Read Iron Crowned for Free Online

his arms over his chest. He needed no coat and simply wore a burgundy T-shirt. “You seemed to have it all under control.”
    “We were about to,” I retorted.
    “Actually, mistress,” said Volusian, deadpan, “your death was probably imminent.”
    “Oh shut up,” I snapped. “You’re dismissed. Go back to the Otherworld.” Volusian vanished.
    I turned back to Kiyo. “What are you doing out here anyway?”
    He shrugged, and I worked hard to ignore the effect his physical appearance always had on me. “Same thing as you. I’m on Wil’s mailing list. When I heard about the Bigfoot sightings …”
    I sighed and turned back the way we’d come. “I don’t need your help.”
    “I wasn’t coming to help you.” He caught up with me easily. “I was coming to kill a demon bear. You just happened to be here first.”
    Considering the trouble Volusian and I had had, I doubted Kiyo could have taken out the demon through brute force. Kiyo was strong, yeah, but hardly all-powerful. Unfortunately, he was all-bravery. He rushed into impossible situations, ready to defend others—even at cost to himself. He’d always been reckless that way—except for once.
    And that was the core of our problems.
    Kiyo and I used to date, wrapped in a deeply romantic and physical relationship. His continual disapproval of my Otherworldly relations had begun to fracture things between us. The final break had occurred after Leith had raped me. Kiyo had come to rescue me but had refused to punish Leith. Kiyo had advised a tamer course of action: letting Otherworldly justice take its course. Dorian, however, had opted for on-the-spot justice: he’d run Leith through with a sword. Kiyo and I had broken up shortly after that.
    “You were outclassed,” I told Kiyo. “There are abillion other creatures running loose right now. If you want to help, go after them.”
    “Ah, yes. I forgot,” he said. “Tucson’s former caretaker is too busy playing queen.”
    I came to a halt and glared. “I’m not playing at anything! Controlling the Thorn Land wasn’t my choice, and you know it.”
    “That’s true. It was Dorian’s choice—one he tricked you into. Yet, somehow that doesn’t matter, and now it’s okay for you to shack up with him and wage war.”
    I started moving again, marching through the woods in a haze of anger. When we’d broken up, Kiyo had been sad and withdrawn. Over time, he’d gotten his spunk back and now—whenever we ran into each other—didn’t hesitate to express his opinion of Dorian, the war, or anything else Otherworldly I was involved in.
    “The war wasn’t my choice either,” I said at last, after refusing to respond for several minutes.
    “Stopping it wasn’t exactly out of your control either.”
    “So what are you saying? That I should just stop now and surrender?”
    “No.” His calmness was annoying. “But there must be a peaceful way to end it. To negotiate something.”
    “Don’t you think we’ve tried?” I exclaimed. “How bloodthirsty do you think I am? Every diplomat we send is either given unreasonable demands or met with death threats.”
    “I like the use of ‘we.’ I wonder how seriously Dorian is taking the peace process.”
    I could see the parking lot through the trees ahead. Good. I needed to be away from Kiyo. His presence was stifling. It stirred up too many feelings, too many feelings I didn’t want to deal with.
    “Dorian isn’t running this by himself. We’re in it together, and
we
have tried to settle with Katrice.”
    “And as that’s failed, you’re now going to march in with your allies and take her land with overwhelming force, expanding your empire.”
    We reached the gravel lot, and I turned on Kiyo in full anger, hands on my hips. “We don’t have any allies. And I don’t want another kingdom! I sure as hell don’t want an empire!”
    He shrugged. “Say whatever you want, but everyone knows you’re looking for people to join up with