Red Ruse

Chapter Eighteen

"Hmm." My thumb strokes his chin, testing. "What of my wicked ways? The ones your mother tried to protect you from?"

He falters, biting his lip, hands digging into my hip as his eyes grow wide and dark. I aimed for a nerve. I seem to have struck it.

"Maybe I don't need protection." He pulls me closer, close enough to feel his cool breath against my lips. "Maybe I enjoy having a snake in my bed."

I hiss.

Maven laughs. "Softer, dear. You sound like a cat."

I yank his collar, nails scraping the delicate flesh of his neck. "Is that soft enough for you, my king ?"

His breath hitches. "Say that again."

"My tyrant." It feels good to scratch him. "My traitor." It feels better to bite him. "My corruption."

He caresses my jaw. "My queen."

"Your ruin."

Scoff. "I can handle you."

"You barely handle yourself." I shake my head. "Three months into your reign, and you've already botched an execution, incited riots, and angered all of court. Say what you will of Cal, at least he would've been competent."

"Hmm." His eyes narrow. "Where is Cal? Probably huddled in a bunker somewhere, forced to bump shoulders with the Reds he claims to love. I suspect he prefers them gowned and jeweled."

"You're no better."

He chuckles. "Yet here you are."

"The other option was death, and you took it away."

"We can always bring it back."

I laugh. "Nice try. We both know you're too lonely to dare."

Maven pauses. "Perhaps." He wavers. "You would've won, if I tossed you in the arena." Softness. "Even without your powers, you'd have found a way."

For a moment, I almost kiss him. Let myself believe the old Maven has returned, that the desk is the wooden boards of a ship, the papers crashing waves. I won't lose you , he promised. It didn't stop me from losing him.

"You would've been next." I caress his cheek, letting the words sink in at any cost. "Sizzled in the stands, the price of your hubris.

He sighs. "I would've deserved it."

"You still do." I stand upright, seduction be damned. "One day, I'll make sure you know how it feels to burn."

"I don't doubt it." Maven rests his chin in his palm, gazing up at me through long lashes. He knows what he's doing. I know too, and yet I can't help the flutter which roils my stomach. "If I must die, it might as well be by your hand."

"Not sure what's stopping me." My heart pounds as he nestles against my chest. "Nothing but your crown."

"Would you like it?" He curls a hand in my hair. "I can learn to share."

"Your mother won't."

His eyes burn, fists clenched, staring at some point in the distance. "She'll see the allies you've gained, the army you've trained, the web we've woven between ourselves. You'll be more trouble to get rid of than it's worth."

"What if she doesn't?" My fingers snare in his tempest of curls. "Who would you choose?"

"We're not arguing about this."

I sit upright. "Why not?"

"Because it won't happen." Maven brushes me off him. "I won't let it."

"What are you afraid of?" I snarl, barely holding back the need to beat the answer out of him. "You're king, Maven. Your mother is not your master."

"You don't know what she's capable of." There it is again, the tremble, the quake, the hint of something I've never been able to grasp. "I've held her back this long, Mare. She doesn't take disobedience lightly."

"What a tyrant."

"She is. And so am I." He straightens. "You think I don't know what you're doing? You think I don't know you want the Measures revoked?"

I stumble backwards. "How–"

"Your brother told me." His eyes gleam. "He asked me to keep my hands off you. I told him you've often asked me otherwise."

I almost lunge for his throat, barely restraining myself as I yank his collar. "What are you afraid of, Maven?"

"Nothing. Not even Cal."

"What are you afraid of?"

Something cracks in him, a realization he will not confront. He stays silent, and I come to a realization of my own.

I squint. "It's Elara, isn't it? That she'll hurt you, hurt me, just to maintain any control she can."

In school, we learned of the gods before us. But we learned of monsters too, of serpents and women with snakes for hair, who turned all who looked upon them to stone. What must it have been, to gaze upon a face so frozen in horror?

He shakes his head. "You don't know what you're talking about."

I arch a brow. "You don't deny it."

"Mother hurts everyone, Mare. It's her nature." Maven edges towards the door, but my foot lands atop his. "But it's always for the best. And she's family, Mare."

"You murdered your father!"

"Correction: Cal murdered my father."

"You're a coward, Maven. At least I don't hide that I'm afraid." I grip his arm, snarling. "You hold our lives in our hands. Have the decency to not lie to yourself."

He gazes outside, at the servants panicking in the courtyard. "Mare . . . "

Before I can fire back, a door creaks open, a servant whispering in his ear as a grin spreads across his face. He turns to me. "Let's pick this up later. We have bigger plans now." Maven grips my hands, nearly jumping in his joy. "Evangeline just dug her own grave."