I lift my chin in defiance. "And why, in all hells, would I help you?"
King Lucien doesn't sigh. He doesn't pinch the bridge of his nose. He laughs with a delighted clap, like I've performed a trick just for his entertainment. "There it is. The bite. I was beginning to wonder if you'd grown dull."
My grip on the books tightens until the leather creaks. "If I do this, I risk fracturing my own mind. Seeing things that could scar me for the rest of my life. And for what? Because you're King? Because you expect the world to bow and bleed just because you exist? Because you'll boil me alive in a cauldron of oil and feed my guts to me?"
He runs his tongue over his fangs and nods in agreement. "Yes."
A chuckle curls low in my stomach. "You won't kill me. You won't kill my mother, either. She's the leash you keep around my neck. You need me. If you want me to tear my sanity apart for you, give me a reason."
