Arik laughed under his breath.
It was not a pleasant sound.
The woman against the wall watched him through Amara's clear blue eyes while gold slowly brightened in his own, sovereign ether bleeding into the irises until they seemed lit from somewhere beneath the skin.
Felix had always been a piece of work.
That was perhaps the most generous description Arik could manage.
"You know what I find fascinating?" Arik asked.
The smile on Amara's mouth remained.
"I imagine you are going to tell me."
"You could have had everything."
That disturbed the expression, although only slightly.
Arik loosened his grip around her throat enough to let her breathe normally, but he did not step away.
"You wanted Goliath."
Felix's borrowed eyes narrowed.
"You wanted his attention, his power, his body, his name beside yours. You could have become his mate and had more authority than almost anyone in the empire simply because he would have trusted you."
"You make that sound easy."
