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My heart clenches as Acacia clears her throat and says, “annulment papers.” Despite the emotions evident in her voice, she still pulls a pen from her bag and looks like she’s ready to write her signature on the dotted and marked lines. “I guess it’s better than divorce papers, though. Now it’ll be like it never happened instead of making me a divorcee at the ripe old age of twenty.” The smile she’s forcing isn’t fooling anyone.
“What the fuck?” Gus sounds like he wants to leap across the table and punch me, which he’s more than welcome to do.
Honestly, right now I’d welcome it because anything is better than this restrained, forced, and mechanical behavior.
Just as she puts the pen to the paper, I feel like a reminder is necessary. “Don’t forget what I said at your initiation, Acacia.” I quell the urge to smile as she finally looks at me with something other than indifference. The confused look is all I need to deliver the reminder. “A dragon can progress, but never turn back. If you sign these, you’re out—all of you.”
Acacia makes a disgruntled sound. “Why is Gus out?”
I laugh bitterly. “Because,wife,you made him your consort in our marriage. And since Morgana isn’t initiated as a Drákon, Alexander will be the last of your family unless I remove your family altogether. Do not take this lightly, Acacia. Your family Legacy depends on your decision. Is your misplaced pride really worth the fall of the Drákons?”
“Kairos, I have some papers of my own,” Acacia says, and I wait patiently while she pulls two folders from her bag.
My blood runs cold as I read the first page in each folder. “Are you sure about this?” I ask. “There will be no coming back from this, Acacia. Has it already been filed by your Guardian?”
Sidestepping my questions, she says, “Everything should be in order. I’ve signed the papers, and I accept whatever consequences there may be.”
“Right, what the fuck is going on?” Liam jumps out of his chair, his eyes shooting accusations at both of us.
I turn my gaze back on Acacia, determined to have her speak the damning words. “Since this still hasn’t been officially filed, I’m still your Ruler. Answer him, Acacia.” My tone is hard and unyielding, just as it should be. This is beyond dramatic and ridiculous, so if this is what she wants, she’ll have to be the one to break Liam’s heart. “Tell him what you’ve been planning while he’s done nothing but love you. Actually, tell them both.”
Rolling her shoulders, Acacia straightens her spine, still not a hint of compassion or empathy in her gray eyes. “Liam, I’ve released you. As of today you’re no longer my consort.” Ignoring his sputters of protest, she raises her voice to speak over him. “I’m also no longer the Drákon Heiress, I’m withdrawing.”
I can’t even say I blame Liam as he gets in her face and shouts, “You can’t even fucking look at me?” A shiver works its way down my spine as her empty eyes meet his heated ones.
What the hell have I missed? Where’s the passionate woman from the beach?
Her hollow gaze and rigid posture are so fucking offensive I can’t even bear to look at her. “Get out!” I snarl, walking over to the door and demanding my guard unlock it. “But before you flee like the coward you are, look at what you’re walking out on.”
“Cia, don’t do this,” Gus pleads as she wordlessly gathers her belongings.
“Agápi…” Another plea for her to stay, another one she ignores.
Without looking behind her, Cia hoists her bag up on her shoulder and walks to where I’m holding the door open. As she reaches me she pauses, and I dare hope she’s finally going to act like herself.
But she doesn’t. Instead, she removes her wedding band from her finger and holds it out to me. “Here.” I flinch at the nothingness in her voice. There’s no pain, no anger, just monotone words.
As I hold out my hand to accept the heirloom, she places the metal in the palm, careful not to touch me. Unable to just let her go like this, I snatch her hand into mine. “Don’t do this, Nereid. Please… I can change. You have to know that I didn’t mean what I said, I just…” I don’t know what to say to get her to stay. “If you want, I’ll burn everything I have from my time with Nadia. Any leftover pictures, or…”
I almost sigh in relief as Acacia takes a broken breath, proving she is affected. The solace is short-lived. “I think those papers made both of our intentions clear,” she says, pulling her hand away.
Those fucking papers. “They were just a precaution, in case it was ever needed,” I explain. “And I lied when I said they were signed, I never put my signature on the last page because I don’t want this. I want to be with you, Acacia. So do Gus and Liam. Are we not enough for you?” I hate how gravelly my voice is, but fuck.
“Mine are signed, though. Because I do want this, professor.” She takes three steps before spinning around. “For what it’s worth, I am sorry.”
Acacia hasn’t been in class, Liam is basically living in my alcohol cabinet, and Gus is the only one still showing up at school. Even though I ask him daily, his answer never changes—none of us know where his cousin is. It’s like she’s fallen off the face of the earth.
Her apartment, while still filled with all her things, is void of her presence. The deed is in Liam’s name, but he refuses to be there without her. I didn’t know until Gus told me that Liam was sleeping rough. So I set out to find him and forced him back to my place where he’s basically a glorified hobo living only for the next drop of alcohol.
It only took him one night to completely trash the area I wanted Acacia to have. Very little survived the fire he started, and those things are all burned and covered in soot. Fucking overachiever.
Nothing made sense until today, and now that I finally have my answers, they make too much sense.
“And there’s no way around it?” I ask Arthur. We’re in my office, the very place where Acacia gave everything up. “Is there anything I can do? Or move around and still uphold the rules?” When the Hatt Leader shakes his head again, I want to pull a Liam and destroy something.
“No, I’m sorry, Ruler. She accepted the challenge on Hatt ground without clarifying the rules. If Acacia loses to Elena, she loses everything. That includes any materialistic possessions, and her title. This is the very reason she should never have accepted, and why an Heir, or Heiress, should never let themselves be challenged.”
It all makes a sick sort of sense now. Acacia has cleaned house, given up everything so there’s nothing to be won. If she loses, Elena will gain nothing but my nereid’s life—which is the most valuable thing she has.
