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Her kicks are lethal, hitting me in the head until my vision blurs. I keep my eyes clenched shut, knowing she could really do damage to my eyes. My head already aches as the room slowly spins.
Jen takes advantage, and this feels like the longest thirty seconds of my fucking life. When the bell sounds, I know I can fight back, but I’m stunned. My head swims as she keeps coming at me. My ribs ache, but then somewhere in the back of my mind, I hear Ryland’s voice. “You’re such a good girl, Syn. I love you, Syn.” His words echo in my head over and over as I pry my eyes open and see Jen coming back at me.
I sweep my leg out, and she falls to the ground, giving me a chance to stand. I climb to my feet on wobbly legs before I throw the first punch. I miss. I never fucking miss, but my head is spinning, and I’m off balance. Her fist collides with my face, and I’m knocked back, stumbling a little.
“I love you, Syn.” His words. They keep replaying in my head. The smiles. The ones he used to give me. It all rushes me as I sniffle and move in. I swing, landing one on her cheek, which makes her stumble. I don’t give her time to right herself either. I move in, just as I was trained to do. I don’t bother with kicks, as they’re not needed. I slam my fists into her face, her ribs, and her stomach, knocking the air out of her. Then I hit her with an uppercut, and she goes down. She’s out. She’s unconscious.
I hear her mom cry out, and someone silences her. My eyes shift to Matt’s and he nods his head toward Jen. I’ve never thought about taking a life. I’ve never needed to.
I walk over to her, and my eyes move down to her already swollen face. I straddle her chest and wrap my hands around her neck like Ry does to me, and I squeeze. I’m breathing heavily, and my vision is still blurry. Jen starts to move and fight back. Tears run down my cheeks but I keep my hold on her. The crowd is silent as her legs and arms fall to the sides. Slowly, I release my hold and stumble to my feet. Matt motions to some of the King’s, who rush over and remove her body from the stage.
“Rylan, please return to the altar,” he says. I see Ry stand and walk back over to his place as Matt motions for me to come up next to him. Rylan instantly intertwines our arms, but I don’t know whether he’s happy about this or not.
Matt has us repeat the oath to each other. We pledge to love each other, care for each other, and always have each other’s back. He then passes Rylan the knife. Ry quickly cuts his palm before snatching my hand and doing the same. He seems angry, and maybe he is. Maybe he didn’t want this after all.
Rylan secures our hands together, and I watch as our blood drips into the glass below. When our part is done, we’re dismissed back to the line. Rylan stands there stoically as my world spins around me. I’m still fucked up from the kicks to the head, and it’s still hard to see straight. I can feel myself begin to fall, but Rylan wraps his arm around my waist to keep me upright.
We don’t move. We stay like this until the rest of the Kings have received their queens. When that’s finished Matt asks everyone to rise as we make our way outside. There’s a fire burning with branding irons resting in the fire. I knew I would have to be branded and prepared for it. We’re lined up on either side of the fire as Matt walks around, dripping a few drops of mixed blood onto each iron.
“This is to symbolize your union. Kings, grab the iron in front of you and brand your Queen.” A piece of leather is shoved in my mouth, the front of my dress yanked down, and two sets of hands come to hold my arms back, forcing my chest out. I look up at Rylan and see the look in his eyes. He gets off on this shit. I know he likes what he’s about to do to me.
Rylan inches closer, and then he presses the branding iron into my chest as I see red.
Chapter 25
Rylan
Most of the girls pass out, but not Syn. She’s fucking fighting it. Her teeth are clamped down, biting into the leather in her mouth as the brand burns into her flesh. I pull the iron away and watch her as she pants heavily. The two Kings holding her release her, and she stands tall. The Queens come around, passing the princesses their rightful red cloaks. Syn takes hers and slides it on with pride in her eyes.
Me? I’m not sure how I feel. I wanted to protect her from this. I never wanted her to do this. I know Syn isn’t a killer, but she did it, and she did it for me. There’s a sick part of me that liked watching her do it. My cock got hard when she wrapped her hands around that bitches throat. But the other part of me hated seeing her do it because I knew how that would fuck her up mentally.
The leather is removed from her mouth and they’re told to turn and walk ahead as we do the same. We walk up to a small desk where we sign our marriage certificate. Syn’s hands shake as she signs her name, and then my dad rolls it up and slides it into a tube before passing it to me.
“You did well, Tamsyn,” he tells her, keeping his voice low so the others don’t hear him. She nods once, and we walk away toward my mom. The ceremony is over. People walk around congratulating everyone, but they mostly steer clear of Syn and me, except for my mom. She pulls Syn into her arms, holding her tightly, and whispers something in her ear. Syn nods her head before she releases her and grabs me next.
“You cherish that girl, Rylan. She didn’t have to do what she did, but she did it for you.” I nod my head even though I don’t know if I should strangle the life out of Syn or bend her over and fuck her over the damn fire.
I wait for Levi and Silas as they walk toward us. Silas looks happy as hell he got Angel. Levi got a girl named Becky. She isn’t bad, although I don’t know much about her. When they’re close enough, Angel pulls away from Silas and rushes to Syn. They wrap each other in a hug and stay that way for a long time. I don’t get in the middle, and neither does Silas. Instead, we give them their time.
When they finally pull apart, Syn steps back to my side, and Angel moves to Silas.
“What now?” Levi asks.
“We party,” Silas answers with a smirk. I’m not in the mood to party. I’m not in the mood to do anything because I’m confused. My dad walks over with his arm around my mom and smiles at us.
“We’re canceling the meeting and rescheduling it until next week due to the circumstances tonight,” he says, nodding to Syn.
“So no one is going to tell me what the fuck is going on for another week?” I hiss at him.
“Enjoy your time with your new wife, your Queen, Rylan.”
“I need to know,” I growl at him.
“And you will. She’s going to need some rest,” he says, nodding toward Syn once more. She has cuts and bruises already starting to color her skin. I was pissed she had to lay there and take that shit. I wanted to choke Jen with my own two hands. And when Syn didn’t get up right away? I almost fucking lost it because there was no way in hell I could go on living in a world Syn wasn’t a part of, even if she wasn’t mine.
I watch my mom and dad walk away as the music starts playing. Levi and Becky take off inside while I drag Syn along with me. Silas follows us, and when we step back inside, the stage is gone, and there’s food and drinks set out. Syn pulls away from me and heads for the drinks with Angel.
“I didn’t think she had it in her,” Silas tells me. I scrub my hand over my face.
