Page 280 of Vexatious Queen

A couple of turns later, we walked into a library. It was not as large as the one we had in Russia, but I appreciated the irony. All of this began in a library, and it would end in one surrounded by books that held stories of monsters and villains, while the greatest one in mine was tied to a chair.

It creaked when he shifted while ropes bit into his wrists and ankles. Vadin looked smaller than he ever had, stripped of power, blood soaking through his shirt, one eye already swollen shut. The hate was still there. It always was.

It had taken me years to forget the tender smiles and words. I’d believed he meant it when he said he loved me. Lies. Nothing more than a grand show.

“Father…I’ve waited a long time for this moment.”

His good eye lifted to me, and he laughed. A broken sound.

“So,” he rasped. “The ghost finally caught up to me. My daughter, who grew up thinking she was more than just a scared little girl acting out. You’re just the same as you always were.”

I took a slow step forward, boots echoing against tile. The smell of blood and old books filled the air. It felt almost sacred. A place of truth and lies.

“I thought you couldn’t get any lower, but then you sent a man to murder my daughter,” I said calmly. “You hired another to try to kill me. And you pretend you’re all about family.”

He tilted his head and looked at me.

“I did no such thing to Lilya.”

“Stop lying,” I snarled and smacked him across the face. “At least meet your end with dignity.”

Vadin coughed, blood flecking his lips.

“I sent the gunmen, but only because I assumed you were there. I didn’t send anyone to kill Lilya. Then again, she was never supposed to live,” he said. “None of you were.”

Something cold settled in my chest. I nodded once and glanced at Vlad.

Vlad stepped forward and drove his fist into Vadin’s ribs. The sound was ugly, the crack echoing. Vadin screamed, body jerking against the restraints, breath leaving him in a strangled wheeze.

I crouched in front of him, forcing his gaze back to mine.

“Do you know what the worst part is?”

“That she didn’t die?” He smirked, as he tried to get under my skin. I ground my teeth.

“No.” I shook my head. “It’s that she wanted to have a relationship with her grandfather. She trusted you when you came here claiming to want forgiveness. My daughter is far kinder than I am, and she doesn’t know you like I do.” I leaned in close to his face. “She will be magnificent. More powerful than either you or I could have ever dreamed, and you’ll never get to see it. Never get to experience what you’ve always craved…strength and a lineage that is talked about long after you’re gone.” I smirked at him. “I’m going to wipe your name from the Mikhailov family tree forever. Every book that mentions you will be burned. Every website, deleted. You’ll never be buried beside my mother. Soon you will be nothing but a bad memory, and then you won’t exist at all.”

He roared and yanked on his ropes. I smiled wide.

“You see father, it isn’t that you tried to kill my family.”

He spat blood. “You can save your lecture about loyalty.”

“No,” I said. “I’m going to tell you why you lost it.”

I stood and walked behind him, dragging my fingers along the back of the chair.

“You mistook blood for ownership. You thought because we shared a name, you could pull strings and watch me dance.”

I leaned down close to his ear.

“You forgot that I was raised by people who taught me what monsters really look like.”

I nodded to Vlad again.

This time, he pulled a knife.

It wasn’t fast. This was what cruel for cruelty’s sake looked like. Enough pain to break the bravado. Enough time for realization. Enough of both to make him beg for forgiveness that would never come.