Fear.For them.
I first felt it when the bond disappeared. Slowly, it started back up again, but it was weak, meaning our witch was alive… But what happened to her? What happened to Vesper? Why did neither of them send anything through the bond?
More importantly…What do they have up their sleeve?
It had become our pattern. Anytime they were gone for a period of time, and I just so happened to get in trouble, they would swoop in and save the day. This time, we couldn't makemistakes. As much as they wanted to save the day, I had it all planned, and if it didn't go perfectly…
I went through all of it in my head.
I got rid of his closest people.
I brought in the clan heads.
I got the Underground’s help.
And, last but not least, the Royale.
If any of these things fell through, I was afraid of what it would mean for us.
I was standing on the elevated portion of the throne room, looking down at all of them as they gathered.
Usually, the coming-of-age ceremony was handled by the king or the head of the family, but since he was both at the moment, I was asked to step in.
I was holding the family’s prized sword, the one my father used to rule over the vampires and whoever dared defy him. It was encrusted with his favorite gems—rubies—and polished, though not enough that you couldn’t see all the battles it went through. If I looked closely, I could still see flecks of blood on the handle.
It felt heavy in my hand and vibrated with a dark power.
I had never been allowed near the thing or allowed to touch it. The women of the Castle family weren’t deserving of this rite. We were married off instead.Thatwas our ceremony, one where we had to wear an uncomfortable dress and invisible chains around our hands and feet.
The men got to be worshipped like kings, their value goddess-given from the moment they were birthed. It didn’t matter if they accomplished anything at all, just that they had thechance.
How unfair was it that, no matter how much I gave to this family, they and the vampire royals would never see me as equal?
I will change that.I couldn’t let myself back away now. I knew from the moment I kneeled in front of him that it would lead to this.
When Adrian walked through the doors, wearing his gaudy king outfit, attention was on him immediately, everyone turning and watching as history was made. But Vesper and Cedar were still nowhere to be seen.
His red eyes scanned the crowd before they landed on me, then they never strayed as he walked down the red carpet to the throne room.
The crowd fell away, and it was just him and me. His eyes told me he had me right where he wanted me. At his helm, doing his bidding.
But that’s where he is wrong.
He stopped just at the stairs, then kneeled in front of me. I was supposed to walk down and hand him the sword as a way of showing that the family was entrusting him with our future.
But I wasn’t his family. Not anymore.
Nor was I his little pawn.
I kept the sword in my hand and pointed it directly at him. Whether Cedar and Vesper were here or not, I needed to do this. I needed to stand on my own and take him down once and for all.
For us.
“I may no longer be a Castle,” I said, letting my voice carry across the room. “But I am here to refute your claim to this family.”
He slowly lifted his head.
“Little sister, what are you doing?”
