The Blood King

Chapter 15

Cassian

The room is silent. I look over to the bed where Neytiri now lays. She's asleep. Of course, she is. No one can withstand my hedon. Not even her. One of the legendary Ikniri. The last one. The one that slipped through my grasp yet has been spared.

I know that in the end she will only get in my way. The influence of her people is lost on her. She is her own person now and from the way she reacts to the life around her she will not agree with my plans. Which is why I can only hope that by the time the truth comes back to her she will have enough feeling in her heart for me to step aside.

I don't want to have to kill her. But I will if it comes down to it.

The door to the far side of the room pushes open and I don't have to look up to see who it is. Hynden. Her kingdom was the last stop. I've barely spoken to her since my arrival and her agreement to stand by me when the time comes.

"Never thought I'd see one alive... after that day anyway," she says. I look up at her. She's watching Neytiri with a cautious expression. Her curly blonde hair falls to her shoulders. In the past I would have wanted nothing more than to run my fingers through those golden tresses. But that was in the past.

"There was a time when you wouldn't have wasted a second to slice her throat," she says. I hear the bitterness in her tone but keep my eyes trained on Neytiri. Her eyes are closed, and her skin is taking on the fire's warm glow. She's beautiful. I knew she would be.

"Yes, well I already killed her race. By the time I came across her I had bigger things to deal with than killing a child," I say.

"That didn't stop you before," she quips back. I feel irritation bubbling under my skin as I turn to her.

"Like I said. I had bigger things to deal with," I say. Her eyes widen and I see the fear behind them before she drops her gaze.

"My apologies," she murmurs. I turn away from her looking back at Neytiri' s sleeping form. Never has something put me at such peace before. Hynden takes a seat next to me.

"You killed the king of your kingdom," she says. I shrug.

"He wasn't fit to be a king. They're all going to die in the end anyway," I say. She laughs softly, but there's no humor in it.

"But I thought the plan was t-"

"I know what the plan was. I made the plan, Hynden."

I whip my gaze to face her.

"Why are you here," I ask. I see the hurt in her gaze from my words, but she says nothing. She only looks to Neytiri.

"You care for her, don't you?" she asks. Her gaze meets mine.

"You once looked at me like that," she adds. "How can you care for the offspring of the very creatures that took our families away from us?" she asks.

I shrug. It's a fucked-up situation. Her people killed my family. But I personally killed her people. Our fates seem to be connected in more ways than one.

"What are you going to do if she turns on you, Cassian?" she asks. I shake my head standing.

"She won't," I say. I look at the symbol engraved on her face. My mark. I look back at Hynden.

"And if she does, I will kill her," I say. Hynden stares at me with a mixture of fear and horror. She stands, never breaking eye contact as she makes her way to me. She gently places her palm against my cheek, her gaze boring into mine. She seems to be searching my eyes for something, and I notice the frown on her lips when she can't find it.