Luc sat in his gilded study. He glared at the mosaic hanging on the wall opposite him, a semblance of the last king, Dominic the 12th, in glittering reds and blues.

“Why’d you do this to me, Nic?” he asked it. “Why’d you leave me here with this disaster you called a son?”

He waited. No answer was forthcoming from the decorated mouth of the late king.

“I was supposed to be regent. I was supposed to keep this kingdom together for you. I was supposed to make sure nothing like this ever happened.” He slammed his fists down on the desk. “These idiot people had to have your snake-charmer of a son for king. Never mind his ignorance. Never mind his youth. Never mind your express wishes that he should wait until he came of age. And now look what he’s done, Nic.”

He’d done all he could do. He thought he’d killed the stupid girl. But she was alive somehow, and Dom had lost his mind over her.

“I know you remember what happened the last time.”

He tried not to imagine the bloodshed the Eltana had wreaked on Dom’s inane ancestor, the one who’d eventually lost his human queen—and half his people— to the Eltana’s fury. History did have a way of repeating itself, and he’d already seem those results once.

Luc grimaced and willed Rin’s pale and bloodied image away. He’d had more than his fair share of their goddess’s wrath.

And now Eli was caught up in it all.

Eli, his pride and joy, his upright and honest son, was lying to him. He’d suspected something as soon as he’d seen Eli backtrack to the palace one evening after training. He’d overheard Dom’s bribe, had seen the image of Eli’s blues burn bright in his son’s mind. He couldn’t fault Eli for wanting them back, and doggone it, Dom had intended to make the process of getting them back painfully slow.

Luc had wanted to end it right then and there. But he also wanted Eli to make things right. He wanted his son to do the honorable thing and refuse to help Dom reverse all Luc had done to keep the Tognir safe.

But Dom’s ambition knew no bounds anymore. He would have what he wanted, Eltana take them all.

And so would Eli, it seemed.

Luc knew what he would have to do. It would take time, patience, and one more stretch of tolerance of Dom’s ignorant fetish for the human girl. But all the pieces were in place.

All he needed were Eli’s blues.

He heaved a sigh.

“If you were here, Nic, you could stop your son. But now it’s up to me.” He looked hard at Nic’s image. “And come what will, I’m going to stop him. For Rin’s sake and for the kingdom’s sake.”