Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 51094 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 255(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51094 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 255(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
"Fina was there for me," she said simply.
Domenico's jaw clenched. "Estrella..."
Realizing how her brother could've misinterpreted her words, she said quickly, "I'm not blaming you, Dom. We both know you had to force yourself to stay away so the world could see I'd be able to stand on my own. She did the same thing. She knew I had to fight my own battles."
Not exactly the same, Domenico thought. The battles he had let Estrella fight were figurative. Fina had made Estrella fight for her life, literally.
Chapter Fourteen
Lysander waited until they were completely alone and a good distance away from the Moretti compound before turning to Fina and revealing his anger. "How dare you exhibit such rudeness towards my wife?"
A blast of icy wind struck Fina's face, and when she opened her eyes again, she found herself staring into the eyes of a twelve-foot beast with curved horns and the deadliest set of claws she had ever seen in her entire life.
A cry of fear slipped past her lips, and Fina immediately dropped to her knees. "Forgive me, Your Highness. Forgive me."
Another snarl, and she instinctively knew that the prince was demanding an explanation for her actions.
"Forgive me, forgive me, Your Highness." She injected tears into her voice, but all the while she was simply using the time to think up an excuse. Because in truth, she had not expected Lysander to be so outraged on the girl's behalf.
That Lysander had first fallen for Domenico's trashy human wife was an open secret among all Faes, a fact only left unspoken out of respect for everything the Allards had sacrificed for their race. As such, it had been a nasty surprise to Fina that Lysander had chosen his rival's baby sister of all people to entrust with virtually all the keys to their kingdom.
She had been hoping that Lysander would choose her. Not only was she his former mentor, but no other woman had known him better or longer than she did. She should have been his first choice, and that she was not—-
It was then her rage had unreasonably turned towards his baby bride. A dumb, useless bitch of a princess whom Fina had the absolute pleasure of pulling the wool over her slimy green eyes.
Since self-preservation was always #1 on her list, Fina had concocted an elaborate story about enemies being after her, hence the need for Estrella to keep their interactions a secret from everyone. And that included the twins, whom Fina knew had never taken to her.
The moment the Fournier brothers were out of the picture, it had become easy for Fina to make herself indispensable to Estrella, who thought the world of her the moment she learned that Fina was once Lysander's mentor as well.
When news about rogue vampires taking Faes hostage broke out, Fina had whispered sweet poisoned words into Estrella's ears about the need for her to personally make a stand. Don't let the twins know or they'll stop you. Our people must see you're willing to risk your lives for us. You must fight bravely! Don't look back!
And the idiot had actually fallen for it.
Fina's plan for that fateful night had been simple. Watch from a distance, wait for the battle to break out, and once the princess drowned in her own blood, she would come running and save the hostages for herself.
But when she finally arrived at the mine, even Fina had felt her blood curl with terror. She recognized the six vampires that had been taunting the hostages. They were all part of Danilo Moretti's inner circle, and for Estrella to go against any one of them...
She had already turned away when she heard the first scream.
And it was a man's.
"I ONLY ASKED THAT WE speak in private because there is something you must know."
Another icy blast of wind slapped Fina's skin, and with her eyes cast to the ground, she could only see the moment paws turned into feet. She started to lift her head—-
"I did not give you any permission to move, spy."
Fina's body shook with fear as she quickly lowered her gaze again. "I'm sorry, Your Highness." She heard the rustling of clothes and realized that the prince hadn't wanted to see him naked. But she was willing to bet it was not out of modesty.
Having known the prince for so many years, and knowing what she knew of Ammon, it was probably because both man and beast had this ridiculous notion about Estrella being the only one to have the right to see Lysander's body.
The thought made Fina burn with rage, and when the prince addressed her again—-
"What did you wish to say?"
She was ready.
"The Miller Mine battle..." Years of listening to many a forbidden conversation had taught Fina a lot, and one of it was predicting how people typically responded to a particular situation. "Our people have told you about it?"