing the tanned skin around her wrist. At the same moment, a sliver of violet light landed on her skin. My eyes narrowed as I stared at the black markings of our Binding. They ran around her wrist, as they should, forming a band of intricate whirls and swirls, but then…
Shock ran through me, and I darted forward with the speed of my kind. Luna squealed as I grabbed her wrist with one hand, maneuvering my sleeve out of the way until my Binding Mark was freed.
Pulling my shadows back into myself, I held our wrists side-by-side, staring at them as my breath came faster and faster. My lungs tightened and my stomach twisted.
“What are you doing?” she asked, trying to tug her hand away.
“I’m looking for something,” I snapped, tightening my grip. “Hold still.”
Reaching out, I ran my finger over her wrist. Her entire body tensed beneath my touch, but she didn’t pull away.
An entire minute went by, the clock ticking ominously on the wall as I stared at our wrists. With every second that passed, my anger dissipated, giving way to something else. A dozen curses ran through my mind, each one worse than the last.
This wasbad.So bad, I could barely think, let alone speak. I hadn’t bothered to look at the marks of our Bindings before now. Why would I? Everything seemed as expected.
Clearly, I should have been paying more attention.
At first glance, the black markings of our Bindings appeared normal, but when I looked more closely, the difference was so obvious that I couldn’t believe I missed this.
A pair of thin red lines ran through the middle, stretching from my arm to hers. Together, they formed a rope, twisting through the black swirls of our Binding Marks.
Releasing my grip on Luna’s wrist, I stumbled back. My wings vanished in a puff of shadows as I turned, gripping the windowsill with all my might. It cracked beneath my strength, but I didn’t move.
If these markings were what I thought…
“You didn’t do this,” I said as realization dawned on me. “That black-hearted ancient, treacherous priest…”
My voice trailed off.
I was going to tear out Ciro’s throat and drain him dry before scattering his body parts across the Four Kingdoms. I would show him what it meant to play games with the Prince of Darkness.