Filed To Story: Between Two Kings: A Split or Swallow Book PDF Free
She’d hardly eaten any dinner; she’d been too busy crying in the bathroom to indulge in the roast beef. The thought of going to the banquet hall without Caspen was intimidating but not impossible. If Caspen was so comfortable leaving her alone, perhaps she should become comfortable being alone. Besides, she was starving.
The banquet hall was filled with basilisks from both quivers. It seemed that the tension with the Senecas had abated-perhaps the fact that the ouroboros had ended amicably was enough to appease them for the time being. Tem navigated carefully between the tables, dodging more than one writhing group of basilisks. Mating season was still well underway, and she was still not used to it. Tem tried to be polite-to look at anything else-but the only thing happening around her was sex. A man was fingering a woman right in front of her. Beyond them, two women were entangled on a table. Just as Tem was about to give up, she spotted an open seat and collapsed in it gratefully. No sooner had she sat down than she heard Apollo’s voice.
“All alone tonight, Temperance?”
It was the exact same thing he’d said to her in the passageway before she slapped him. Apollo was always catching her alone, as if he possessed some sort of instinct for when she would be at her most vulnerable. It was a rather uncanny ability, and she hated it.
“I guess,” she said as he sat down across from her.
Apollo smiled, picking up a fork and twirling it deftly between his fingers. “In that case, I shall keep you company.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I insist.”
“You insist?”
“I beg.”
“That’s better.”
Apollo leaned in, his mouth curling into a smile. “Do you like it when I beg?”
Tem shot him a look of utter disdain. “Only if it’s for your life.”
“You will never hear me beg for my life.”
“No? And why not?”
Apollo smiled, baring his fangs. “Basilisks believe in fate.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means we understand that our deaths are predetermined. If I ever found myself fortunate enough to be beneath your blade, I would welcome it.”
Tem rolled her eyes.
Apollo’s smile only widened. “It would be an honor to die by your hand, Temperance.”
“It would be a privilege to kill you.”
Apollo laughed outright. It was always unnerving when basilisks did that. They were usually so serious that anything other than stoicism caught her off guard. But laughter suited Apollo, Tem realized. Despite his wicked tongue, his energy was decidedly lighter than Caspen’s. It was the same with Damon-almost as if the brothers were born in descending order of seriousness. Then again, Caspen shouldered the burden of leadership. Everyone else was untethered by such responsibility. Tem would be mirthful too if she wasn’t worrying about the future of a kingdom.
“I was impressed by you the other night,” Apollo said, still twirling the fork.
“How so?”
“The ouroboros is not for the faint of heart.”
“My heart is anything but faint.”
“That I know.”
Tem snorted. Apollo didn’t know anything about her heart. He never would. But that didn’t mean he didn’t care for her. She hadn’t forgotten what he’d said after the ouroboros-how he’d warned Caspen to leave the courtyard when the Senecas were advancing on them, how he’d urged him to take her to safety. It was a side of him she wasn’t used to-a side that was compassionate and caring and protective. Of her. Moments like that made her wonder whether his advances were genuine. Moments like that made her falter.
But she could not afford to falter today.
“All you do is flirt with me. It’s boring.”
Apollo raised an amused eyebrow. “In all my years, no one has ever called my flirting boring.”
“It’s repetitive. And predictable.”
“I see. And what would you suggest I do to change that?”
“I’m not giving you tips.”
“Shame. I should like to be in your good graces.”
“I’m sure you would.”
“I should like to be other places, as well.”
“See? Boring.”
Apollo threw his head back in laughter. “You are a challenge, Temperance.”
“You want a challenge? Go away.”
“That will not prevent me from flirting with you. I can still make you blush from across the room.”
“Then prove it.”
It just slipped out. But Apollo tilted his head thoughtfully. “Shall I?” he said quietly.
Tem didn’t answer. She’d said too much already, let this go too far. But Apollo was already standing. He’d been sitting with his back against the wall, already at the edge of the banquet hall, and had to circumvent their table in order to cross the room. As he passed her, his fingers touched her shoulder. Tem shivered at the contact. The moment he left her field of vision, he entered her mind.
Turn around so I can see you.
Tem was frozen in place. What had she just done?
Turn around, Temperance.
Tem didn’t think. She just turned around.
Apollo was at the table across from her, seated on the bench, facing outward just as she was. They stared at each other over the aisle. All around them, pairs of basilisks were fucking.
Open your legs, Temperance. Let me see you.
She couldn’t believe he was asking her that. Then again, he wasn’t really asking, was he? He was telling her to open her legs. And Tem was not about to obey.
That’s not flirting. You’re just ordering me around.
Some would consider that flirting.
Not me.
Most women would. And those women would have let me fuck them by now.
Tem rolled her eyes. She would not be baited into pretending she was unlike most women. She was just like most women; she found Apollo blisteringly attractive, and under normal circumstances, she would have fucked him the moment she met him. But he was Caspen’s brother, and he was playing games with her. To fuck him would be to let him win. And Tem was not in the mood to lose. It was time to play her own game.