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“Arethe queen,” Damien interjects.
“You have to start believing it, love,” Charlie says. “Or this is never going to feel right to you.”
Nodding, I sidestep like the pro I am at dodging uncomfortable topics. “... and they want me for their sect. If it is a faction of this sect, then it makes sense that it is tied to KnightsGate. Was createdhere.”
“And the second theory?” Ben asks his voice almost a growl, which tells me he has already figured it out.
“They want me dead and for Crystal to be the queen ofthissect, thus combining the two into one massive organisation. This sect may only have just come to light for you, but Crystal said it has been going on for a long time. She said they were responsible for the downfall of my ancestors.”
“Duke and Duchess Knight of KnightsCastle.”
Alistair’s words hit my gut hard. I try not to think about it. I’m not even sure if I wanted the life that could’ve been given to me if the titles hadn’t been stripped from them. Hearing the stories from the guys today makes me think not, that I got thebetter end of the stick by being disgraced and a royal outcast. “That would be them.” My smile is icy and hurts my cheeks, I’m that tense. I don’t talk about this shit. I have no need to go over it, to play it over in my mind. There is no point.
“It’s time to take back that legacy,” Ben says. “It’s yours.”
“Not anymore.”
“No one else ever claimed that title, Ever. The Duchy of KnightsCastle is waiting for your return. All you have to do is take it.” Alistair drops to his knees in front of me. “Don’t you see, angel, how all this plays out? You are a Knight. I am a Gaight. We belong together. This duchy of mine and the one literally over the road combined, along with Ben’s when it’s passed on, will be a force to be reckoned with.”
“KnightsCastle.” I’ve heard of it. I roughly know where it starts, like Alistair said, over the road at the back of the Academy, but I never really looked further into it. I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to see where the duchy was that my ancestor ruled as a Duke. For all my curiosity and all the information I usually soak up, this was one subject I steered clear of like the plague. “You want me for KnightsCastle?”
He snorts. “Oh, angel. Don’t you know by now that I’d want you even if you weren’t Ever Knight?”
Smiling sadly, I can’t be sure of anything anymore.
“Don’t,” he says, shaking his head, seeing he hasn’t convinced me. “The five of us belong together, no matter what. If you decide you don’t want to take back what is rightfully yours, fine. Who cares? KnightsGate is mine, and it’s fucking powerful. I don’t need your territory to make mine something it already is. Does that make sense?”
“Yeah.”
“So it’s up to you, Ever. You do what you feel is right, but know that this is your destiny, whether you like it or not.”
We stare at each other for a long time before a switch flicks in my head, my heart, my soul. Itisrightfully mine. Itismy destiny.
And I fucking want it back.
19
ALISTAIR
I’m on edge, like a coiled spring, waiting.
Ever doesn’t speak. She sits there, all calm and collected, but I know better. Those green eyes are storms forming over an ocean, deep and fathomless. It’s a tipping point, and damn, it matters more than anything.
“Ever, you’ve got to decide,” I say, my voice steady though my insides are anything but. This isn’t just about titles or land; it’s about her, us, the whole damn legacy she’s born into.
She looks straight at me, those eyes boring into mine as if she sees my soul, and I swear I could drown in them.
I rise from my knees, knowing this moment is going to go down in history.
As Ever rises from her chair, I stand there, frozen. It’s like the world slows down, and I’m caught in a riptide of emotions I’ve never had to deal with before. Lust, desire, want, need, all these things are easy, but this is different. This is love. It’s pure and honest, filled with trust and a longing for her that surpasses any want or need. She is the air I need to breathe. My chest tightens, a knot of something fierce and unwavering. It’s all melded into one, and it’s suffocating.
Loyalty.
“I will reclaim what is mine. I’ll take back my rightful title, Duchess of KnightsCastle, assuming I can with my mother still alive?” She scrunches up her nose. “How does that work?”
I chuckle and take her hand, kissing her knuckles. “If your mother wants the title, then she has to go and get it herself. I’m assuming she doesn’t, as she has never made a play for it. She knows, deep down, or maybe not so deep, that it is yours. All living relatives will be bypassed ifyou, Ever Knight, are the one to make the claim.”
“In that case, I make the claim. Or I will, once I figure out how to do that.”
