But to the room, it looked like she’d shoved Ryan. At least, that was what their minds would interpret. Anything else would be too difficult for a mortal mind to believe.
“Do not fucking touch me,” Ella snapped, her voice carrying across the hushed room. “Your reign over my life ended months ago, Ryan. However, mine over yours is just beginning. Because I will be taking back the house and all the assets your mother has stolen from me.”
She stepped forward to stare down at the now cowering female on the floor.
“But don’t worry,sis,” Ella continued. “I’ll be providing you all with an allowance to live on. It’ll be just enough to keep you off the streets until you graduate from public school. Then you can go work and make your own money.”
She held out her hand for mine. “I’m ready to go now.”
I read between the lines.
She didn’t mean back to my home here in Darlington but to the one in the Midnight Fae Realm.
To where we both belonged.
I laced my fingers with hers and used my other hand to return the microphone. “Oh, I’m done,” I said to the room, smiling. “Enjoy your Winter Ball.”
The shock of the room followed us all the way to the door.
As we left without once looking back.
We were done with the present and moving firmly into the future to create our own happily ever after.
Together.
Three and a Half Years Later
“Ugh,your mother is killing me with these gowns.” Every time we spent the summer with his parents, she insisted on dressing me up like a little doll. The woman considered me the daughter she never had, and since Kols refused to accept his mate, I was alone in my torment.
Not that Kols’s mate, Emelyn, would make it any better.
Hell, that bitch would make this worse.
So yeah, I’d choose this fate over her as a sister-in-law any day. She’d put Ryan to shame.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Tray drawled, overhearing my thoughts. “I think they’d pair well locked in a closet. We could add Carmen in for fun, give them all some knives, and watch the bloodshed.”
“For once, I might be on board with your lethal idea.” While I’d essentially taken everything from Ryan and Carmen, they’d yet to acquire an ounce of humanity.
The only good thing that came of it was that they held little influence over others, leaving them to drive each other—and Clarissa—mad. It seemed the general public was safe from them. For now. But I’d continue to watch, and now that I’d mastered most of my talents, I’d use them as needed to keep those bitches in line.
Fortunately, Dash had grown into a rather pleasant guy, his studies at Harvard going well while he held on to a steady girlfriend of over a year now. We didn’t keep in touch, but Tray had kept up with him, prepared to intervene if necessary. But it seemed he’d meant it when he claimed to want to change.
And Charlie, well, he was obsolete now that Anderson Motors filed for bankruptcy.
No one had heard from him in over a year.
And I didn’t care enough to look for him.
Tray caught the zipper at my back to help me out of my dress and kissed my nape. “We’ll be returning to the Academy soon, dove,” he whispered, replying to my complaint about all the gowns.
“Where I’ll be stuck in uniforms,” I drawled, glancing at him over my shoulder. He’d failed to mention that little requirement when telling me about the Academy. It seemed my entire life would be about wearing the same clothes as everyone else.
He smirked. “One more year. Then we’re done.”
The thought of being finished with our studies improved my mood immensely. While I still didn’t know where I fit into this world, I was excited to learn my place with Tray by my side. He would join the Council because of his birthright, serving as a second-in-command to his brother—the future king.
Which reminded me… “How was the meeting?” He’d just returned from some sort of urgent discussion. His annoyance flickered through our bond, causing my eyebrows to sail upward. “That bad, huh?”
