Filed To Story: Spit or Swallow: Kiss Of The Basilisk
It was true. The sun was setting, and the early moon would soon rise. People were beginning to find their seats. They had to resolve this before the ceremony commenced.
Tem turned to Caspen, her hand still firmly on Leo.
“When you crested me, it wounded my basilisk side. It’s been dying ever since.”
Caspen blinked. “How can that be? The crest did not work on you.”
“It didn’t work on the human side of me.”
A moment passed as Caspen came to the inevitable conclusion. “If the basilisk side of you is dying, that means…”
Tem finished for him. “You’re dying too.”
Caspen was staring at her as if he were finally realizing something. “I suppose I have been feeling somewhat…off…lately,” he murmured.
From the way he said it, Tem knew it was an understatement. She had no idea how he’d felt the last few days as their bond was slowly decaying. All she knew was how she’d felt-like she was losing the best part of her-and she figured Caspen had felt the same. Tem knew this was the last thing either of them wanted. The blood bond was supposed to tie them together for the rest of their lives. Neither of them thought it might cut their lives short.
“Tem,” Caspen said. “I do not care if I am dying. You cannot do this. I will not allow it.”
“There are limits,” Tem said quietly back, “to what you can allow.”
A moment of understanding passed between them. This was Tem’s choice-no different from choosing between Caspen or Leo or choosing them both. It didn’t matter what Caspen wanted. It never had.
Leo cleared his throat, breaking the moment. “Am I to understand that you are both injured?”
It was a gross oversimplification of their current situation. But it would have to do for now.
“Yes,” Tem said.
“And that your lives are tied to each other?”
“Yes.”
“And that you are engaged?”
She sighed. “Yes, Leo.”
“Those would have been helpful details to know before our wedding day, Tem.”
“Enough,” Caspen said. They both fell silent. “What can be done?”
A beat passed before Tem began. “I can perform the-“
“No,” Caspen said sharply. “You cannot.”
“It will make me powerful, Caspen. I can resist your father’s crest.”
“He is ancient, Tem. He has had centuries of experience wielding his power. You stand no chance against him.”
“You’re the one who always told me I could do anything. Was that a lie?”
“Of course not. But this is not a matter of sheer will. He will overpower you.”
“I have to try.”
Caspen crossed his arms. “Crest just one person, Tem. Heal yourself, and then I will heal too.”
She shook her head. “No. The deal was to crest the royals.”
Tem said it without thinking. It was only when Leo drew away that she realized the effect her words would have.
“You plan to-” He paused, and she could see him struggling to say the word. “Crest my family?”
Tem felt the sudden urge to cry. “It doesn’t hurt them,” she insisted. “It’s completely painless.”
“But you would draw power from them? From me?”
Tem shook her head. “No,” she said. “Not from you. Never from you.”
Caspen watched their exchange in silence, his mouth set in an unhappy line. Despite his previous threat to reveal their plan to Leo, Tem knew he never would have actually done so. He was like Leo in that way-he refused to do anything to hurt her. Tem was the one who was always hurting them.
Tem stepped closer, taking Leo’s hands in hers. “I only agreed to the crest because it would spare you.”
“Spare me from what?”
Caspen took over. “From my father. He will kill you otherwise.”
Leo nodded, although Tem had no idea how much of this was actually sinking in.
“Your sister will be spared too,” Tem said. “And her children.”
“And my father?”
Tem fell silent.
Caspen said it for her. “No.”
Leo closed his eyes.
Tem wondered if now, finally, it would be too much for Leo. This was more than he’d bargained for. She was more than he’d bargained for.
“Leo,” she whispered. “Say something.”
The prince was silent for a long moment. He looked down at Tem’s hands, his brow furrowed. Then he spoke. “If you are asking me to choose between you and my father, I choose you, Tem.” He said the words so calmly that she briefly wondered if she had hallucinated them.
But then Caspen said, “I would choose the same.”
This couldn’t be real.
“Are you two serious?” Tem whispered.
“I am,” Leo said.
“As am I.”
She stared at them.
They couldn’t be more different, but inside, they were cut from the same cloth. They had both been raised by power-hungry, cruel men-men who had marked their sons, physically and otherwise. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that they would choose her over their fathers. They had already done so-multiple times, in fact. They had proven themselves to her more times than she could count.
It was time to return the favor.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.