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“Come on, babygirl, let’s get you warmed up. A quick bath and then back to bed.”
“But—” she tries to protest.
“But nothing. This can wait until tomorrow,” I tell her gently, but firmly.
Eventually she nods and releases the phone from her grip and hands it over to me. leading her by the hand, I take her to the bathroom and run the bath for her. Once she’s under thebubbles, I slip out to make a call and clean up the mess in my father’s office. Then I text Axel and Zie. It’s late, so I don’t expect them to reply, but this is the sort of information that can’t wait until after the ceremony.
After she’s washed up and back in my bed, I pull up a chair and stay by her side until sleep is ready to overtake her. Then I need to get back to work. There’s nothing I’d love more than to climb back into bed with Odi, to pull her into my arms and to sleep off this nightmare. But sleep is for the weak and there’s no rest for the wicked.
“Sleep, babygirl.” I stroke her hair back from her forehead as she whimpers.
“I promise in the morning this will all seem like a bad dream.”
He said they like it. That they signed up for it. Beg for it. His words make everything worse because I know he’s lying. No one in their right mind would sign up for…that.
Especially not that cocktail of drugs that The General introduced into the mix.
I never want to feel the after effects of that concoction racing through my system ever again.
Wishful thinking on my part I think.
The Hunting Grounds can’t come soon enough. I just have to survive this hell, keep building our empire, and win the games. Then I’ll have the power needed to overturn them once and for all.
“I need to speak to Axel,” I tell Lou, pacing up and down the lawn outside the chapel. I’m late, overdue, whatever you want to call it, and I need to speak to him before I set foot in that church.
Has he forgotten that he promised me this moment? Eowyn may be dead and buried – or scattered to the wind for all I give a fuck – but my stance on this matter hasnotchanged.
“Isn’t it bad luck?” Lou replies, frowning. I glare at her and she holds her hands up defensively. “I’ll go grab him. One sec.”
“Thanks,” I call out a beat too late as she disappears inside.
I resume my pacing, unable to get the events of last night out of my head. I killed a man. Another man. Just add him to the list of men – and women I guess – that I’ve killed now and move on.
I’m not done with my list, not by a long shot, but I can’t help wondering if killing Kaiden’s father was a massive mistake.
It can’t be a mistake, Odi. So what if he knew the truth about you and was the only one who could give you answers? It doesn’t undo the fact that he was present for your assaults and took part. Even if that weren’t the case, if he didn’t willingly take part, he still deserved to die for all the ways he hurt Kaiden alone.
“Odi?” Axel’s voice snaps me out of my spiralling, intrusive thoughts, and I halt my pacing to stare at him. My mouth turns dry at the heat in his eyes. “You look…fuck. Wow.”
I glance down at the beautiful black dress that my friends conspired to get for me behind my back, and know that they made the right choice. It was the loveliest surprise this morning, and a truly sweet gesture that demonstrates how right I was to put my faith in their friendship.
“I can’t wait to rip that off you once you’re officially my wife,” Axel growls, stepping closer to me but then frowning when he sees my face.
“What’s wrong, princess?” he asks, taking my hands in his.
“Why do you call me princess?” I reply, stepping back out of his hold, my mind immediately going to the documents we found last night on Kaiden’s father’s phone.
Something close to panic flares across Axel’s face and he swallows noticeably. The tiny reaction, thattell, makes my stomach churn. “I swear I can explain?—”
“How long have you fucking known?” I hiss.
“A while,” he admits, at least having the decency to look shamefaced about it. “I knew your birth certificate was a fake, but not a lot else. I found it in Mr Kelly’s safe of all places.”
“But you suspected things.”
“I had my suspicions.”
“Were you ever going to tell me that my entire life has been a lie?”
