Page 181 of Savage Throne
It could have been wine, but to me, it washisblood.
I sipped slowly, letting the taste coat my tongue, imagining it was thick, metallic, and hot from the very veins of the monster seated across from me.
My eyes never left his and my father watched me with the kind of intensity that could shatter stone.
There was no love in his eyes.
No warmth.
Only hate—pure and unyielding, a bottomless pit that reflected my own feelings for him.
That gaze was supposed to be a relentless assault meant to unnerve me.
It didn’t.
He’d taught me that same move.
Plus, that gaze fueled the fire burning in my chest—a fire that had been ignited long before this night.
Remember. The more unpredictable I am, the more he loses control of his game.
I shifted slightly and slid my arm behind Moni’s chair in a gesture so casual it might have gone unnoticed—except it didn’t.
My father’s eyes darted to the movement and his jaw tightened.
You should stop looking this way. It’s bad to drool after something you can never have.
I leaned in close, my hand resting lightly on the bare skin of Moni’s shoulder. My thumb brushed a slow, possessive path along her collarbone.
Her breath hitched, just enough for me to notice.
She’s all mine.
The dancers blurred in my periphery.
My father’s jaw clenched. The muscle ticked just beneath his weathered skin.
His hands rested on the table but I knew better. They were weapons, always ready to strike.
And yet, they trembled.
Just slightly, but enough.
Oooo. I really pissed you off. Even better.
Smiling at him, I lowered the glass, setting it back onto the table with care.
His eyes followed the movement and then they flicked, just for a moment, to Moni’s hand resting lightly on her lap.
The ring.
I held in my chuckle.
His fury rose, darkening the very space between us.
Next, he put his gaze on my mother’s ring.
He still hadn’t removed it from the bowl of dumplings. I knew he wouldn’t—not here, not in front of all these people. To touch it, to acknowledge it, would have been an admission of defeat.
