She fought against a bolt of fury at seeing him treated so carelessly.
“In return for your loyalty,” Lafontaine said, “I will give you mine.”
She snorted. “You can’t give something you don’t have.”
“I have more than my son.” He looked to Nik. “There’s one more secret he’s yet to tell.”
The little flame of hope flickered, threatening to go out.
“Don’t listen to him,” Nik begged. “Whatever he says, it’s not the whole truth—”
The guard stifled him with a filthy rag, and this time Elara only felt numb.
Lafontaine was circling her now, a vulture coming to feast.
“I bet Nikolas lured you in by appealing to your shared tragic histories. He probably said some drivel about wanting to see a Restes urchin claim a position of power, no?”
Her breath bruised her throat. It wasexactlywhat Nik had done.
Word. For. Word.
“I bet you started to believe him. With each passing moment, he caged you in his trap. Even when he made the mistake of falling in love,he fed you little lies so you might never learn the one thing that would ruin his control over you forever.”
Nik was screaming against the gag.
Lafontaine disappeared behind her.
The world was closing in.
With his lips an inch from her ear, Lafontaine whispered, “Did they ever find the person responsible for your mother’s death?”
Elara’s fragile world shattered.
No.
It was too horrific.
Nik wouldn’t have used her like that. She’d told him about her mother and their treasured plans for this café. Shared her fondest and darkest memories. They’d bonded over their brilliant mothers who were taken from the world too soon, and he’d been the one…
“It’s not true,” she whispered, looking directly at Nik. “Tell me it’s not true.”
Rage flared in Nik’s eyes, all of it directed at his father.
“Please, Nik.” She was begging him like she’d begged the board of Directeurs, like she’d begged Fernand, like she’d begged her mother not to go to the Senate.
When he looked at her, it was with nothing but sympathy and pleading.
Just like that, Elara was alone again.
This time, no one could help her.
It was her own fault. She’d known better than to believe she could be anything other than another rat caught in the Counseil’s trap. To think that a boy could love her for who she was and not what she could offer him.
“You have two options.” Lafontaine stepped in front of her,brushing a cold tear from her cheek. “You can take my offer and become Souverain, or your friends will die just like everyone else in your life.”
He held out his elbow for her to take.
“What will it be?”
