Auctioned to the Cruel King - Chapter 87: Chapter 87

Kayla’s POV
How long had she been there?
Had she followed me here, or worse… had she come with him? The last question seemed to answer itself when Cartier’s attention shifted.
“Well, well, well,” he purred. “If it isn’t the vixen herself.”
Vivian didn’t return the smile he offered. Her lips quirked, sure—but it was all teeth and no warmth. She looked past me, her eyes landing on him like a hawk circling something half-dead and twitching.
I took a careful step back, enough to give myself breathing room between Cartier. “How’d you find me?” I asked her. “Were you following me?”
Vivian scoffed like the idea barely amused her. “Please,” she said, but her gaze was still locked on Cartier. “Clever play, though. Going after the Luna.” She tilted her head. “What’s your strategy here? Get her to poison the king’s meal? Or just slip a knife between his ribs when no one’s watching?”
Cartier chuckled, unbothered. “You think me so shallow.” His eyes practically licked her from head to toe when he added, “You’re looking beautiful as ever, by the way, even on this cursed night.”
I just watched even as the tension in my shoulders eased a little.
Vivian rolled her eyes. “Oh, stop with the flattery.”
“Why not,” he murmured, “but I wonder if it’s me, or just the aesthetic of the night that’s making you glow like this.”
“Enough,” she snapped. “What are you doing here, Cartier? What do you want with her?”
His eyes flicked to me, thoughtful now. “Just a friendly chat,” he said easily. “After all, she’s officially part of the family now, isn’t she? And I never got a chance to extend my best wishes.”
My hands clenched at my sides.
Family my ass. He’d bat no eyes if he were given an opportunity to kill Lance and take the throne for himself.
“No espousal held,” Cartier continued. “Tell me, did my invitation get lost in the mountain of others, or am I simply too low on the food chain to be included in royal affairs?”
My brows pulled.
Vivian snorted. “You didn’t get an invite because none has been held. Certain… situations got in the way.”
“Oh? Do tell. What kind of situations?”
It was clear Vivian wasn't liking this either, but she said, “Let’s see, a few unexpected attacks. And then there was my situation…” She glanced sideways. “Though you already know that, don’t you?”
Cartier’s expression didn’t shift. “Do I?”
“Of course you do,” she snorted, and like an afterthought said, “Let me refresh your memory. What were their names again? Monty, I think, and Eve. Oh, poor Eve. Barely out of her puppy years and now she’ll have to either be banished or sent to the stone men. Or worse—rot in the dungeons.”
Cartier's smile twitched, barely.
Then vanished.
A frown carved into his face. His jaw ticked. “What have you done?” he asked, voice low.
“Me?” Vivian placed a hand on her chest. “Nothing. But the king? Who knows. Maybe once I leave here, I’ll mention your little network to him. And whatever happens next?” Her gaze glinted. “That’ll be up to him.”
“Don’t.”
I could only stare between them, wondering who Monty and Eve were to him and what Vivian was up to.
“Don’t what? Tell the king that you’ve got people in the palace pretending to be something they’re not?” She jerked her chin towards me. “That you’re sneaking around to meet with the Luna in the dead of night?”
Was she… protecting me?
Cartier dropped his stare to the ground, silent for a beat.
Then, he laughed.
It made me nearly take a step back. That laugh, there was nothing more evil than it. Even Cleo’s laugh didn't grate this much on my senses.
Vivian’s brows lifted.
“What’s so funny?”
Cartier’s eyes glinted as he looked at us. Then, slowly, his gaze settled on me, his smile twisting into something colder, something pleased, like he’d expected no less and everything was going according to his plan.
“Oh, look at your face,” he said, like he was admiring something painted in horror.
Vivian didn’t blink. “I still don’t get the joke.”
Cartier’s brows lifted. “You will now.”
He raised his voice. “Destiny.”
I barely had time to brace before the man behind him obeyed. With an unbothered calm, Destiny reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a flare. My breath caught as he raised it, aimed it toward the sky, and—
Pft.
A soft, sharp burst of red.
No explosion. Just a flare streaking into the dark.
“What was that?” I breathed.
Vivian took a step forward. “Why’d you do that?”
Cartier tilted his head at her, expression unchanging. “You underestimate me, Vixen,” he said. “But credit where credit’s due… you did well discovering them. They were some of my best.” He smiled, slow and cruel. “The name suits you, after all.”
Vivian ignored the compliment. “Why did that meat sack just fire a flare?”
“By my count,” Cartier mused, eyes half-lidded, “we have—what? Five minutes? Maybe less. Before the guards start pouring in here like ants.” He rolled his shoulders with a pleased sigh. “Of course… by the time they get to where they’re actually needed, it’ll already be done.”
I stiffened.
Noise began to stir in the distance.
“Wait.” My voice was sharp now. “What was the signal for?”
Cartier turned his smile on me, and I immediately regretted asking.
“I gave them an order,” he said smoothly. “Simple and direct. Kill as many as you can… but never get taken alive.”
My stomach plummeted.
“You—” I began, but he held up a finger.
“Shh. Listen closely,” he whispered.
I did.
And then, faintly—so faint it might’ve been my imagination—I heard it.
A scream.
Then another.
A cold chill spread through me like wildfire licking bone.
Cartier closed his eyes for a breath, a strange peace descending over his features. “Ah,” he murmured. “The gurgle of blood and steel. You don’t realize how much you miss it until it returns.”
Vivian’s face had hardened into stone. “Why are you doing this?”
He opened his eyes again and turned toward her.
“You know why.”
“No.” She took a step forward, fists clenched. “No, this isn’t strategy anymore. This is—madness.”
Cartier sighed, unbothered. “It’s unfortunate,” he said, voice flat, “that you had to botch my plans. But I accounted for you.” His gaze shifted between us, the way a wolf looks between two deer. “When you go running back to him, make sure you tell him what happened here. Not that he won’t already know. He’s always been a clever bastard.”
Then he turned, already dismissing us.
Destiny followed without a word.
But I stepped into their path. I don’t know what made me do it. My heart was a wrecking drum in my ribs. My mind screamed that this was suicide, that this man was not a puzzle to solve, he was a fire I didn’t want to walk into.
Still, I planted my feet.
“Why?” I asked again, louder now. “Tell me why you’re really doing this.”
He stopped.
“Lance is the one who sits on the throne. If this is about power—then why kill innocent people?”
His expression didn’t change. Not even a flicker of remorse. “Who’s going to stop me?” he asked softly.
Fuck, I wanted to punch him in the face.
“Answer me.”
He looked past me, as though I were a leaf fluttering on the wind—annoying, temporary, nothing he couldn’t crush. Then his head tilted slightly.
“Vivian,” he said. “Why don’t you tell her?”
Vivian didn’t move for a second.
Her face turned to him, disgust twisting her mouth. “You’ve fallen so far,” she said quietly. “Where’s the boy who used to chase me around the grounds?”
Cartier’s lips pulled back in something like a grimace. “He died.”
Her expression didn’t soften. If anything, it hardened.
“Move, Kayla,” she said.
I blinked at her. “What?”
“We can’t stop him.”
I didn’t move.
“No,” I whispered.
Vivian’s voice sharpened. “Both of us together couldn’t delay him a full minute, let alone stop him. Move, unless you plan on dying.”
The words were a slap.
My wolf bristled behind my ribs, snarling. But I knew she was right. And the way Cartier watched me confirmed he wouldn't mind shedding any blood, so long as it led to his victory.
I stepped back.
“Take care of yourself for me, Luna.” And then he was gone.