54: Ada's POV

For the next few days, I did not see anyone other than Gwyn. She brought my meals, helped me dress, and brought me books from the library for my studies. For someone who usually gossiped openly with me, she was fairly silent. Though, that may have been because of my own generally shit mood. I was sure it was written all over my face how unhappy I was. Nik had been working on the wall for two days in the tunnel and had managed to make the runes work, but then he and Phoenix were both called away for a threat somewhere in the Kingdom. Darius had not come to see me.

I'd spent my time focusing on reading about the history of royal mating bonds and trying to close the shared bond that existed between Darius, Nik, Phoenix and I. I'd practiced by entirely closing the bond between Darius and I, which I knew had worked because he had clearly fucked Elizabeth several time in the last three days-- but I'd felt it less than the third. With each passing day, I was able to block out more feeling coming down that bond. I was almost there. Soon, Nik and Phoenix would be able to be with me freely and Darius would never know.

A knock on my door jolted me out of the book I was reading that was titled *Multiple Mates? No Problem!* The door opened slowly, revealing all three princes. All were dressed formally-- Darius in his usual navy suit, Nik in his black and Phoenix in his earthy green. I hated how handsome Darius looked leading the three of them in the room, how my body responded to just the sight of them. How visions danced before my eyes of me pinned beneath them, being ravaged by all three of them like I had been by two of them. Nik arched an eyebrow at me, a delicious smirk dancing on his lips. Phoenix grinned at me, his boyish charm still making my heart leap into my throat.

Darius' nostrils flared, his jaw ticking as he looked at me. I worked to keep my expression flat, my gaze cold. He flinched, clearing his throat, "Get up. Get dressed."

I closed the book in my lap with a smack, glancing down at my sweat pants and t-shirt, "I'm guessing you mean into something more formal, *your majesty?*"

Was that my voice that was holding that much venom and hatred inside of it? Darius sucked in a sharp breath, grape-hyacinth eyes glowing. Without a response from him, I stood from the couch and sauntered over to the wardrobe. I began leafing through the dress options. I knew what this was for-- our meeting with Fane Rosu, which apparently Darius had been looped in on. As much as I wanted to dress for that though, so much of me wanted to dress to wreck Darius. To make him regret what he's done to us.

Nik's voice echoed in my mind, *Wear something that will devastate this asshole, dove. Please.*

My hand wrapped around the first option that came to mind and I turned to Nik with a small smile, "I'll be out soon."

It only took me three minutes to get changed into the dress, contain my hair in a thick braid that hung over my shoulder and don spiky black heels. I stepped out of the bathroom, the cool breeze touching a vast majority of my skin. The dress I'd chosen was navy blue with black lace and was very minimal in coverage. It had a flap of aterial that connected to the halter that laced around my neck and was just large enough to cover my breasts. The material dipped into the center, running a black lace strip down the center of my stomach where it connected to the skirt. The skirt was simply two pieces of thin Navy chiffon held up my a belt. One was folded down the back and one the front, leaving the sides of my legs and ass out for the world to see. The chiffon was thin enough that under certain lights, you could see the entirety of the black thong I was in. The same chiffon covered my breasts, chafing roughly against my uncovered nipples.

Darius eyes were fixated on my hard nipples and the breasts that he could make out the shapes of through the thin fabric. My entire back was exposed thanks to the halter neckline, which also made the top dip down over my breasts and provided a hefty bit of cleavage. Phoenix whistled lightly while Darius' eyes darkened and raked over my body. I cursed the heat that rushed between my legs under his stare. Nik chuckled darkly, biting his lower lip as he looked at me.

Those same visions of the three of them owning me made my heart flutter.

But it was Darius' voice, gruff but tighter than it had been, that broke me from those fantasies, "Fane is already here. Once we are done with him," his eyes scoured over my body, "I'll escort you back to your room. Alone."

I almost countered with *Where's the fun in that?* but chose to focus on the task at hand as the four of us made our way down the hall. Darius led the way, with Nik and Phoenix taking up the space on either side of me. Their hands occasionally brushed against an exposed piece of my skin, the sideways glances they sent me full of heat and desire. I did my best to focus on Darius' back, trying not to moan as Phoenix's finger pinched the nipple of my right breast. Liquid heat coursed between my legs, my eyelids heavy with desire.

We walked through a set of iron doors and stepped out into the royal gardens. Whatever feelings I'd had as we walked through the hall disappeared. The garden was silent, still. No birds were chirping, no butterflies flitted passed. Hell, I was fairly certain that even the worms in the earth had stopped moving. Emerging from the edge of the gardens, escorted by Alpha King Everett and Lady Elizabeth Jane, was my Uncle Finn-- Fane Rosu, the great Vampire King.