Page 100 of The Serpent Prince

“Imani, do not believe what he tells you,” Kiran shouted. “Whatever you do, do not—” He was panicking. She could see it in his expression, in his taut muscles. In the way he stammered. She had never seen him afraid before.

Whatever conversation was going to happen between her and the death angel, it had spooked Kiran. He was losing control. Imani didn’t know how to react to it, or to Mateus. But she knew she needed to stay a while longer for answers she’d been waiting for, for a long time.

“I’d like us to be honest with each other,” Mateus stated while still staring up at the statues of the Saints.

“Agreed,” Imani said, her eyes on the death angel’s face.

Imani withheld a smile as she finally dared to look at Kiran, who grabbed at his hair and paced outside the barrier, wand out, appearing to grow more insane by the second.

“Show me your brands.”

Imani didn’t hesitate. She bared them all, heartmate marks included.

“No glamour. These are real?”

“We promised to be honest with each other.”

“Oh, His Highness did well for himself. It’s more than his black heart deserves,” he murmured seductively, pointing to the heartmate brands. “We won’t know for certain right away, but you have all the markers. These are exactly as your grandmother described.”

Imani’s mouth gaped. “Have you …? Have you met my grandmother down here?”

“I knew her before her unfortunate demise. But no, I have not spoken to her since then.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. Imani didn’t think the souls she consumed had made it to the Under, but she could have been wrong, especially after overhearing Zadie’s conversation with Kiran. Especially after her episode when passing through the slip. Maybe they were free after all.

“Unlike the prince over there, hiding in plain sight, she and your father kept you well hidden from the world, and for good reason. I can feel your powerful magic from here, and that anger coursing through your veins is deadly. It seems Ara created quite the little monster.”

Imani scoffed. “My grandmother created nothing. And even if she did, it was by mistake, given how much she loathed me for killing her heartmate.”

“She and your father don’t make mistakes. They find solutions to maneuver themselves to be in the best position possible, especially since the realms are in crisis. Unfortunately, you’re a pawn in a much larger, more complicated world than you know.”

Imani didn’t think he was talking about her adoptive father.

CHAPTER 36

“You think I don’t know when I’m being used?” Imani asked the death angel standing before her.

They both turned to glance at the prince.

“Yes, I can imagine your choice of lovers has caused you problems. And yet, you come here willingly with him.”

“Your use of the word ‘willingly’ has a loose definition in this instance,” she lied, and the male smirked as if Imani was delusional.

Those dark eyes searched Imani’s before he exhaled. Turning, he tilted his head at Kiran, who continued growling the low, angry warning of violence as he watched them. Mateus smiled. “My, my, I greatly unsettle your heartmate with my proximity to you.”

She laughed darkly. “That bastard isn’t anything to me.” Imani turned to see an increasingly unhinged Kiran prowling around the barrier, throwing spells at it. She kept a side-eye on him, knowing he was the more insane of the two.

He might also be more powerful. More deadly.

Besides herself.

She reached out with her shadows to test the barrier the death angel had made. It held firm and unforgiving, but Kiran was attacking it relentlessly.

The death angel slid his attention to Kiran. “My magic won’t last long against the prince. It’s unfortunate that someone like him—so volatile—was given such miraculous gifts. But while His Highness is terrifying and powerful, I do not yield to him, and I have questions for you.”

“Who do you yield to then?” Imani asked.

“The Wardens of the Night.”