I loosen the strings of my bodice, watching through heavy lashes as his eyes close. While I kiss him, three thoughts weigh heavily in my mind:
Father will not get his heir.
I slip my hand inside my bodice.
Orion is not taking me to his palace.
I grasp the wooden handle, sliding the weapon Kasimir gave me from its sheath.
And most importantly, Orion isn’t putting his fucking hands anywhere near my sisters.
I yank the dagger from my bodice and jab it between his ribs.
Orion gasps. Panic flares in his gaze.
“Y-you bitch,” he wheezes, glancing between the dagger and me. “H-how?”
“Fuck you, Orion,” I hiss, pushing him backwards.
But the prince doesn’t budge. Instead his hands fly up to my neck.
“You think you can just kill me?” he hisses. My head hits the wall as he squeezes. “If I die, you’re coming with me, whore.” Isquirm against his hold, desperate to push the dagger in further, but he’s too strong. Darkness closes in on my vision. I can’t breathe. I?—
Blood hits my face. Orion goes limp, and I collapse to the floor. But before my limbs hit the wood, I’m caught and pulled into a pair of strong and very familiar arms.
“I’ve got you, Ruby.” Kasimir’s nose brushes my ear as he holds me tight.
This can’t be real.Hecan’t be real.
“Am I dead?” I rasp, my heart pounding.
“You’re safe,” he tells me, inhaling against my hair. “I’ve got you, and you’re safe.”
Slowly, I pull away to see Kasimir standing before me. Behind him, Eden trembles beside a sheepish-looking Blossom – and Dahlia, who looks just as murderous as Orion did.
I want to sob in relief, but the thought of the prince makes my heart freeze.
“Orion, he?—”
“He’s dead,” Kasimir says, taking my hand to guide me away from the prince’s slumped body. “You don’t need to fear him any more, Ruby. He’s gone.” Orion’s blood forms a growing puddle on the floor. Kasimir must’ve slit his throat while he was suffocating me. I want to ask him what happened, but my thoughts are a mess.
As if sensing this, he pulls me in for another hug. “You’re in shock, Ruby.” He rubs my back gently. “You did so well using your dagger. I’m so proud of you.”
“Is she alright?” Blossom asks quietly.
I feel Kasimir nod.
“What’s Father going to say about this?” Eden’s panicked voice sounds over the blood rushing in my ears.
“Father won’t find out,” Dahlia snarls. “Kasimir will clean this up for us, won’t you,Scorpion?”
I barely hear him as he groans. “It’ll be a hell of a clean up job, and I give it an hour before the servants start sniffing around and alert the guards. We’ll have to be fast. Unless…”
Carefully, he pries me out of his hold. “Ruby?” He speaks softly. “I know I asked you this before, and you were quite adamant that it was a no. But I’ll never forgive myself if I don’t ask you again. Just one more time.”
My body tenses.
“Do you want to come home with me? Permanently?”
