House of Kings(25)

“As you wish.”

Danny walks past me, pulling on some sun goggles just before he walks back outside.

“What part of the bayou did you drag him out of?” Danielle asks as she comes to sit on the couch beside Raheem. She stretches her arms out across the back, her legs crossed in front of her.

“Yours?” Raheem questions with an eyebrow cocked.

“Unfortunately,” I say, which earns me a glare.

“Most,” he agrees. Raheem’s feelings for the Bitten are quite clear: they shouldn’t exist. But instead of arguing it out with me, he begins to explain. “Danny is a hunter, of what, I’m not entirely sure. I only observed him for a day, but I could tell he’s a good man. He’ll remain loyal as long as you do what you say.”

“Where’d you find him?” I ask, keeping my voice low, even though it’s pointless. If Danny is within ten yards of the house, he’ll hear us.

“Georgia backwoods,” Raheem says. “I found him the first day. Took a day to explain everything to him—the monarchy, the House system. He knew what he was, had met a few others like him, but didn’t know anything about our system. I think he liked the idea of a family.”

“We’ll give him that if we can trust him,” I say, looking in the direction he left.

The moment grows quiet and I look back at Raheem. He studies me, and it’s so very dangerous.

“Danielle,” I say. “Why don’t you take this time to familiarize yourself with the grounds. There’s a pair of sun goggles by the front door. Take your time.”

“I have to hide from the damn sun now,” she says with disdain. “This is so jacked up.” But she stands, heads to the front door, and out it.

And then, the two of us are left relatively alone.

“How are you?” Raheem asks. He scoots forward, to the edge of the couch. I find myself doing the same on my chair. It’s still too much distance between us.

“Okay,” I answer honestly. “A bit overwhelmed, maybe. But I’m handling it all.”

“What can I do to help?” he asks. Bringing me once again into this fold. Encouraging me to be who I am, and going along for the ride.

A smile cracks on my lips. It feels so amazing, to have this acceptance. The one person in the world who seems me for who I am.

I so very badly want to close that distance between he and I. I want to place my hands on his chest and feel that he is real. That he’s not just a figment of my imagination.

But I can’t. Because it will bring his possible and very likely death if I do. For Cyrus rests just upstairs.

“I need to figure out what to do with Jasmine,” I say instead, because he asked the question. “She’s locked up. Cyrus has commanded her Bitten to ready Elijah’s house for the new House members that are coming. But that’s only going to last so long. We will have to deal with them. Her.”

“The King will not let the Bitten live,” Raheem says. He stands, walking around behind the couch and placing his hands on the back of it.

“I know that,” I say with a nod. “Cyrus has already said so. But…I think what happens with Jasmine needs to be my choice. And I don’t know what I want.”

Raheem studies me, those dark, poignant eyes searching my soul. It’s like he can see clean through me, to the dark parts of me that grow darker by the day. “There are three ways to deal with one’s enemies: death, revenge, and forgiveness. I think you’ve already executed revenge. You’ve taken everything from her. So which do you move onto now? Death? Or forgiveness?”

It really is so stark and simple as that, isn’t it? I either release her and move on from this, or I let Cyrus kill her, or kill her myself.

“I don’t know that I can ever forgive her,” I say, shaking my head. “She killed Ian. She tried to manipulate me. She dug up my mother and had her delivered to my front steps. She’s killed so many people in this town, tried to turn them against me.”

I blink twice, taking in three deep breaths. “But I don’t know if I can kill her, either.”

“Why?” Raheem asks, but his tone is gentle, inviting me to explore the explanation for my answer.

“Because she’s just desperate,” I breathe. And there’s a little voice in the back of my head that feels sorry for her. “She’s just clinging to what she had and what she knows. I don’t know if I blame her for that.”

Raheem walks around the couch once again. He kneels before me and takes one of my hands in his. “And this is one of the many reasons why you are a great ruler, Alivia. You possess both coercion and compassion, and that does not occur often.”