Saven Defiance (The Saven Series Book 4) (46 page)

The king quickly recovers, and a look of incredulous amazement washes over him. Standing tall, he clears his throat. When he speaks, his voice is thick with emotion. “Are you … are you saying that you’re
my
son? That I’m your father?”

“Yes. I’m your son. A fact King Adjani took great delight in telling me before I ended him.” His eyes burn darkly.

Logan gasps, his emotions skittering all over the place as he steps toward his half-brother. “Dante, I’m—”

“Shut up and sit down.” He rams his hands into Logan’s chest. “At least my treatment at his hands my entire life makes sense now. No wonder you were the
precious
one.” An ugly sneer spreads over his face.

“Son.” King Coryn reaches out a hand for Dante.

Dante pushes him. Hard. Weakened, he stumbles back, falling to the ground on his butt. Dante looms over him. “Don’t. Call. Me. That. Just because you contributed to my birth does not make you my father.”

The king climbs awkwardly to his feet. “I’d like to earn that right. It isn’t too late to build a relationship.” His eyes glisten with hope, and my heart aches for him.

Dante snorts. “I’ve managed without a father this far. I think I’ll survive.”

“It doesn’t have to be like this.” The king snaps his gaze to Dante again. His pleading eyes beseech his son to listen. “You could come back with me to Narik and take your place as my rightful heir. You don’t have to continue on this path. You have other choices now.”

Dante barks out a laugh. “Nice try, old man.”

“It’s no trick, Dante. My word is my honor. Family means everything to me.”

Dante cocks his head to the side, lost in thought. “Why?”

“You’re my own flesh and blood; mine and Tayla’s.” He slaps a hand over his chest, and haunting emotion swirls in his eyes. “
You’re
precious to
me
. I thought I’d lost everything, but now I’ve been given another chance.
We
have. She never told me you were mine. If I’d known, I would never have left you with him. Especially considering he was in the know. His treatment of you was deplorable, and I’m sorry you had to endure that. But if you let me, I can make it up to you. I want the opportunity to love you like a father should love a son. Please, let me do that for you.” His earnest eyes drill into Dante.

Dante stands rigidly still. A look of heartfelt confusion washes over him. Everyone else holds their breaths. Dante stares at King Coryn, looking like a lost little boy. Logan’s emotions filter through the line, and he’s willing Dante to concede. To open his heart and let love in.

Observing Dante closely, I spot the moment he shuts down. The second he dismisses a different future. Bands of invisible steel cage his heart as he snaps his thunderous gaze to the king.

“Love.” He spits out the word like it’s poison. “Love is for the foolish. The weak. For cowards. I’ve seen what it does. How incapacitating it is. How much it corrupts and manipulates. Love destroys lives. You say you loved my mother? Well, what good was that to any of us? Your love ruined her life and mine. If my mother had conceived me with King Adjani—as she was duty-bound to—then everything would be different. I would be the rightful Saven heir, and my upbringing would’ve been vastly different. But it was awful. Because of you and your filthy, dirty love!” He roars that last part and I flinch. The king looks pained.

Dante starts pacing the room again, mind ticking furiously. “You must pay.” His eyes flick to the king first before darting to me and Logan and finally resting on Ax. “All of you. I’m going to take back control of the palace and the Royal Guard, and then I’ll stage a public display to show my people how destructive love is. Show them that to risk love means risking your life.”

He turns to Officer Vero. “Take them. All of them. Proceed to the tunnels.”

“Dante—” King Coryn is silenced by a firm fist in the face. Blood shoots out of his mouth, flying through the air before landing in tiny splatters on the floor.

“I’ve heard everything I need to hear from you. Shut up. Or you’ll become even more acquainted with my fists,” Dante threatens.

“You’re making a mistake.” Logan attempts to reason with him as Officer Vero harshly binds his wrists behind his back. “Please reconsider.”

“Fuck you.” Dante smashes his fist into Logan’s face, and I scream as his head jerks back painfully. He turns his fury on me. “Unless you want to be next, I suggest you shut the hell up.”

Logan’s pleas skim through our connection, and I quell my murderous thoughts.

Only because he’s asked.

And only for now.

My initial observations about the old tunnel network were pretty much spot on. It’s creepy as all hell down here. Visibility is poor which I consider an advantage. I know how horrific this place would look showcased in radiant light. Droplets of water drip from the ceiling, creating a steady rhythm of splashes and splotches, as they join the small stream flowing underneath our feet while we walk. Rust-colored walls have a decorative mold overlay that seems to reach out and infect every part of me as we pass. I shiver profusely.

Officer Vero takes turns prodding us forward. Logan shoots concerned sideways glances at me every so often. Ax flanks me on the other side. His gaze is firmly focused ahead, and I can’t read his emotions. Dante walks up ahead with Advisor Mellor, heads pressed close together, plotting and planning, no doubt.

Guards affixed blocking bands to Rylan, Logan, Haydn, Neve, and me, but Dante doesn’t know that Logan and I have Eterno bonded and can still silently communicate. We pass ideas back and forth, but there is no clear-cut escape from this latest dilemma. We can only hope that the loyalty Logan has garnered in the last few days will withstand Dante’s imminent attack. But we don’t know exactly what he has planned, and that’s the troublesome part.

Sensing a slight distortion of the frigid air behind me, I freeze. Clicking sounds echo in the vacuous space, and every hair on my body stands to attention. A low masculine chuckle rings out as Dante’s guards whip around, splashing noisily in the water as they reach for their weapons.

But they’re too late.

A line of soldiers, dressed in the Tor national colors, aim guns at us, spearing everyone’s forehead with a small, blue, digital dot. A man and woman step to the front and Ax curses.

Rhys chuckles again as he fiddles with the comport on his wrist. Lifting his chin, he scans the crew in front of him with an amused grin. He’s every bit as stunning as the first time I met him, when Griselda hauled me before the High Council and allowed her much younger lover to tag along.

Pity he’s so ugly on the inside.

Ax had previously explained how his mother bedded his school pal when he was fifteen and he’s been a constant at Griselda’s side since. According to Ax, Rhys has Griselda’s confidence, so it’s not surprising that she’d send him to capture us.

The woman beside him looks vaguely familiar. She glares at me, invisible daggers gouging me on all sides. Apprehension trickles down my spine.

“What a mess you’ve gotten yourself into, Axton.” Rhys shakes his head and tut-tuts.

“Doing my mother’s dirty work now?” Ax challenges.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.” He feigns a puzzled expression. “I’ve always been doing the dirty with your mother.” What a juvenile idiot. His simpering smile is purposefully suggestive, and Ax growls.

“What do you want?” Dante asks, prowling toward Rhys. He’s either very brave or incredibly stupid. Or perhaps, just stubbornly arrogant. The thin blue dot follows his every step.

“Give me these three, and no one else will get hurt.” Rhys jerks his head at Ax, me, and Logan.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Dante stands toe to toe in front of him.

“I’m afraid you don’t have much choice.” Rhys winks smugly.

“You might want to reconsider,” Dante gloats, prodding a handheld gun into Rhys’s stomach. “Unless you don’t value your life.”

Rhys smirks, seemingly unalarmed. “Oh, I value it highly. Why else do you think I’ve been whoring with that slut Griselda all these years? Not out of pleasure, I can assure you.”

I look sideways at Ax. His nostrils flare and his fists are clenched within his restraints, but he doesn’t vocalize a response.

Dante cocks his head to the side. “Do enlighten me.”

“You know, Dante, it’s only occurred to me how much we have in common.” Dante arches a brow. “Everything I’ve done is to assure my family line ascends the Supreme Chancellorship position on Torc. It’s time for a change, and our people know it. That idiot will never be our leader.” He shoots a derisory look at Ax. “Griselda is a fool. She has totally fallen under my spell and lowered her defenses. I’ve especially enjoyed hearing all the secrets I’m now privy to.” His superior smile flips my stomach into knots. “You want to take out your competition too, don’t you? I applaud that, genuinely, I do, but I can’t let you have them. Either of them. I need to keep Griselda on side until my father and I have everything ready to usurp her rule.”

“What are you talking about?” Logan interjects. I peek at him, noting the perplexed look on his face.

“Ah. You didn’t tell them.” Rhys still looks remarkably relaxed for a man that has a weapon jabbed into his stomach. The Tor soldiers maintain razor-sharp focus as they keep their weapons trained on us. Fire starts building momentum inside me, my hands flexing as latent power simmers in my veins. “Isn’t this fun?” Rhys deadpans, and I wish I could knock him into next week. He’s really getting on my nerves.

“Will you do the honors or shall I?” he asks Dante, tapping a finger off his chin. Dante snarls and presses the weapon tighter into Rhys’s abdomen. The guard aiming at him moves closer. “Play smart now, Dante, or we’ll all end up dead.” Rhys whips his gaze to Ax. “You never knew your father, right?”

Ax stiffens. Tiny goose bumps lift on my arms.
Why do I have the feeling we’re about to be sidetracked with another bombshell?

“It’s true what they say about a woman scorned, and I’ve got to hand it to your mother, she doesn’t do things by half. I’m sure she’s fed you that old chestnut about wanting revenge on the Saven for what their ancestors did to our people?” He doesn’t wait for any acknowledgment before continuing. “But she couldn’t give a damn about that. It’s totally personal to her. Actually”—he pouts as he considers something—“this is probably more your fault.” He stares pointedly at King Coryn. “You jilted her and she’s never forgiven you, or Queen Tayla. Did you know Griselda orchestrated her death?”

The king sags, and his sad eyes roam to Logan’s.

Rhys continues with his sorry tale. “When you revoked the marriage contract, she plotted her revenge and immediately went about setting it in motion. She wanted to make sure you both paid. According to her, it didn’t take much to entice King Adjani into her bed.” Rhys takes great glee eyeing Logan as he admits this.

“Griselda was the one who told him about the affair. Laid doubts over the parentage of Dante. He refused to believe her at first, but she chipped away at him for years while they conducted their own sordid affair. Eventually, he had the tests done which confirmed Dante wasn’t his. From then on, it didn’t take much encouragement from Griselda for Adjani to decide to end Tayla’s life.”

Jeez. Griselda effectively sealed Logan’s mom’s fate. As if Logan and Ax need any other reason to hate one another.

“Once Tayla was dead, Griselda assumed Adjani would marry her and she would become Saven queen, a position she coveted more than the Torc Supreme Chancellorship. But Adjani was grieving for the only woman he’d ever loved, and he quickly cut Griselda loose. I think it almost destroyed her, you know.”

His gaze flicks to Ax. “She loved Adjani, but he let her down in the worst possible way.” He rubs his hands as a small smile curves his lips. “She was confident he wouldn’t abandon his son, but he wanted nothing to do with you, Axton, insisting that Logan was his only rightful heir.”

“Oh my God.” The words escape my mouth without warning.

“You’re lying,” Logan gasps, shooting an astounded look at me.

“If I’m lying, why does Dante want to kill Axton so badly?”

Dante doesn’t answer, flexing his head from side to side instead. He looks about ready to rip Rhys’s head off his shoulders. Now his actions make sense. Dante used me to try to lure Ax. It was never about killing me. He knew if he took me that Ax would pursue me. That’s why the guards wanted to take Ax and Logan as we were escaping Saven. Dante was trying to ensure there was no one to usurp his claim to the throne.

Ax is remarkably quiet. Logan and I turn to look at him as one. Shock and horror is splayed across his face, along with some other unnamed emotion. I’m quietly relieved. His genuine reaction tells me he didn’t know this.

“Show them Axton,” Rhys demands. “I know you’ve always wondered about it. Now you know the truth.” He inches toward Ax, with Dante still prodding the weapon into his stomach.

Ax looks at me with so much hurt and pain in his eyes. He glances over my head at Logan, and they stare at one another. Holy hell. If what Rhys is saying is actually true, they are half-brothers.