I’m in my own personal torture realm.
With a thundering heart, I step through the door. It slams behind me.
I stand by the wall sandwiched between two of my father’s most loyal bodyguards.
Sebastian Kregger sits on one side of the large wooden table in the middle of the room. My oldest sister is right next to him.
On the other side of the table sits Cecile and her parents.
My heart beats so loud in my ears I can’t hear what they’re saying.
Adrenaline courses through me, making my hands tremble.
Father and Maeve sit unbothered, clearly aware they’re holding all the power. Knowing that soon, they’ll take everything dear to Cecile’s family from them.
Any moment now, my father’s enemies will barge in through the door that’s on my left.
I know it not because I’ve lived through this moment before.
I know it because I’ve tipped them off.
Because I thought chaos would save her.
I need to stop this.
I take a step forward.
I can stop this.
I can?—
No.
I can’t change what already happened.
Realization doesn’t make my heart lighter.
Nor does it stop it from tumbling out of my chest when it happens.
I stand there, frozen, as Father presents the terms of the deal to Cecile’s family.
I watch them refuse, outraged by the audacity.
I do nothing but stare as Father’s bodyguard grabs Cecile’s arm and yanks her up to her feet and puts a blade at her throat.
Her eyes, full of fear, find me in the room.
That’s when the door blows open and a number of men dressed in black barge in, weapons drawn.
It all happens in slow motion as I watch it unfold.
My hands are tied.
Nothing I can do.
The bodyguard holding Cecile stabs her just under the ribs and tosses her aside like a piece of meat before locking in a fight with one of the intruders.
That’s when I spring forward.
