Auctioned to the Cruel King - Chapter 84: Chapter 84
You are reading Auctioned to the Cruel King, Chapter 84: Chapter 84. Read more chapters of Auctioned to the Cruel King.
Kayla’s POV
The air out on the balcony was warmer than I expected.
Vivian stood a bit away, leaning against the railing, her hair catching the lantern light. The woods were the only view from her, and I tried not to question her decision to bring me here.
“So,” she said, voice light.
Lacking that bit.
I turned to her slowly, brows lifting.
She’d asked to talk and dragged me out here like there was something she needed that she couldn’t wait. And now she just said so?
I stared at her. “So what?”
She huffed a small, bitter laugh, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek. “Everyone keeps asking me what I want these days.”
She didn’t look at me when she said it.
I followed her gaze instead—to the edge of the woods, where the black tips of the trees bled into the horizon. Little insects flitted beneath the lanterns overhead, swarming the light like tiny curses with wings.
“Yeah,” I said, “because with you… no one ever knows what to expect.”
I didn’t say it with malice. Just the truth.
Vivian snorted, something in her expression easing. “Lance always knows what to expect from me.”
I rolled my eyes. “Please don’t start.”
That earned me a smirk. One of her sharper ones.
“Relax. I’m not here to fight.” She shifted her weight, then glanced sideways at me. “I just wanted to ask… what kind of relationship did you have with Landon?”
“Stop with your tests,” I said. “You know.”
Vivian shook her head, slow and deliberate. “It’s what I don’t know that I want you to tell me.”
My mouth parted, but she said instead, “That… radical idea of yours,” she paused. “Using your unborn child as bait? That isn’t something I ever thought I’d see from you. I thought you were some meek little Luna. Soft-spoken. Easily broken.”
“Yeah?” I said, tilting my head. “But now I steadily gain your approval. Is that it?”
She didn’t reply at once.
I stepped toward her, no fear in my bones.
“I never needed it,” I added.
Because it was true. All of it. From the moment Moira called me to my senses, after I’d made Lance lay bare his history for me, I’d stopped caring about Vivian’s role here or that she wanted my mate. I had learned to live with the fact that none of us was each other's first.
So no.
Vivian leaned forward slightly. Her eyes sparkled—not warmly. More like the shimmer of a dagger just before it sank into skin.
“Oh yes, you do,” she insisted. “Better to have me as a friend than an enemy. Because if you ever were to disappear…” Her smile curved slowly. “Pieces of you would be the first thing they’d find. An ear. A finger. Maybe an eyeball, if I’m feeling generous.”
I tried to regulate my breathing.
Vivian kept going.
“By the time anyone realized what had happened, months would’ve passed. Enough time for me to burn through every thread that might lead back to me. By then, the earth would’ve swallowed your bones and sighed.”
The wind moved then.
Or maybe it was just something in me that shifted.
I stared at Vivian…like watching a wolf circle and knowing it had teeth but also knowing it wouldn’t bite—at least not yet.
I wasn’t scared of her. Nervous, maybe, but that wasn’t the same. I’d known from the beginning that Vivian was dangerous. No part of me had ever doubted that.
Moira had said it once… that Vivian might never step too far out of line because Lance kept her tethered—because crossing him would be suicide. But in time, I’d come to learn something on my own.
Vivian had two modes: threat or truth. And right now, her eyes held no blade. There was no hunger behind them.
Right now, she wasn’t threatening me.
She was revealing herself, testing me, maybe.
“There’s no denying what you’re capable of,” I said slowly, resting my right hand on the banister. “But that still didn’t make me need your approval.”
She stared at me, then giggled.
Actually giggled.
“You’ve really changed,” she said, her voice lighter than I’d ever heard it. “Anyway, let’s get back to my original question. What was your relationship with Landon?”
I blinked. Again with that question.
But then she added, “Or better yet—in one word, how would you describe his behavior?”
My brows lifted. “Behavior? I don’t know what you mean.”
Vivian arched a brow, like I had just disappointed her. I didn’t take the bait.
But after a moment, I sighed. “I assume the King told you,” I said, because it was clear since none of them had asked the question or had been confused like I was, “that Landon didn’t act alone. That he couldn’t have taken out Alpha Kane without help from the inside.”
She nodded slowly, and I watched her fold her arms while shifting to lean better on the stone.
“In that case, what’s your interest in taking him down?” I asked. “As far as I know, Landon never did anything to you.”
Not that I remembered, anyway.
Her lips curved. Not into a smile—more like a grim line, amused by something sharp and outlandish. “Be satisfied with this,” she said. “We’ve crossed paths before, and it wasn’t pleasurable. He owes me.”
That didn’t exactly answer anything, but I didn’t push. Something told me I wouldn’t get more if I did.
“In your own words,” she prompted softly.
I hesitated.
I hadn’t thought of Landon in singular adjectives before. There were too many to choose from, and none of them ever felt quite right. But now, when I forced myself to strip back the anger, the betrayal, the grief… what was left?
“Petty,” I said finally.
Vivian’s brow lifted.
“When he’s pushed to a corner,” I added, “he’s full of surprises. And not the good kind.”
She made a soft sound in her throat—somewhere between a hum and a hmm. “Interesting. That’s good.” She tapped her nails against the balcony rail. “But you’re still confident he’ll accept the invite?”
Her tone kind of threw me for a moment.
I met her gaze. “I guarantee it,” I said. “Especially after hearing about my pregnancy. He’ll come.”
Vivian’s eyes held mine for a second longer than I expected before she nodded. “Okay then. That’s all.”
“That’s all?” I echoed, brow raised.
Because when I looked back on the conversation, when I tried to trace the arc of it from start to finish, I couldn’t quite pin down what the point had been. It hadn’t been an interrogation—not entirely. But it wasn’t exactly a confession, either.
“Do you miss me already?” she called over her shoulder, not looking back.
I rolled my eyes. “You wish.”
She laughed again, then turned on her heel.
The air out on the balcony was warmer than I expected.
Vivian stood a bit away, leaning against the railing, her hair catching the lantern light. The woods were the only view from her, and I tried not to question her decision to bring me here.
“So,” she said, voice light.
Lacking that bit.
I turned to her slowly, brows lifting.
She’d asked to talk and dragged me out here like there was something she needed that she couldn’t wait. And now she just said so?
I stared at her. “So what?”
She huffed a small, bitter laugh, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek. “Everyone keeps asking me what I want these days.”
She didn’t look at me when she said it.
I followed her gaze instead—to the edge of the woods, where the black tips of the trees bled into the horizon. Little insects flitted beneath the lanterns overhead, swarming the light like tiny curses with wings.
“Yeah,” I said, “because with you… no one ever knows what to expect.”
I didn’t say it with malice. Just the truth.
Vivian snorted, something in her expression easing. “Lance always knows what to expect from me.”
I rolled my eyes. “Please don’t start.”
That earned me a smirk. One of her sharper ones.
“Relax. I’m not here to fight.” She shifted her weight, then glanced sideways at me. “I just wanted to ask… what kind of relationship did you have with Landon?”
“Stop with your tests,” I said. “You know.”
Vivian shook her head, slow and deliberate. “It’s what I don’t know that I want you to tell me.”
My mouth parted, but she said instead, “That… radical idea of yours,” she paused. “Using your unborn child as bait? That isn’t something I ever thought I’d see from you. I thought you were some meek little Luna. Soft-spoken. Easily broken.”
“Yeah?” I said, tilting my head. “But now I steadily gain your approval. Is that it?”
She didn’t reply at once.
I stepped toward her, no fear in my bones.
“I never needed it,” I added.
Because it was true. All of it. From the moment Moira called me to my senses, after I’d made Lance lay bare his history for me, I’d stopped caring about Vivian’s role here or that she wanted my mate. I had learned to live with the fact that none of us was each other's first.
So no.
Vivian leaned forward slightly. Her eyes sparkled—not warmly. More like the shimmer of a dagger just before it sank into skin.
“Oh yes, you do,” she insisted. “Better to have me as a friend than an enemy. Because if you ever were to disappear…” Her smile curved slowly. “Pieces of you would be the first thing they’d find. An ear. A finger. Maybe an eyeball, if I’m feeling generous.”
I tried to regulate my breathing.
Vivian kept going.
“By the time anyone realized what had happened, months would’ve passed. Enough time for me to burn through every thread that might lead back to me. By then, the earth would’ve swallowed your bones and sighed.”
The wind moved then.
Or maybe it was just something in me that shifted.
I stared at Vivian…like watching a wolf circle and knowing it had teeth but also knowing it wouldn’t bite—at least not yet.
I wasn’t scared of her. Nervous, maybe, but that wasn’t the same. I’d known from the beginning that Vivian was dangerous. No part of me had ever doubted that.
Moira had said it once… that Vivian might never step too far out of line because Lance kept her tethered—because crossing him would be suicide. But in time, I’d come to learn something on my own.
Vivian had two modes: threat or truth. And right now, her eyes held no blade. There was no hunger behind them.
Right now, she wasn’t threatening me.
She was revealing herself, testing me, maybe.
“There’s no denying what you’re capable of,” I said slowly, resting my right hand on the banister. “But that still didn’t make me need your approval.”
She stared at me, then giggled.
Actually giggled.
“You’ve really changed,” she said, her voice lighter than I’d ever heard it. “Anyway, let’s get back to my original question. What was your relationship with Landon?”
I blinked. Again with that question.
But then she added, “Or better yet—in one word, how would you describe his behavior?”
My brows lifted. “Behavior? I don’t know what you mean.”
Vivian arched a brow, like I had just disappointed her. I didn’t take the bait.
But after a moment, I sighed. “I assume the King told you,” I said, because it was clear since none of them had asked the question or had been confused like I was, “that Landon didn’t act alone. That he couldn’t have taken out Alpha Kane without help from the inside.”
She nodded slowly, and I watched her fold her arms while shifting to lean better on the stone.
“In that case, what’s your interest in taking him down?” I asked. “As far as I know, Landon never did anything to you.”
Not that I remembered, anyway.
Her lips curved. Not into a smile—more like a grim line, amused by something sharp and outlandish. “Be satisfied with this,” she said. “We’ve crossed paths before, and it wasn’t pleasurable. He owes me.”
That didn’t exactly answer anything, but I didn’t push. Something told me I wouldn’t get more if I did.
“In your own words,” she prompted softly.
I hesitated.
I hadn’t thought of Landon in singular adjectives before. There were too many to choose from, and none of them ever felt quite right. But now, when I forced myself to strip back the anger, the betrayal, the grief… what was left?
“Petty,” I said finally.
Vivian’s brow lifted.
“When he’s pushed to a corner,” I added, “he’s full of surprises. And not the good kind.”
She made a soft sound in her throat—somewhere between a hum and a hmm. “Interesting. That’s good.” She tapped her nails against the balcony rail. “But you’re still confident he’ll accept the invite?”
Her tone kind of threw me for a moment.
I met her gaze. “I guarantee it,” I said. “Especially after hearing about my pregnancy. He’ll come.”
Vivian’s eyes held mine for a second longer than I expected before she nodded. “Okay then. That’s all.”
“That’s all?” I echoed, brow raised.
Because when I looked back on the conversation, when I tried to trace the arc of it from start to finish, I couldn’t quite pin down what the point had been. It hadn’t been an interrogation—not entirely. But it wasn’t exactly a confession, either.
“Do you miss me already?” she called over her shoulder, not looking back.
I rolled my eyes. “You wish.”
She laughed again, then turned on her heel.
End of Auctioned to the Cruel King Chapter 84. Continue reading Chapter 85 or return to Auctioned to the Cruel King book page.