Page 5 of Crimson Mate
“Talia,” the king says my name, and I turn to look at him over my shoulder. “I’d appreciate it if you’d stay here with us. You might have more information we’ll need.”
I internally cringe, not wanting to stay close to Zachariah for another minute, but I can’t say no to the king. “Of course, your Highness.”
“Good. Zachariah can show you to one of our spare rooms.” He cocks his head. “Ashcroft,” he says my surname, almost like an afterthought. “Does that mean you’re from theNottinghamAshcroft line?”
I stiffen at the noble title, my heart clenching. “I used to be.”
CHAPTER 3
Zachariah
“Corbin. Thorne,” I say once I reach the pair near the residence entryway. “Take Warwick and gather any information you can on the bodies we left behind.” I take Corbin's phone, typing out the location of the cave in Lycan territory and hand it back to him. “And then burn them.”
The pair of rookie assassins nod, but Saint comes around the corner, barely glancing up at me before saying, “I'll supervise.”
He's already out the door before Corbin and Thorne have even moved, making me wonder what has him aching to get out.
I give the rookies a nod, and they take off.
Panic still clings to my senses, my every instinct alerting me to the fact that Talia is still standing behind me. Not from any need to be near me, but because my kingaskedher to stay.
“I’ll show you to a room,” I say as I turn to face her, my knees almost buckling at the sight of her. Now that the initial shock has worn off, I can't help but notice how exceptionally gorgeous she is. She looks the same as she did centuries ago, yet hardened in a way that makes her absolutely lethal. And it's not just the huntress outfit, but the iciness in her lilac eyes.
If looks could kill, I’d be dead on the floor right now.
“I can find you one in the palace,” I continue, remembering she'd been raised with all the privilege and status that nobility affords?—
“I left that all behind me centuries ago,” she cuts me off. Her eyes flit to the door where Thorne and Corbin disappeared, a battle raging there as if she might disobey her king’s wishes and make a break for it.
“Then you can stay here in the residence,” I say, leading her away from the doors and toward my own quarters.
By some miracle, she follows.
“This room next to mine has been empty since we arrived,” I explain, stopping in front of the room and opening the door. “All the assassins and hunters live under one roof here.”
She snorts out a laugh. “That makes all of you a huge target,” she says, shaking her head. “I never like to stay in one place too long.”
Silence surrounds us, heavy and thick and suffocating.
She lingers outside the door I opened for her, barely giving the room a second glance.
“I can't believe you're still alive,” I finally blurt. “When I woke up, I reached out to Gunther and Noah. Neither one of them knew you were alive. They told me you had died in the sixteen hundreds.”
The news broke me.
I never let my brothers see. The mission of finding Samuel and bringing him to justice is what kept me together. Once I finished that mission, I was prepared to go to the ground again in an attempt to outrun the weight of losing her all over again.
It’s one thing to think she was living and thriving somewhere, but to have heard she died?
And yet, here she was, living and breathing right in front of me.
“That Taliadiddie in the sixteen hundreds,” she says, her voice breaking. “I can't do this with you. We don't belong to each other anymore...” Her voice trails off and it’s the tears lining her eyes that counter all her cold, emotionless words.
“This says otherwise,” I say, reaching for her wrist and flipping it over?—
My mark...
My mating mark that grazed her skin...