Page 58 of Ruby Red Sky

I was tempted to pinch my own. “Fae is different than fairy. Do you have any magic?”

He scoffed. “I can tear a demon from limb to limb before he stops breathing.”

Zaynan probably had no idea he might be able to control inorganic solids such as minerals, molding them to his desire. No clue that he could have other mysterious and potentially threatening capabilities. Living in the Third Realm would have heavily muted any abilities like those.

Some vampires could control organic matter such as plants, and some even the weather. If Zaynan was part Fae, his potential abilities would be rather interesting. The amount of power simmering in his veins could be formidable.

The Third didn’t cater to or support such talents to much of a degree, so it was fully possible he was ignorant. As much as I checked, I couldn’t find any deception lingering around him.

The irony of putting him in a steel cage wasn’t lost to me. If he freed himself without assistance, I would know there was no containing him.

He started struggling the second he noticed the banks of prison cells. “You’re not putting me in there,” he snarled, digging his nails into my forearms.

As much as he struggled, I managed to get one of the doors open. He gripped both sides of the entrance, screaming at me, cursing and threatening. None of his fuss would change the outcome.

I didn’t have the time to manage a rabid Fae-infected vampire, nor the desire.

“Why are you doing this?” He asked.

Finally, I lifted my leg and sent my boot square into the center of his back, and he flew inside, falling on his knees before rolling and hopping back up. The door slammed shut, locking him inside.

He gripped the bars of his new home. “Why? Why are you doing this?”

Cassia had asked me a similar question once, and I hesitated before answering. “Your behavior is unbecoming.”

As I strode away, I heard him yelling, “Mine? What about you? You just locked me in here after telling me my mom’s the Queen here.” I kept going. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

His voice faded as I progressed through the corridor.

There was only one thing I could do now, something I should have done several weeks ago.

It was time to make Cassia mine in every way.

* * *

“Get out.” I pointed at Katarina. “Now.”

The slave hopped up from the sofa where she and Cassia were sitting, looking at tubes of paint. “Bye, I’ll see you later,” she said to my bride. She dipped her head toward me and scurried away.

“Why are you in such a mood?” Cassia stood up and tugged the edge of her skirt where it caught on the couch cushion.

The last time I spoke to her, she’d been screaming at me. “Bad day at the office.”

Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline. “You just made another joke.”

“My job isn’t a joke,” I replied, and moved farther into the room. “But yes, I did.”

She shifted her feet and crossed her arms, gazing at the floor. “You’re funny when you want to be.”

Cassia was supposed to be my refuge but instead she’d been my storm. My body craved the comfort of being close to her, the moments when she wasn’t teetering on the edge, ready to fight me at every turn, and just let herself be.

There was only one way to solve that.

“You shouldn’t have hurt Kiam. Where is he?”

Did she miss him? A pang of jealousy shot through my heart. “He shouldn’t have touched you.”

“You’re supposed to be my boyfriend, aren’t you? Or my fiancé, whatever.”