The Reborn Sovereign of Ruin, Bound by His Star

Marin left the room ten minutes later, carrying the tablet, three locked scan copies, and the expression of a man who intended to keep analyzing Liam’s ether channels even if someone forced him into bed, under threat, with better tea.

Liam suspected Marin would sleep with the data open beside him.

Or perhaps above him, projected over the ceiling like a deeply cursed bedtime story.

Outside, night had already settled over the diplomatic palace. The windows had turned dark and reflective, catching the dim gold of the lamps, the blurred outline of security moving beyond the curtains, and the faint image of Liam himself sitting too quietly in a room that had suddenly become larger than it had been that morning.

Truthfully, he did not know how to feel about it.

That was the most problematic part.

Arik had told him Felix was suspicious. Arik had mentioned poison. Liam had believed him in the general way one believed Felix was poisonous because he was Felix, because some people carried rot so naturally that calling it a metaphor felt too generous.

He had not expected it to be literal.

Amara and Kamal were victims.

And Liam, apparently, had been one too.

The thought still did not fit properly.

Felix had touched Amara’s life, Kamal’s lungs, and Liam’s channels. He had reached toward the Ether Core in Agaron. He had hidden things under Canmore Manor. He had let physicians write trash with seals. He had struck Liam’s face and left not only bruising but also residue.

So now, freshly showered, wrapped in a bathrobe, with a cup of cocoa cooling in his hands while he sat in Arik’s lap, Liam’s mind spun through the new data with increasingly unpleasant speed.

It was also being incredibly unhelpful by drifting toward every other piece of information Arik had known before saying it aloud.

What else had Arik found?

What else had he arranged?

What else had he not said because he was waiting for Liam to come to the edge of it himself?

And the most dangerous question of them all: What was Arik truly hiding?

Behind him, Arik shifted to adjust Liam more securely between his legs, one arm settling around his waist while the other guided Liam’s shoulder back until his head rested against Arik’s chest. Arik was warm in the way that alphas often are, and his scent had settled into the room like sun-heated stone after rain, calm and steady enough to be unpleasant. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Your brain will catch fire," Arik said at last.

Liam stared into his cocoa. "It is processing."

"It is attacking itself."

"That is also processing."

"No."

"You say no too often."

"You give me many opportunities."

Liam made a small, unhappy sound and leaned more of his weight back despite himself.

Arik’s arm tightened on his waist, his nose now buried in Liam’s freshly dried hair.

For a while, Liam said nothing.

Then the thought that had been circling since Marin left finally found teeth.

"Arik?"

"Hmm?"

"Does it mean Rex and the others are in danger too?"

Arik did not answer immediately.

That was never good.

Liam lifted his head just enough to look at him. "That pause is medically concerning."

"It is politically concerning."

"Worse."

"Yes."

Arik’s golden eyes were calm, but Liam had learned by now that calm did not mean harmless. With Arik, calm was often the surface of something held down by discipline and bloodline, as well as the type of training that prepared a future emperor to turn rage into administration.

"Potentially," Arik said. "Not certainly."

Liam’s fingers tightened around the cup. "That is a Marin answer."

Arik chuckled, but there was no real amusement in it. "You may say so. The main point is that we had no proof until your scan that Felix’s poison was still active after all these years."

He paused, and Liam felt the pause travel through him before the words came.

"Felix did a lot of cruel things when he was young," Arik said. "Some of them may be returning to get revenge."

Liam looked down at his cooling cocoa. "Are you going to elaborate?"

"Not yet."

"That is a terrible answer."

"I know."

"It sounds like the kind of answer people give before something explodes."

"With Felix, that is often the safest assumption."

Liam turned his head enough to look at him. Arik’s face was calm in the dim light, all golden eyes and controlled mouth, his dark hair still neat despite the hour and the day and the number of times Liam had watched his composure get tested by Marin, Mezos, medical scans, and Liam’s own entirely reasonable desire to disassemble classified imperial technology.

That calm bothered him more than visible anger would have.

Visible anger was easier to read.

This calm felt like a locked room.

"Is this about the secret Alexander mentioned?" Liam asked.

Arik’s breathing went still.

Liam did not feel triumphant. He should have. Usually, catching someone in a pause gave him a clean little satisfaction, the private pleasure of proving his mind had found the gap before anyone tried to cover it.

This time, it only made his stomach tighten.

Arik exhaled slowly, the warmth of it brushing Liam’s hair. "Partly."

"Partly," Liam repeated. "Excellent. My favorite kind of horrifying answer."

"It is not a danger to you."

"That is not the same as saying it is not dangerous to you."

Arik did not answer.

Liam closed his eyes and let his head fall back against Arik’s chest with a small, bitter laugh. "Wonderful."

"Liam."

"No. Let me appreciate the architecture of this disaster. Felix may have poisoned me as a child. Felix may still be contaminating people around him through contact, ether, or pheromones. Rex and my family may be at risk. Amara and Kamal are already victims. Canmore Manor may contain both Gate plans and medical supply records. Marin has decided my body is not broken but possibly obstructed by old poison or some other elegant violation. And now you have a secret that is not dangerous to me but is dangerous to you."

Arik’s mouth brushed lightly against the side of his head. "That was a very competent summary."

"I hate you."

"No, you do not."

Liam opened his eyes again and stared at the window. In the reflection, he could see the shape of them: Arik sitting behind him, large and steady, one arm around his waist; Liam curled against him in a bathrobe like a convalescent noblewoman in a scandalous romance illustration, except the romance had too much poisoning and too many covert operations.

His cocoa had gone lukewarm.

That felt symbolic and irritating.

"Tell me one thing," Liam said.

Arik’s hand moved slowly over his waist. "Ask."

"If Rex is in danger, why is he still moving freely around Felix’s circle?"

"Because as our intelligence gathered, Felix wants to use Rex to kill George so Ray can take the throne."

"Right. I forgot that my family is a shitshow."