“No one was killed.”
“Even Heng?”
“He lost a lot of blood, but he’ll be fine.”
Something like relief worked its way through me, but the guilt remained. I’d still hurt people; I’d still caused all this.
“MJ,” Lucas said again. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not! I’m a monster!”
Lucas pressed his full lips into a flat line, stopping just short of frowning at me, when the door behind him burst open. He whipped around, startled, to find Qian, looking furious, marching in, followed by Elias.
“—can’t barge in like this,” Elias was halfway through saying. “I will call the guards in here at once.”
Heng, walking behind them, was still pale and held his arms gingerly so as not to disturb his shoulders. At least he was alive.
“I will go where I please,” Qian spat. “Especially when my fiancée is keeping secrets from me.”
When Qian’s eyes landed on me, the stony determination hardening his jaw tightened. His brows narrowed, and unbridled contempt turned his handsome face into a sneer.
“You,” Qian growled.
I held out a hand, pleading. “Qian! I—I’m sorry—”
“What are you?” he hissed. He could barely contain his rage.
Elias moved to step between us, but Lucas got there first. He pressed a hand on Qian’s chest and pushed him back. “Calm down. Can’t you tell she’s cursed?”
“That is no curse,” Qian said, pointing a finger at me. “That is a demon. An aswang of the lowest depths.”
The horrible truth was that I didn’t think he was wrong. I had done all those terrible things—no one else. It was all my fault, and I deserved to be feared. I deserved to be hated.
“She’s not an aswang. And you tried to kill her,” Lucas said.
“If you hadn’t interfered, we could have rid the kingdom of this threat. She nearly killed ten people in the arena, including me.”
“But she didn’t,” Lucas said, his words forceful. “She was provoked.”
“It doesn’t matter if she was provoked. She deserves to be put down, for the sake and safety of everyone in this kingdom.”
My stomach plummeted.
“If you try to touch her, I will not hesitate to put you down first,” Lucas said. The fire in his eyes burned so hot, I believed him. “And I won’t miss like you did.” Qian must have believed him, too,because his glare turned equally blazing. That comment must have hurt. Lucas knew how to get under Qian’s skin.
“Gentlemen, violence is not necessary!” Elias barked, but Qian and Lucas were inches from each other’s faces.
“Your queen tried to kill my top general,” Qian said to Lucas, ignoring Elias entirely. “And if the guards hadn’t arrived, she might have tried to kill you, too.”
I found my voice, even though it was small and thick with tears. “Heng cheated,” I said. “I couldn’t stand by and watch that.”
“So cheating deserves a death sentence?” Qian asked, turning his eyes on me. Rage had contorted his face. I hardly recognized him. “So this is the so-called safe place my sister has been living in these past few months? Kept hostage by a demon?” The muscle in his jaw jumped while he looked at me. I wondered if all he saw was the bloodthirsty monster I was turning into or if he saw a person who was as ugly on the inside as she was on the outside.
Elias, always reasonable, tried to regain control of the situation. “If I may, sir, I assure you the queen has posed no threat to Nix.”
“No threat? She is a monster. She’s been feeding for days, killing indiscriminately.” He rounded on me again, accusation making his words sharp. “It was you at the great house, wasn’t it? The rumors of the monster flying around? It wasn’t the wakwak?”
I couldn’t meet his gaze. Shame kept me silent.
