“And I did, and I will again, because like I said, you and I are the same; we crave each other; yes, cravings change; sometimes our cravings are desire, other times it’s hate, and other times it’s love.”
“Love? Oh, Galen, I never loved you.” My body is heavier than a stone pillar, unmoving, stuck, and forced to bear witness to the atrocities surrounding me. I must bear it, hold up the roof, and keep my head high.“Your mommy issues are deeper than I thought. She swaddled you too tightly. It wasn’t out of love, Galen; she couldn’t stand your cries; she was smothering you.” I strike with my words, digging where I pray it hurts him.
You see, he’s revealed an important card to me. He’s obsessed with me, which means no matter what I do, he won’t kill me.
He doesn’t look as handsome with a red face. “You will,” he replies. His smile is all teeth and fangs.
“You allowed thousands to die on both sides just to win me, and you think that will make me fall in love with you?”
“A soldier’s duty is to obey his king, as is a wife’s role.”
A dozen ways to kill him run through my head. I’d be killed, too. Titus would turn to Sable for help; that would be disastrous.
I step one strong foot forward. “I. Am. No. Wife.” I raise my chin high like a sword. “I am a queen.”
“My queen.Mine, Selene.”
“So I have led you to believe.” I widen my stance. “The crown on my head isn’t vampire-crafted. It is fae. I shall never fully belong to you, Galen,” I state coldly.
His glare attacks the crown Everett had fashioned for me when I came of age.
Galen blinks as if he can flick it off. “It matters not.” He steeples his hands. “You are here. You belong to me, and youwill obey me. If I have to carve the pointy tips off your fae ears to make you understand you are no longer property of Solaria, I will. If you want someone to blame, don’t look at me,” he purrs. He nonchalantly picks up his goblet. “As you mentioned, I am a horticulturist. When something new is planted in my lands, I find the roots. Flowers don’t grow without seeds, Selene. Rumors don’t start without a tongue willing to spew them. Guess whose tongue spread the rumors of your wild temper?”
Galen waits until he spots my unmoving chest. My breath is locked tight in my lungs.
He leans in, jabbing his next words like a dagger. “Your dearest brother.” His smirk is venom that invades my thoughts.
What?
“Everett planted all the seeds about how rare, strong, and untamable you were. Blame him, not me. Oh, wait, you can’t. He’s dead.” Galen shrugs. He picks up the blood orange and continues to eat.
Then that means Everett needed me to be here, married to Galen, the king of bloody thorns and roses.
“Keep Sable close,” Everett said. “Keep your enemies close.”
Is Galen an enemy or a pawn?
I needed to be here to find Titus, and vice versa.
What other secrets lie within the castle walls?
We’re all aligning. Coming together like pawns moving to the center of the board.
Why do I feel like the end is inching close to my heels?
My feet are stuck! I can’t run; I don’t know how, because there are too many missing pieces. I have to face it, just as Everett did when he saw the future.
Accept that I have no way to change the outcome just as Everett planned.
We all followed the breadcrumbs Everett planted.We all think we are playing games against one another, but the cold, hard truth is we are not the players.
We are the pieces Everett moved.
Chapter
Seventeen
Titus
