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“Too many.”
I inhaled an unsteady breath as the tears now ran down my face. I couldn’t hold it in anymore. Peter hesitantly stepped forward. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a hug as I sobbed into his shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” he said again.
I pulled back, wiping my eyes with the back sleeves of his jacket. “Thank you for stopping it before it got worse.”
“Don’t thank me,” he admitted. “I should have stopped it before it even began. I am sorry, Scotlind.”
“Well, I would have appreciated it if you stopped it before I had to take my clothes off. It’s freezing in the halls.” Peter let out a small laugh as he wiped away my remaining tears. “I’m going to bed,” I said softly. “Goodnight, Peter.”
“Goodnight, Scotlind.”
When I closed the door behind him, I dropped to the ground and cried. The tears didn’t stop as they ran down my face in constant running tracts.
Eventually, when my tears slowed, and my voice was raw, I threw Peter’s jacket across the room as I stormed into the bathing room. I turned on the water and sank into the tub, letting the water soothe and soak into my skin until I was numb. I stayed in the water, hoping it would wash away the nightmare that was tonight, that was the rest of my life.
TWENTY-TWO
SIE
I was goingto murder Alec. I was going to beat the shit out of him and then fucking murder him for what he forced Scottie to do tonight. I had no idea he made up some fucking note for her to meet with me. The way her innocent eyes flared when she took in the party, when she saw Reagan and Amber next to me on the sofa, made me want to vomit. She came to meet with me and instead was humiliated beyond belief.
I agreed to Alec’s stupid party to act like I didn’t care about her. I knew he was on to me, trying to figure out my weakness. Trying to test the waters to see ifshewas my weakness. That’s what tonight was about. To gauge how I would react to him messing with her.
I’d been trying to keep my distance and stay away from her. I’d been trying to not make it public knowledge that I cared for her, that despite my efforts, she got under my skin.
If people knew that, they would use it against me, which would put her in danger. And that fucking prick, Alec, knew exactly what he was doing. He was fucking testing me to see what I would do. No doubt to report right back to his father and whoever else on the High Council wanted me out.
If I had defended Scottie, if I hadn’t played along with his sick game, he would have known I cared for her. Then the whole Goddess-damn Kingdom would know that if they wanted to get to me, they just had to find my rank zero fiancé. It would be so easy for anyone to manipulate me by using her.
And I had to fucking let it happen. I had to watch Scottie do those awful things with pure hatred on her face as she realized I wouldn’t stop it. It killed me on the inside. I thought she would leave right away if she saw me with those girls, but she didn’t.
Maybe it was for the best. If she hated me, she would stay away from me, not tempt me into giving into her. It would be better if she kept her distance from me altogether.
The less we were seen together in public, the better. It would be easier to prove to others that I didn’t care for her if she outwardly hated me.
Scottie was strong. Despite having no Tennebrisian abilities and her petite frame, she made herself into a weapon. It was part of what first intrigued me about her, that she could take down men twice her size by sheer skill and will.
But without abilities, all they had to do was look at her, and she could be controlled, forced to do their bidding, becoming a slave to their mercy. All it would take was one compulsion user, and she would be rendered helpless, especially without that damn necklace around her neck.
And now, because of me, she had to walk the halls half naked with Peter, without wearing the Alluse. Fear overtook my sense of reason as I found myself making my way toward her room. I didn’t care how much she despised me, she had to wear the necklace. If something happened to her because of this… If someone really compelled her tonight, I wouldn’t forgive myself.
I halted outside her door. Her guard, the brown haired male that went to her school, was asleep a few feet down. I stalked over to him and woke him up with a jab to his throat.
He bolted awake, choking and hacking up a lung as he clutched his neck. I grabbed the collar of his uniform and lifted him up to me. He didn’t deserve to wear this uniform. He didn’t deserve to sport the twin pink moons that were engraved on the chest.
His eyes went wide as he beheld me. “If I ever catch you sleeping on the job again, you are done for.” I growled at him. “You are the guardian to my fiancé, and you better start taking this seriously. She snuck out tonight and easily got past you. If this was the other way around, and someone slipped by you and snuck into her room, you won’t be alive to explain yourself. Do you understand?”
He was still grasping his throat, his eyes bulging, bloodshot, and red as he nodded his head furiously.
“Now I am going in there to speak with her. If anyone else tries to enter her room, you do not allow them in. If she ever tries to sneak off again in the middle of the night, you do not allow her to. Got it?” He nodded again.
Satisfied, I dropped my hold on him and grabbed the door handle to enter Scotlind’s room. It was locked. I didn’t bother knocking. She wouldn’t open the door to let me inside anyway, so I teleported inside.
She just walked out of her bathing room, towel drying her hair, wearing a flimsy white nightgown that clung to her body when she spotted me.
The towel fell to the floor by her bare feet as she backed up a step. “What are you doing here?” Her voice was shaky. “Did you not get enough? Are you here to compel me more?”
