Throne of Secrets (Prince of Sin #2)

Forty-One Prince Gluttony

I SANK INTO THE steaming tub, my wounds screaming in protest. Today’s contest had been a disaster for me personally, but the realm loved it, which was all that mattered.

Several scandal sheets hit the press within hours of the competition, excitedly claiming that Vanity Raven would win the crown.

Everyone from Ryleigh Hughes to Anderson Anders let it be known that House Pride would take the glory. Pride wouldn’t be able to stay hidden from the events for long—he’d need to make an appearance after his suitor took an early lead. Or he’d start to suffer from the gossips turning their attention to him. Which would be a welcome relief.

Thankfully, because of that performance with Vanity, no one noticed when Allure ripped open my slow-healing wounds and I nearly passed out.

They’d been too busy scribbling notes and speculating about me and Vanity.

Little did anyone know, I’d been caught up in a fantasy involving my rival.

It had been so real, so vivid, I’d almost taken her on my throne. It was the first time one of my dreams had occurred while I was awake. I wasn’t sure if it was a sign of my power dwindling from overuse or if the blood oath was causing another unseen complication.

Unease had my muscles bunching tighter despite the scalding bath.

Part of me still wanted to hunt Adriana down. I knew why Lust had interfered—and was grateful he’d stepped in before I’d caused a scandal. No matter that she didn’t want me; I hadn’t expected the kissing to get so heated during the competition today.

I might be a ruthless bastard when it came to certain things, but I wasn’t cruel.

Adriana made it clear she’d never court me, even after our interlude at the Seven Sins, and I had several potential partners who I liked despite the deceptive start of this competition.

Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing to allow myself to fall while still solving the dragon issue. Redeem my actions in some small way and forget my constant craving for the one person in the realm who would never have me. Maybe the dragon’s fate was tied to mine.

If I could sort out what, exactly, that was.

Adriana’s face suddenly emerged in my mind, forever taunting me.

The truth I so rarely admitted, even to myself, was that despite my reputation as a rake, I’d spent years turning away lovers, unwilling to pleasure them while I envisioned someone else.

It wasn’t that hard to get away with, thanks to my court’s insatiable need to overindulge. There were orgies on any given night, and no one realized I didn’t actually partake.

This was my curse. To crave what I couldn’t have.

And I couldn’t tell if I was unable to break it or simply didn’t care to because deep down I liked the pain.

Maybe magic wasn’t involved, and I subconsciously chose to submit to the endless cycle of wanting what I could never have.

I closed my eyes, slipped under the water, and held my breath, allowing the herbs to sting my body into submission. We still weren’t sure what had coated the dragon’s talons to cause such a slow healing response, but at least the medicine was beginning to close the worst of them.

For the first time in what felt like ages, I began to drift, my mind going still and dark.

A knock at my bathing room door obliterated the serenity.

“Your Highness?” Val’s voice accompanied her second round of knocking.

I broke the surface of the water, ran my hands through my hair to smooth it from my face, and considered abdicating my gods-damned throne.

“Enter.”

Val grimaced when she stepped into the bathing chamber.

“Well? Did you come here to braid hair and bond in the tub or is there some crisis that needs my attention?”

“The hatchling escaped from the habitat.”

I stared at her for a moment, trying to sort out if she was toying with me. When her expression didn’t shift, I cursed.

“How long ago?”

“Five minutes. We think he’s in the dungeon.”

“How in the hells did a baby dragon make it from the habitat by the stables to the dungeon in five minutes?”

Val looked to the ceiling as if praying for someone to intervene. “It’s fast and determined.”

“And?”

“And the damned thing bites. Hard.”

I stood from the tub, mildly amused when Val flung a length of linen at me to tie around my waist. As if anyone in my court cared a whit for modesty.

I quickly dried off and strode into my room, grabbing a pair of trousers and a shirt. Despite his momentary alertness with Adriana, Silvanus still hadn’t roused from whatever gripped him, so the baby dragon should be safe.

A few moments later, we were making our way to the dungeon, hunting down a menacing baby dragon.

In a very princely manner, I dropped to my knees and crawled across the dirty floor, checking under the straw in the cells. Flipping over any stones the little beast could have crawled behind.

Val assembled a few hunters, and they were all in similar positions, softly cooing and clucking their tongues to lure the hatchling out.

I shook my head at the sight. Here stood some of the most fearsome members of my court, crawling around the dungeon, hunting a baby dragon.

It felt good to find some levity after the disastrous day.

I’d been about to make a joke when a roar erupted from Silvanus’s cell, followed by a panicked bleat.

Of course the damned dragon would come to now.

I jumped up from the ground and raced to the end of the dungeons, skidding to a stop in front of the dragon’s cell, dreading what I knew I’d find.

I wrenched the door open and halted.

Silvanus’s jaws were clamped onto the hatchlings neck, his eyes glowing that violent, bloody red. I took a careful step into the chamber and froze as he shook the baby dragon.

“I’m unarmed, Sil.” I held my hands up. I sensed Val moving in. “Stay there,” I commanded. “No one else comes near him.”

I didn’t want the dragon to feel like he’d been cornered or overpowered. There was no telling what he’d do then. I kept my attention locked on him, watching for any flicker of recognition. There was nothing to indicate he was aware of anything but plotting his next move.

“Set the hatchling down. You want to fight me.”

I took another step toward him, stopping when his next growl rumbled the floor.

The baby struggled in his grasp, bleating. Its panicked cries pierced my own cold heart.

If I didn’t act soon, it would die. After losing the only other two babies this year, I wouldn’t allow that to happen.

Sil reared back, his eyes going vacant. I unleashed the only magic that might work.

“Set the hatchling down now.”

My voice echoed with the full power of a Prince of Hell.

Silvanus wrenched his head back and forth, his pupils dilating as he fought the magic command. In some strange twist of magic, I was in his head, seeing through his eyes. His mind.

Red tinged everything and as I stared at myself through his eyes, feeling off-kilter and disoriented, I was suddenly in a memory. At first all I saw was a shadowy figure.

Then the color blue.

It seemed like the disjointed ramblings of madness, but it gave me excellent insight into how his mind was working. Perhaps it could be something we could study.

I was about to wrench myself out of his head when the shadowy face finally came into focus. Everything in me stilled. Adriana. Silvanus was fixated on her as if under some primal command to seek and destroy.

Suddenly, he ducked his head and charged, ripping me from his mind.

I dove forward right as he jumped, clearing my body as I rolled to the ground and pivoted, never turning my back to him.

Silvanus roared, the sound loud enough to wake the whole gods-damned castle. He barreled through the open cell and into the hall, the hatchling still locked in his jaws, then took off for the end of the corridor.

I bolted after him. “Take him down! Protect the baby!”

Val unleashed her throwing knives, aiming at his flank, his wings. She struck true, but it had little impact on the massive dragon and his tough hide.

The other hunters raced after him, tossing chains at his feet. He jumped at the last moment, avoiding them as they clattered against the stone, flying past the dragon.

I unsheathed my House dagger, my wings snapping open.

He was heading directly for the window I’d had painted over with a strong illusion. It was meant to look like stone, but somehow the dragon had detected what it was. Not even the most skilled magic wielder had sensed the truth of the illusion.

I used my supernatural speed, reaching for him just as he shattered through the wall and glass, the stone breaking easily at the impact.

Wings out, I jumped from the window, flying after him, my focus on the baby, which still bleated for help. Our flight was not a silent one.

I could only hope my suitors were occupied at the other end of the castle.

Silvanus careened toward the garden, headed over the stables, then banked toward the mountains beyond Merciless Reach.

Incredibly, despite the vacancy in his gaze, he knew where to go.

His mighty wings flapped with brutal grace as he aimed upward, catching the tailwind and increasing his already impossible speed.

I pumped my own wings as hard as I could, catching the same powerful gust as we sailed past the fortress, ignoring the hunters racing for cover below.

We were heading toward the barrens. But first we needed to pass the mountain range that separated us from them. My pulse pounded. If Sil flew us over the barrens and found his pack, I was going to have trouble retrieving the baby dragon by myself.

Too soon the first mountain veered up in front of us, the cliff face rocky and unforgiving.

I raced after him, nearly catching up, my dagger aimed at his chest. I’d—

He whipped his giant head back and forth, launching the baby dragon toward the side of a mountain, in the opposite direction from where he continued. The hatchling was still too small to fly on its own.

I cursed, diving toward the baby, leaving Sil as I raced gravity, praying I’d be victorious. At the last moment, I snatched the baby into my arms, tucking it against my body as I braced for impact. I’d been going too fast and was too close to the mountain to avoid hitting it.

At the last moment I turned, my back slamming into the ice-covered rock, the wind getting knocked out of me so hard I saw stars. I slid down the mountain, keeping the baby in the cradle of my arms as I sank to the ground, breathing hard.

I sat that way for a few moments, allowing the full impact of Sil’s escape to sink in.

The tiny dragon crawled up my neck, nuzzling me, its icy snout causing a slight shudder. I tipped my head back, looking up at the cold night sky as I petted the dragon.

“Well,” I said to it. “Your name is Vexus. You little vexing troublemaker.”

He bleated excitedly from his grand adventure, the heathen. He belonged to House Gluttony through and through.

I stared at the sky for a few more moments, hoping for a glimpse of iridescent scales glinting in the moonlight. All remained quiet.

There was no use in trying to track Sil tonight; by the time I brought Vex back to the castle and assembled a search party, he’d be long gone.

I pushed myself to my feet and stretched, thankful for my ability to swiftly heal.

Unlike the anomaly that happened during the dragon attack when we’d rescued Vex, my body was unharmed now. Except for the cursed dragon wounds that were still taking their time to heal.

I held the dragon close and launched us back into the air, my mind already spinning in several directions. Once I took the hatchling back to its temporary nest, I’d spend the rest of the night researching any information I could find on dragon fixations.

That Silvanus had been thinking of Adriana nonstop was a troubling revelation.

The simple explanation might be that he’d seen her in the dungeon and she had somehow imprinted on him. Or maybe it had something to do with the blood oath we’d sworn.

There was another reason I couldn’t ignore.

I couldn’t stop from wondering, once again, if this was all tied into my private curse.

If I even had one at all. I still couldn’t tell what it was, or if I was simply unlucky.