Chapter 12: Loyal Allies

Erebus's body was inches from mine, and he pressed a hand on the wall on either side of my head. The room was too dark to see anything, but I could feel his breath on my cheek.

I knew he could see me, though. I knew he was tracking every emotion that flickered across my face. And he was furious.

The truth might be my only way out of this situation alive.

"Fine," I admitted. "Rafiq told me I couldn't trust you. He said he would meet me out here at midnight, and that he could help me."

"Help you?"

"That's what he said." Erebus backed away and ran a hand through his hair. "Were those the rest of your brothers with him?" I asked.

He took a long breath before mumbling, "Yeah. Yeah, it was."

"What do you think they were doing? Why would all of them try to meet with me alone in an empty room?"

"I don't know, dammit!" Erebus said, temper clearly unraveling. He clenched his fists as he paced back and forth in the dark room. "If you would have just stayed by my side like I ordered you to do, we wouldn't be in this situation. You knowingly put yourself in danger, Eve!"

"Excuse me? Like you ordered me?"

"You are my wife, Genevieve Antonelli. If I tell you to do something, it's an order."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I pushed myself off the wall, heart pounding in my chest.

"If you think I'm just another one of your stupid human wives who will let you boss them around, you're wrong. And I'm sorry your family is messed up and your brothers are clearly not very supportive, but grow up. It's not my fault someone wants me dead. You seem to care enough about me to not kill me yourself, which somehow doesn't make me feel any better. We've all got issues, Erebus. Don't think for a second you can boss me around and treat me like trash just because I'm not a werewolf."

My voice had grown to a yell, but I didn't back away.

Erebus took a step closer. "Then let me get one thing straight, wife. You think I care about you? That's cute. I don't care about you. I don't care about your past, and I certainly don't care about your future." He spoke in a way that shook my bones.

It was pure power. Pure anger.

"But someone wants you dead. That creates a few problems for me, and the main problem is that someone close to me has been betraying me. I'm going to find out who that is, which will be impossible if you walk away from me and get yourself killed before I find out who it is! So, when I order you to stay by my side, you stay by my side next time. Got it?"

I clenched my jaw. How stupid was I to think Erebus was actually an honorable man who wanted to keep his wife safe? Who wanted to uphold his vows. Dammit, Eve. Of course he didn't care about me. I was human.

I was nothing but a temporary toy to the werewolves.

In this case, I was nothing but a tool for Erebus's master plan.

I had to remember what my goal was. My kingdom would go into war and I won't clear my mother's name. If I fail, that would be the end of me. I was here for a reason, and I had to survive. If that meant going along with whatever plan Erebus had, then so be it.

Even if it absolutely killed me to admit it.

"Fine," I said after a few seconds. "I'm sorry I left you. It won't happen again."

He considered my words for a moment, and I could feel him examining my face in the darkness. I shivered.

"No," he growled. "It won't happen again."

Before I could protest, he grabbed my wrist and walked out of the room, dragging me behind him.

Except he didn't take us back to the ballroom.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

His steps were fast and aggressive. I had to jog so I wouldn't fall straight on my face.

As we snaked through the cascading hallways of the castle, it dawned on me where Erebus was going to take me.

It was his wedding night. Our wedding night. He was taking me to his bedroom.

The pit that formed in my stomach was confirmation enough. I had expected this. From the moment I decided to marry the werewolf prince to protect our empire, and recover what's mine. I expected this moment. Prepared for it mentally.

But Erebus was pissed. That wasn't exactly helping my nerves.

He didn't say anything else. Just continued dragging me through the castle in silence.

When we rounded the last corner, we weren't alone in the hallway. I rolled my shoulders back and lifted my chin as Erebus approached the guard that stood in front of what I assumed to be his bedroom door.

I had seen that guard before, I thought to myself. His dark skin contrasted with the white stone walls. He was tall, but still had a comforting posture. He turned to us as we approached, and his face came into view. He was the guard that took me from my home.

Dimitrius.

"My lord," Dimitrius greeted Erebus as we approached. He gave me a small nod of acknowledgment before returning his attention to Erebus. "I believe congratulations are now in order," he chirped.

I half expected Erebus to yell, but he just clasped Dimitrius on the shoulder and laughed, finally letting go of my wrist.

"If you even think about it, I'll kill you," Erebus joked. The two of them laughed, and I found myself surprised that the Prince of Darkness interacted with anyone this way. It was intimate and personal, they had clearly been friends for quite some time. "You're lucky you get to miss stupid parties like that."

I rolled my eyes behind him. Of course he would describe the biggest and worst day of my life as a stupid party.

But I was merely a human. My life was expendable to him.

"Something wrong?" Dimitrius asked, calling me out. I supposed my annoyance wasn't as subtle as I expected it to be.

"Nothing's wrong," I replied, but the words somehow added to the fuel of my anger. Erebus turned to face me, eyebrows arched.

"Being dragged out of my house before dawn this morning only to have my entire life ruined by a stupid party full of people who may or may not want to kill me is exactly how I imagined this day. Thanks for asking, Dimitrius."

He didn't respond. Just gave Erebus a glance that said good luck with that.

"My wife has had quite a day," Erebus said. "But I have a feeling the night is far from over. Are you on guard all night?"

Dimitrius checked that the hallways were empty before answering, "So far, yes. I had to bribe Kazeem to switch posts with me, though. He was pretty hesitant, I guess your father has everyone on pretty strict orders tonight."

Erebus sighed and tilted his head back, eyes closed. "I wish I could say that was surprising," he said.

"You think the King has something to do with this?" Dimitrius whispered.

Erebus clenched his jaw then moved to open the bedroom door. "Let's talk in here," he said. Dimitrius nodded, and the three of us entered Erebus's bedroom.

I did my best to appear relaxed and confident, but as soon as I walked through the door, I was amazed. What was I expecting? Skulls and black everything? Yes.

Erebus's room was spectacular. The ceiling was nearly transparent, similar to the ceiling in the ballroom. Greenery and vines twisted their way around the dark stone of the walls, and a large, four-post bed with black, silk sheets anchored in the center of the room. A bathroom in the back of the room consisted of a waterfall-like structure, the greenery and stones mimicking nature almost to perfection.

Dimitrius and Erebus were oblivious to my reaction, which saved me a decent amount of embarrassment. They walked into the room as I lingered by the door.

"My father was insistent on me trusting everyone at the party. He practically told me not to worry about Eve's safety," Erebus said.

"So, you think he wants Eve's safety to be compromised? Maybe he's just a prick and didn't want his ego to take a hit by you not trusting his guards."

"Maybe, but I also found my brothers looking for Eve in the hallway earlier. Rafiq wanted to meet with her alone."

"What?" Dimitrius asked, spinning to look at me. "Why? What did he want?"

I lifted my hands in defeat. If I knew, I wouldn't have gone to meet him like an idiot.

"You can't trust them," Dimitrius warned me. He looked between Erebus and me. "You told her she can't trust them, right?"

"That seems to be a common warning around here," I mumbled.

"You don't think they have anything to do with the murders, do you?"

"I don't know. I can't be sure about anything anymore."

Dimitrius nodded. "I'll be on guard all night. I'll let you know if I run into any problems."

"Thanks, Dim," Erebus replied. "This is going to be a long night. Nobody's laying a hand on her."

"Agreed," Dimitrius said. An unsaid agreement crossed between them. I could tell Dimitrius meant it. He was loyal to Erebus. I might not have trusted a single soul in the castle, but Dimitrius trusted Erebus, and Dimitrius might have been the only person that Erebus actually trusted.

Either way, I knew Dimitrius would do his best to keep his word. Even if I wasn't sure I could trust Erebus yet.

Dimitrius moved to open the door but paused and looked at me. "By the way, you make a beautiful bride Eve," he said.

Heat rushed to my face, but he was already out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Leaving Erebus and I alone in his bedroom.