The Umbra King (Vincula Realm Book 1)

The vendor leaned over the counter of his food cart to hand Caius his pizza and cautioned the king not to touch the bottom of the hot box.

Caius tipped his head in thanks and left, the people in the streets making a path as they greeted him politely. He enjoyed venturing into town periodically to see that his people were taken care of.

They were criminals, but they weren’t evil, though some teetered on the edge, almost past the point of redemption. A familiar voice had his steps faltering, and he turned, knowing whom he would find.

Aurora stood with a seamstress from the palace and another man who was looking at her with a mischievous grin. As she laughed, she slapped his shoulder, and he pulled her in to wrap an arm around her.

Caius’ grip on the pizza box tightened and dented the cardboard. He knew the moment she sensed him because her body stiffened, and she glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes flared slightly and flicked to the pizza box in his hands.

The man with his arm around her pulled her attention away, making her laugh again. Caius both relished and resented the sound, and he hated the man pulling it out of her.

They were probably fucking, and he hated that knowledge even more.

By the time Caius arrived back at the palace and sought out Gracie to run an errand, his mood was sour, and it worsened when Nina approached him in the courtyard. Her shirt was tight and low cut to showcase her huge tits, and her skirt was short.

Her tongue ran along her bottom lip before she bit it, and he wanted nothing more than for her to disappear. “I was looking for you,” she purred. “Can we meet tonight?” Her voice lowered so only he could hear. “I want to taste you.”

Aurora with the man in town flashed through his mind, and something red hot burned his chest. Would she be jealous if she saw him with Nina? It was a theory he wanted to test, but he wouldn’t fuck Nina again. She no longer appealed to him.

“Would you like to have dinner with me instead?” he asked with a forced smile.

Her eyes lit up. “Yes!” Had she been any other woman, he would have felt guilty for getting her hopes up, but Nina only wanted what she thought would elevate her status. If Caius lost his place of power tomorrow, Nina wouldn’t give him a second glance. No loss there.

He nodded and motioned for her to follow. Spending time with Nina where they had to converse would be its own kind of torture, but he would do it until they crossed paths with Aurora.

If she was jealous, then despite her trying to seduce him on purpose, she wanted him, and if she wanted him, he would take her.

Nina’s arm wrapped around his, and she wore a smug smile on her face every time they passed the other staff. Normally when he consorted with her, he took the less used halls, but that would defeat the purpose tonight.

“Where are we eating?” Nina asked excitedly. “We could try the pasta restaurant. They have a chicken parmesan plate that is to die for.”

Caius’ arm tightened slightly. “If that’s where you’d like to go.”

They walked through the streets with Nina hanging on his arm like a leech, and the stares they received made his stomach turn. Why was he subjecting himself to this over a woman he didn’t even like?

But then it happened. Aurora was walking toward the palace with one of her friends, and when she saw Caius and Nina approaching, she stopped talking and stared. Her eyes bounced between Caius, Nina, and their linked arms, and her eyes tightened.

Caius let his smugness show, and when he smiled at her, she turned away, grabbed the other woman’s arm, and practically dragged her away. His smile was stretched from ear to ear.

She was jealous.

“Are you listening?” Nina asked impatiently.

He cleared his throat. “Yes, of course.”

Nina glanced over her shoulder at Aurora, and when she turned back around, her eyes were cold. Her face transformed into a bright smile, and he knew she was putting on a show. She was jealous of Aurora, and with good reason.

Nina was nothing to him, but Aurora was something, he just didn’t know what.

“Come, Your Grace. Let’s eat, and then maybe you can come later, too.“ Her other hand caressed the top of his forearm, and he itched to yank it back.

“After we eat, I must retire,” he replied. “What was that dish you were raving about?”

Rory threw open the door to her room as rage consumed her. Today had been fun with Bellina and Asher, but all she could think about was Nina’s wretched claws hanging on to Caius.

How could he return to Nina after their night in the garden? It hadn’t been intimate, purely sexual, but she thought it was the start of their little game.

Nina would ruin everything, just as she ruined everything else in Rory’s life.

Rory stomped to her bed and grabbed a pillow to hurl across the room, but as she reached across her bed, something caught her eye that made her freeze.

Sitting on her bed was a pizza box dented on the sides. Her hands shook as she opened it and found a thick crust cheese pizza. Picking up the box, she sat on the bed in a daze with the pizza on her lap.

It was never Bellina leaving her food—it was Caius.

Setting the pizza down, she stalked to the hallway toward the king’s office. She climbed the bane of her existence, and when she reached the top, she turned around and gave the stairs the finger.

The throne room was another ten-minute walk across the massive palace, and when she finally arrived, she had to stop and take a breath. She practically ran, despite her legs yelling at her not to.

The good thing was the stairs were getting easier, and eventually they wouldn’t bother her. She hoped.

Crossing the room, she climbed quietly up the dais and slipped through the door behind the throne. She assumed he was still strolling through town on his date with Nina. Her plan was to scribble a thank you note and leave it on his desk, but when she stood in front of the door, another idea struck her.

It was the perfect time to search for Cora’s soul. If he was truly her killer, her soul whispered. The more she thought back to the day of her sister’s murder, the more she noticed subtle differences between Caius and Bane. Their faces were the same, but their walk was different. Bane didn’t wear rings, and his suit was light, not black. Then there was the problem of her seeing Caius in color, but not Bane.

She didn’t know if she was fishing for differences because she wanted the king, or if it was because they were different.

She tried the knob, but it was locked, and she reached into the back pocket of her jeans. After discovering the sky room, she started carrying a few pins with her for spontaneous situations like this.

Working the lock until she heard a click, she silently slipped into the dimly lit room and looked around to ensure it was empty. She took a second to admire the room, and as she closed in on his reading nook, his smell filled the air.

Every person has their own smell, but they can’t smell it themselves. Rory always wondered if hers stank or something. No one would tell her if it did, but no one ever told her she smelled good unless she was wearing perfume.

His was a comforting smell, but she couldn’t link it to any certain thing. Her hand reached to touch the chair, but she pulled it back and shook her head. “Get it together,” she scolded herself.

She made quick work of looking for any sign of jars or hiding places. When she got to his desk, she opened various drawers and found nothing but office supplies. It was disappointingly boring.

The long drawer across the middle was locked, and her brows rose. Why would he lock this drawer but not the others? She felt along the underside of the desk for a key, and when she found none, she looked through the drawers again, coming up empty. He must keep it on him.

Grabbing the pins from her back pocket, she unlocked the drawer and slid it open. Rory’s blood ran cold. A folder with her sister’s name on it stared at her, and with shaky hands, she pulled it out and dumped the contents onto his desk.

Inside was the emergency report from Cora’s murder and pictures of her dead body. A sob ripped from Rory’s throat as she stumbled back and covered her mouth. A flood of tears streamed down her face, and she squeezed her eyes shut to banish the pictures from her mind.

How foolish she’d been to think he was innocent. How disgusting that she’d let her hormones take over. He killed his own sister, for aether’s sake. Quickly, she shoved the papers and pictures back into the file and slammed the drawer shut before locking it back.

She looked around the office with newfound determination. Running to the bookshelves, she pulled books to look behind them. When she pulled out a book on a smaller shelf, a button sat against the back of the wood.

She couldn’t move. Whatever this button went to could lead her to her sister’s soul, and as much as she wanted to find the jar to free Cora, the bright pink trapped within the glass would be another reminder that her sister was gone.

She jabbed the button with her finger and yelped as the bookcase slid sideways to reveal a long hallway. Her tentative steps carried her through the door, and when she found another button on the wall, she pushed it and watched the bookshelf slide back in place.

She jogged through the corridor, looking for another door, and when she arrived at a set of stairs, she groaned.

Once she reached the top, she was pouring sweat, and when she pushed open the door, she stepped into the sky room. Her jaw dropped, and she spun around to look at the door. It was another bookshelf.

Pulling out books, she looked for the button to close the door, and when she found it, she watched it close. “I’ll be damned,” she whispered. Her head tilted back to look at the illusion of a setting sun above her.

“Why would this room lead to his office?” she mused. It must be the queen’s chambers, she realized, frowning. “Why wouldn’t his queen share his room?”

Sighing, she crossed the room and slipped through the main door. At least tonight wasn’t a complete bust. She knew, without a doubt, Caius killed her sister.