AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I give his bicep a final squeeze.“Me, too.”
ChapterThirty-Five
Esme
Pain ripsthrough my skull like a raging river, each pulse sending me crashing against the rocks.I try to move my arms, only to be met with resistance.
With a gasp, I open my eyes to see the familiar surroundings of my bedroom as I lie on the floor.I wrack my brain, trying to put together the pieces of how I got here.
Maybe I’m asleep.Maybe this is yet another iteration of the same dream that’s been plaguing me for months now.
“It’s okay,” I assure myself, like Creed told me to do whenever having a night terror.“It’s just a dream, Esme.You’ll wake up soon, and it will all be over.You’re fine.You’re safe.You’re—”
A cackling laugh cuts through, startling me.A chill races up my spine as a voice taunts, “Don’t you realize?You’re already awake?”
I push myself to my knees, the position awkward, but it allows me to see a figure moving in the shadows.The ball of dread in my stomach grows heavier with each thundering footstep until he emerges into the light.
Silas Archer.
His dark eyes narrow on me with a predatory gaze, his lips curling into a menacing smile.In a heartbeat, the events of the past twenty-four hours come rushing back, starting with Jameson Gates paying me a visit and ending with Silas and Kane breaking into my apartment.
“My father trusted you,” I sneer, my voice filled with rage.“And this is how you repay him?”
“My loyalties have always been to your grandfather, first and foremost.Regardless that he’s been dead for nearly thirty years.”He slowly makes his way across the room, remaining the picture of precision, his suit perfectly tailored to his long and lean frame.Grabbing the chair beside my desk, he pulls it toward me and sits down.
“So much so that you did his dirty work for him?Had his son and grandchildren killed?”My throat tightens, nausea swirling in my stomach.I swallow down the bile rising up.“Do you have no compassion?It was bad enough you had my aunt and uncle murdered.But their children, too?”My voice trembles as tears threaten to fall.“How could you?”
“I swore to protect the monarchy at all costs.And that’s what I’ve spent my life doing.Protecting the monarchy.No matter the cost,” he spits out with venom, his eyes burning with determination.
“How can you claim to protect the monarchy when, had you not killed him, my uncle would havebeenthe monarch?How can you—”
“Because he was about to destroy everything!”His face contorts with exasperation as he jumps to his feet, a wildness about him.“She got into his head, made him forget his duty.His obligation.Where his loyalty should be.”
“Who did?”
“Who do you think?Evelyn.”
I furrow my brow, confusion deepening with every second.“My…aunt?”
“She convinced him to walk away from his duty.His birthright.”
“She did?”I’d never heard about any of this.
Then again, I have a pretty good feelingwhyI’d never heard about any of this.Silas made sure of it.Or, more appropriately, my grandfather did.
“Do you know how bad that would have looked for the monarchy?King Theodore couldn’t have that.But he couldn’t risk the truth getting out, either.That’s precisely what that little bitch convinced Nicholas to do.Tell the world the truth.”
“And what truth is that?”
Silas hesitates, obviously unsure how much to disclose.I shouldn’t want him to tell me.If he does, that most likely means he’s planning to kill me.But I need to know I’m risking my life for a reason.
“Your grandfather did what he had to do,” Silas finally says, which only increases my confusion.
“Forgive me if I don’t agree with that statement, not when he had you kill his son and grandchildren.”
“He didn’t ask me to kill his grandchildren.”
“So that’s supposed to make it better?”I shoot him a derisive look.“Because they were simply unintended casualties?”
