Page 115 of Tale of the Heart Queen

My brothers haul him up from under his arms.

“Gabe, please,” Atlas pleads. “Please don’t do this. I know you. You’ll regret this.”

The tether on my temper is so close to snapping. I approach him, hissing in his face.

“Do not tell me what I will regret. I regret so many fucking things, Atlas, but this will never be one of them.”

It takes four warders to restrain him as he thrashes and screams and fights against his bonds.

You’d think he could go out with some dignity, but I guess that’s asking too much. This excuse for a man will always be who he was. The sight of the once glowing Sun King is pathetic to behold.

To the sounds of the chanting crowd, my brothers haul him into the palace, bearing the weight of his lies that have finally caught up with and will soon become the end of him.

CHAPTER 42

LOR

Seeing Atlas again is a shock to my system. I wasn’t prepared for this onslaught of emotion. Nadir wraps an arm around my neck and drags me close, speaking against my temple.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” I say. “I think so.”

Atlas used me and abused me, but I am at the bottom of the very long list of his victims. While I could hold on to my anger, I also want to step aside and make room for those he lied to for a century. For those whose lives he’s affected in unalterable ways.

Whatever my personal grievances, they’re nothing compared to what Gabriel, Tyr, and the other warders had to endure. The pain is written into their faces, etched into the haunted look in their eyes.

Atlas spared only a glance for me. I never mattered to him anyway, and knowing that doesn’t hurt as much as it might have once.

He’s yelling at Gabriel now. Pleading for mercy and for himself, but I don’t know how he can stand there and look anyone in the eye.

He’s dragged away into the palace as thunder booms overhead and the rain starts to fall in thick sheets. Now that the show is over, everyone scatters. We make a break for the palace, where we find Gabriel standing with some of his brothers, all of them murmuring soft words to each other.

Gabriel leans against the wall, pressing his arm to the surface and then dropping his forehead. We all watch him as he drags in several long breaths. Hylene walks over and runs a hand down his back, stretching onto her tiptoes to whisper something in his ear.

I exchange a curious glance with Nadir. Seems these two have gotten close.

Suddenly, he looks up, and his gaze finds me.

“You want answers from Atlas?” he asks, and I nod. “Then come.”

He doesn’t wait for my response before he pushes off the wall and stalks down the hallway, his footsteps ringing in the silence. I look at Nadir, who nods, and then I take off after Gabriel, running to catch up.

His gaze remains forward as we march through the halls. I resist the urge to fill the silence for once, sensing he needs me to shut up.

We finally approach a wide archway and then enter through a set of fortified doors flanked by six guards wearing the livery of Aphelion. They both acknowledge Gabriel as he yanks on one of the handles before we head down the spiraling stone staircase.

Fire-lit torches guide us down through the gloom and into the dungeon, where I enjoyed a brief stay myself. Many of the cell doors stand open, and Gabriel catches my stare.

“Low fae broke into the palace and released their friends and family from the cells during the riots,” he tells me.

“Good,” I say. “That’s good.”

“Yeah,” Gabriel agrees as we proceed past more guards and to the end, where four warders flank the locked door of a cell. They greet Gabriel and then bow to me, their eyebrows climbing.

“Aren’t you the Final Tribute?” one of them asks, eyeing me up and down. I remember his name was Rhyle.

“She’s the Heart Queen,” Gabriel says. “Show her the proper respect.”