Filed To Story: Between Two Kings: A Split or Swallow Book PDF Free
This is what her father endured for years? What all the other basilisks who were kidnapped had suffered through for decades until Leo finally made them stop? Tem couldn’t imagine ten minutes of this, much less ten years.
This was torture.
True torture.
The guard turned to leave as soon as he finished attaching the wires. Just before he reached the cell door, he pulled a lever on the wall. Immediately, pain shot through Tem’s fingers. Without thinking, she cried out. The wires were taking from her-extracting blood from her skin and turning the metal slowly into gold. Through the fog of agony, she heard:
“Does it hurt?”
The question was so idiotic Tem wanted to scream.
“What do you think?” she snapped.
Maximus smiled. It was a disgusting smile, filled with nothing but malice. “Pain is inevitable, Temperance. It makes us stronger.”
Tem rolled her eyes. She didn’t need a lecture about pain right now. Especially from someone whose specialty was causing it.
“I never thought I’d see you again,” Maximus said.
Tem rather wished he would shut up. The bloodletting was punishment enough. “That makes two of us.”
“You never answered my question.”
“Which question?”
“What brings you here?”
Tem held up her entangled fingers, regretting it immediately when the wires pulled at her hands. “Isn’t it obvious?”
Maximus shook his head. “That is not what I mean.”
“Then what do you mean?”
“I am asking why you are here. You were the one who convinced my son to cease this practice in the first place. And yet here you are, bleeding. Why?”
“Well, apparently I wasn’t very convincing because your son brought this practice back.”
Maximus let out a low chuckle. “Please, Temperance. You are not some weak creature. You don’t do anything you don’t want to do.”
The compliment wasn’t lost on her. But Tem only shook her head. She certainly didn’t want to be doing this. “Can you just shut up? This is bad enough without you talking.”
Maximus raised his eyebrows, but Tem didn’t apologize.
“I am surprised at you, Temperance. You have my undivided attention. There was once a time when you would have taken advantage of that fact.”
“Excuse me?”
“Isn’t there anything you wish to ask me while we are here?”
Tem almost scoffed but then reconsidered. There was a great deal she wished to ask Maximus. Such as why he’d started the bloodletting in the first place. And why his son was acting like a spineless worm. But one question came to the forefront of her mind, and once she thought of it, she couldn’t shake it. Evelyn’s words came back to her suddenly:
You shouldn’t be around your father.
“What did you write in the letter you gave to Evelyn?”
Maximus tilted his head. From the look on his face, it was not the question he was expecting.
There was a long silence, in which Tem called upon every ounce of patience she possessed-which wasn’t much-to wait for him to answer. When she couldn’t take it any longer, she snapped, “Are you listening?”
“Yes, impatient girl. I heard you.”
“Then why haven’t you answered me?”
“Because your question is nonsense. I have never given Evelyn a letter.”
Tem opened her mouth but her next question died on her tongue. Because as long as she didn’t ask, she didn’t know. And as long as she didn’t know, she wasn’t keeping the truth from Leo. Before she could decide whether or not to speak, Maximus spoke instead.
“Who told you I gave Evelyn a letter?”
“She did.”
“And what did she say I wrote in it?”
Tem pursed her lips. Was Maximus manipulating her? Tem didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. But she had no other option. It felt like she was on the brink of the truth. And if there was truth to be found, Tem needed to find it. “She said you broke up with her as Leo.”
More silence. Then, to Tem’s shock, Maximus began to laugh.
“Is something funny?” she cried.
Maximus only laughed more. It was a horrible sound, completely devoid of humor. Eventually, it devolved into coughing, and if Tem’s hands hadn’t been punctured with wires, she would have clenched them. As it stood, she could do nothing but watch as the former king hunched over in his cell, coughing until nothing came out anymore.
“My son has a type,” he said when he was done. “I have told you that before.”
“Yeah. Slut.”
“Smart,” Maximus said, correcting Tem. “He falls for smart women. Far smarter than him.”
Was Maximus complimenting her again? Before Tem had time to marvel at this, he continued.
“It will be his undoing if he is not careful.”
“What are you saying?”
“I am saying that Evelyn is smart. She fooled my son once, and she has fooled him again.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You should. You are just as smart as she is.”
Tem heaved a great sigh.
That was certainly no compliment. “If you don’t explain yourself, I’m going to come over there and smack you.”
Shock passed quickly over Maximus’s face, but Tem didn’t bother apologizing. He was no longer king, and even if he had been, she wouldn’t have cared anyway. She’d had enough of the men in this family tonight.
“I never liked Evelyn,” Maximus continued slowly. “At first my son met her in secret, but eventually she came to the castle. And every time she came, things went missing.”
Tem blinked. “What kind of things?”
“Forks. Knives. Cutlery of all kinds.”