Their Fireheart

Chapter Twenty Four

Aelin

The next day dawned bright and hot, the hours passing far too quickly - even as I bore the wrath of my remaining mates. None of them were happy with my actions, but Azriel was annoyingly smug all day, far too pleased with himself for having been the one to 'punish' me.

I could barely refrain from rolling my eyes at his antics. If last night was any indication, the so-called 'consequences of my actions' were more likely to be an incentive for me to keep scheming, not to stop. Concoct secret plans and then get fucked within an inch of my life?

Yes, please.

The silly male didn't seem to grasp that just because I could be submissive in the bedroom, it didn't mean I would ever be submissive in real life.

He'd learn, though. They all would.

Unfortunately, my amusement was short-lived, the day passing in the blink of an eye. Before I knew it, I stood naked in the bathroom, staring at the small bottle that sat on the edge of the bath. The almond-scented oil taunted me, the amber liquid flashing under the rays of afternoon light - like the eyes of a snake before it struck.

My arms felt weighed down, heavy. I didn't want to touch the poisonous thing.

I knew exactly what Arobynn wanted, why he wanted me to rub the luxurious oil into every inch of my skin. To be forced to think of him as I massaged it into my breasts, my thighs, my neck. To be reminded of him with every inhale as it permeated the air around me. To have to cover my mating marks with his chosen scent - not that he knew about that.

No, he didn't know I was mated. But he did know that four Fae males had come to stay with me, and he knew enough to understand that even if our relationship was platonic - which it most assuredly was not - they wouldn't take kindly to another's scent encroaching into their space.

And that they might take issue with this blatant claim of ownership.

Part of me wondered if Arobynn would still dare to be so bold if he knew the true nature of our relationship. Then again, he'd probably just try to get rid of them for taking something he saw as his.

Just like Sam.

I had to clench my eyes shut against the sudden barrage of memories, bracing my hand against the wall as the ground swayed beneath my feet.

No.

No.

I wouldn't let that bastard get to me. Not now, not when I was about to visit the Keep for the first time since I had been faced with Sam's mutilated body. Not when I'd promised myself, promised Sam, that our old master would never have a hold over me - never again.

So I steeled myself. Opened my eyes.

Reached for the oil.

And visualized every brutal and bloody way Arobynn would pay for his many, many debts as I rubbed his scent into my skin.

By the time I emerged, the males were talking quietly in the kitchen, already dressed. They'd gone earlier to fetch the Valg commander, who was now bound, blindfolded and locked in the trunk of the carriage that loitered on the street outside the apartment.

I squared my shoulders before I alerted them to my presence, shaking loose the breath that had become a tight knot in my chest. I wouldn't succumb to my fears, not tonight. No, Arobynn would only get what he'd created - the cold, calm and utterly ruthless Celaena Sardothien.

Adarlan's Assassin.

A creature so heartless, so viscous that I was unaffected even in the face of his vile depravity.