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“Perfect. See you at seven.” I flash her a smile and then shut the door.
More guilt pricks at me for being so short with a girl who has nothing to do with any of this, but I can’t bring myself to find politeness in this moment.
As soon as the door shuts, sealing me in, my mind conjures the image of Juniper dead in the leaves in the backyard.
Her body was broken beyond repair.
Her life, lost, for us.
For fucking nothing.
A victim to thugs and monsters.
Because of me.
Tears blur my eyes. Forgetting the alcohol, I pull out my phone, intending to call Niamh, and find the screen cracked and dark. No amount of pressing the power button revives it. Loneliness slams into me then.
With my back against the door, I slide down until I’m sitting on the floor. My grief and pain squeeze my heart, and I pull my knees up, pressing my forehead to them as the tears begin to fall.
Losing my parents was the worst pain I’d ever felt. Until now. My parents’ death was a horrible accident, but Juniper’s is my fault. If not for me, she’d be here now. And I wouldn’t be locked in this damned castle, a world apart from my home.
Sniffling, I lift my head and bang it lightly against the door. Through the blur of tears, I see a bedroom nicer than any I’ve been in before. The bed is huge with four posts, each with beautifully intricate designs carved into the wood. The mattress is made up with a ridiculous number of pillows and a plush comforter I could sink into.
On the left, glass doors overlook the night sky. On the right is a cozy sitting area set before a fireplace and, beyond that, a doorway that leads into what I glimpse to be a gleaming bathroom.
It's disgusting, being here, draped in luxury and comfort when Juniper is gone.
I have no idea how long I sit like this. Tears fall then dry then fall again.
I grieve for Juniper, for my parents, for Kendall—for me.
I cry until my shoulders and ribs ache from the effort and my insides are hollowed out, empty of everything, including a future that is anything less than bleak and lonely.
Maybe it’s no less than I deserve. Not only did I fail to protect Kendall and Juniper from danger, but I’ve just sealed my fate as a target of the Crimson Roses forever. Even bringing them Legion won’t work. After leaving so many of them dead today, the Crimson Roses will never accept someone else’s death as a replacement for mine. Killing Legion will not earn me and Kendall our freedom. In fact, I’m not sure there’s anything I can do to survive this threat.
Stay here and hide. I can practically hear Legion saying the words, and my muscles tense with frustration. This is what he wanted all along. To get me here to his world—to his home—and never let me go.
He’s just won, and he thinks the prize is me. Fuck that. I intend to ruin his victory if it’s the last thing I do.
Chapter 12
Legion
Kendall is pleasant company at dinner, but I cannot ignore Tori’s absence. If not for her younger sister—and my strained sense of decorum—I would have stormed her room the moment she’d failed to appear. Her insult won’t go unpunished. But Kendall’s been through a lot today, and I can see the grief she’s battling.
Despite her loss, she attempts conversation with me, and I do my best to offer answers. Her manners are, at least, better than her sister’s.
“How long have you lived here?” she asks while Chaya serves the soup, quiet as a mouse.
“Four thousand years,” I say.
She nearly spits out her drink but manages to keep it down. “Seriously?”
I nearly smile. “Is that shocking?”
“I mean, it’s a long time.”
“Are you trying to say I’m old?”
