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Still, I stand lifeless, like a gaping fish at the door, unable to walk away or do anything but listen to her.
“…seriously though,” the guard says, coming back to the conversation after the pause. “The fiancée is fucking gorgeous. It’s just wild that you never noticed her coming or going? Her scent all around here? How the kitchens get all up in a fucking ruckus about it when she’s on for a visit?”
“No, I guess I didn’t notice. What do they do, then?”
“Just eat a meal together. Sit in the same room. Look at each other.”
“So, no…?”
“Come on, man. You know if he hears that we’re talking about that shit, he’s going to cut our ears off and kick us to the outlands.”
“Fine. Whatever.” Another pause. “It’s a royal wedding. You’d think it would be in the papers or something.”
“You still read the paper?”
“Okay, online. You know what I mean, man. Articles and stuff. How come nobody is talking about it?”
“You just don’t look at the news. They set an official wedding date—someone has to be posting about that.”
My stomach turns into a black hole.
“I’m trying to get a date to the wedding,” the guard on the right says, his voice penetrating the blur of my mind like he’s yelling to me from across a lake. “Gonna look real spiffy.”
The guard on the left laughs, “You think you’re getting an invitation? If anything, we’re going to be lined up on the back wall, making sure Gavyn doesn’t come and crash the thing.”
“Why would he do that?”
“I don’t know. He likes to ruin shit? That has to be why the king has been so fucking harsh lately. Did you hear he cast out the guy that let his sister slip out?”
“No.” The guards are silent for a moment, as though letting it sink it. Then, I hear a creak and them turning, clearly to open the door.
My mind might be fully numb from hearing that conversation, but my body is still alive, taking action. I take a step back, into the bathroom, and feign like I’m walking out when they open the door.
The two guards stare at me, worry on their faces. Clearly, they’re thinking about what it would be like to get tossed to the outskirts.
Not great.
“Do you think I could get some books from the library?” I ask them as sweetly as I possibly can. I’m in sweatpants and a T-shirt, and I clasp my hands together in front of me, hoping maybe of them is a boob man. That maybe they’ll feel sorry for me. Or even want to preserve themselves. “I’m feeling restless. Reading might help.”
Their eyes widen at the word restless.
I’m hoping they know how many times I’ve managed to get out on my own. Hopeful that they don’t want their ears cut off. That they don’t want to find out what it’s like to be kicked to the outlands.
Because Augustus is getting married.
Right now, he’s probably with another omega.
One who’s gorgeous, apparently. One that makes sense for him to publicly claim. To marry and call his own.
And if that’s the case, then I’m leaving. I could only just barely handle not having Augustus before, when I lived far enough away to numb the pain of being in heat without him.
But being here? Knowing he’s bedding another omega?
It will kill me.
Goddesses forbid he comes to me with her scent on him. Even just the thought of it makes me shake with rage.
So, it’s time for me to make another escape plan. And this time, it won’t be about getting Augustus’s attention. This time, it’s about getting the hell out of here before he finishes the job of totally and completely breaking my heart.
