Mr. Averson shucks his jacket off and hands it to Eli then he faces the end of the table and shoves up the sleeves of his button-down shirt. On the table is a thick book along with a stack of manila folders and a scroll. He picks that up and unrolls it, spreading it out in front of him. Even though I’m far away, I can tell it's an ancient map.
“Maddison Everford,” Mr. Averson muses as he says my name. “Since your whore of a mother has been hiding you in northside, I’m going to give you a history lesson on what yourbloodline means and how the Royal families work when we’re outside of the public eye.”
“Great, you’re going to kill me by boring me to death,” I say, my tone oozing with sarcasm. “Not that I wasn’t on the verge of dying of boredom anyway, after listening to you babble on for the last fifteen minutes.”
A few of the men’s eyes widen in shock while Eli’s lips curl into a smirk.
“You really should let me break that smart mouth of hers,” Eli says, his gaze darkening as it roves over me. “Give me a few goes with her, and I’ll have her wishing she was dead.”
“You will not touch you,” Mr. Averson replies without even glancing toward him. “She’ll belong to Finn soon, and that’s how it’ll stay until I get what I want.”
I’m unsure I heard him correctly. “What?” At the same time, Finn mumbles, “What the fuck are you talking about, Dad?”
Mr. Averson’s lips curl into a smirk. “Not so smart-mouthed now, are you?”
“Oh, I totally am.” I slip my hand from Finn’s, preparing to run.
Who cares if I don’t make it out of here alive? At least I’ll die trying instead of waiting around to see what they have planned for me. But just as I’m about to run, two cloaked men move up behind me and grab my arms.
I try to jerk away, but they tighten their hold.
Finn spins around with his fist raised. “Let her go before I knock you the hell out.”
The guy on my left sneers, “Stop being a little bitch about this, Finn. You get the best part of this. You’re going to be the goddamn prince of fucking world, and one day king.”
Finn has his arm craned back, but freezes. “What the hell are you talking about?” When the guy doesn’t respond, he turns back toward his father. “What are you up to?”
Mr. Averson pulls out a chair, takes a seat, and adjusts his tie. “Centuries ago, the world was run by one Royal family. The Everfords. They had all the power, all the control, and all of the wealth. The firstborn son was always the one to take over the throne, and an arranged marriage was then set up for him. This was all done through negotiation and bidding, and sometimes they would even hold competitions to make the selection. The daughters of the Everfords were usually sold off to Royal men with high statuses; however, about seventy years ago, something odd happened.” He reaches for the thick leather-bound book and opens it to a specific page. “The Everford family started only birthing girls. At first, everyone believed it was a weird coincidence, but as the years turned into decades and no son had been born, they began to believe they’d been cursed. And when people believe that they do desperate things.” He flips the page. “At first, the Everfords did subtle things, like sought out curse reversals, tried drinking from the Fountain of Fertility, then got really into some dark times where they tried to summon a fertility demon.”
“You’re lying,” I interrupt. “This stuff doesn’t exist.”
“Who’s to say if it does. All I’m telling is what has been recorded in the Royal history books. My great-great-great-grandfather insisted that dark, mysterious forces had taken over the world during this time. The sun didn’t shine for months, crops died, and people suffered. Death was everywhere. Everyone started to grow tired of it. And do you know what happens when enough people grow tired of one singular family ruining an entire world based on their own greed?” He doesn’t wait for me to respond. “They revolt. My family was a huge part of putting together The Black Rose Hunt, where the Everfords were hunted down and killed one by one. The person who killed the last one won all of the wealth and power the Everfords had. My family won, which gave us all of our wealth and power. Itwas fucking earned, though. We bled the streets with Everford blood.”
“You’re fucking disgusting,” I breathe out shakily. “Seriously, what is wrong with you? You sound like a nutjob. You know that, right?
Finn takes my hand with his gaze trained on his father. “You know, I’ve always hated you, but that hatred just turned into full-blown revulsion.”
Mr. Averson gives a lazy shrug. “Like I care about your opinion, Finn. River was always the better son, which is why I’m using you for this. River is going to do wonderful things with his life. He will rule in his own way, and Isla will be by his side.”
“River isn’t as compliant as you think,” Finn stresses through gritted teeth. “And I think you know that.”
“River is exactly who I need him to be.” Mr. Averson pushes his chair back and rises to his feet. “Now, enough with the history lesson, it’s time for us to move on to the ceremony part.” He rounds the table and then sits on the edge of it right in front of us. “The thing is that a document was made centuries ago that was signed and sealed in blood. The document stated that as long as a single Everford exists, they are destined to rule the world. And here’s where we’ve run into a problem. Technically, my family should’ve gotten the throne and the power, but that never happened. We got more power, but never the Crown of the Royal Flame, which is the key to ruling the entire world. For decades, my family simply assumed that when the Everfords died, the crown ceased to exist. We tried several times to overtake the world, but we were always met with random obstacles. Eventually, the concept of a king withered, and the world changed into what it is now. My father, however, never wanted to accept this. He put a lot of time and money into searching not only for a reason why we could never take the throne over, but why we could never find the crown. Healso looked into what started the curse that became the Everford family. What he found out was that a curse does indeed exist.”
I roll my eyes. “Curses aren’t real.”
“Believe what you want, Maddison. But I believe they do. I believe that your family did something to gain their royal status. Something that led to the curse of not being able to have a son. I’m not entirely sure about that part since my father never found out anything about it. What he did find out, though, was that in these documents, it states that so long as an Everford is alive, they have all of the Royal power of the Crown of the Royal Flame, which means they own the throne, the world—they own fucking everything.” He steps toward me, and Finn quickly puts an arm in front of me. “For decades, all the Royal families believed the Everfords to be dead, but then my father discovered a man who bore the Everford blood, which would be your father. He killed him, of course, and all of his children. Or so he thought. What he didn’t realize was that this man had had an affair with a woman who had a daughter named Ellie Claireford. Does that name ring a bell?” He already knows it does, his smirk giving it away.
My stomach churns, and fear consumes me.
He knows who I am.
And he’s going to kill me?
“Did you kill my mother?” I snap, inching toward him, ready to punch that smirk right off his stupid face.
“No, unfortunately, Ellie, with the help of my ex-wife, has gone off the radar. Don’t worry, though. We’ll find her soon enough,” he tells me confidentially. “Now that I have you.”
“So you’re using me as bait to lure her here, and then you’re going to kill us?” My panic bleeds into my tone.
