With how much blood he’d lost, he shouldn’t be moving—shouldn’t even be alive.
Her mouth parted, but before she could say anything, Clyde spoke to the room, “Take her to the king. Let him decide what to do.”
She blinked, fighting and failing to comprehend what was happening.
The men holding her nodded, lifting her to her feet.
“W-What’s going on?” she finally managed to say.
No one answered her.
The door swung open, revealing William on the other side. “I told you this wouldn’t work.”
“You’re alive?!” Luna exclaimed, joy briefly flooding her voice. When she left him in the ballroom, she thought she left him for dead.
He didn’t even so much as glance in her direction.
“I’m sorry,” Luna said—and she meant it. If she could go back, she would’ve picked saving him over Clyde, especially with how strange he was being.
William scoffed, his face a contorted mask of disdain. “Quit pretending you’re innocent, you filthy unicorn. You’re a murderer.”
She stopped walking, but the men holding her didn’t and began to drag her down the hall away from him. William must have seen the shock on her face because he added, “Diera’s dead because of you.”
Clyde shook his head, disappointment curling across his face. “All you had to do was transform.”
She opened her mouth to argue. “I didn’t—”
“You unicorns are all the same,” Clyde cut off as they rounded the corner, leaving William behind. “You hoard your power while others bleed for you.” He brushed his hand over his torn, bloody tunic, drawing her attention to his chest as if his wound was proof of his claim.
There wasn’t a wound anymore, though. Not even a scar.
She stared. “How?”
Clyde’s gaze hit the ceiling as if she’d asked the world’s stupidest question. “You thought I was dying and you didn’t save me. You could have, but youchosenot to.” They rounded another corner, nearing the throne room. “I have no sympathy for what’s coming,” he said. His words were cold, absolute—a quiet death sentence.
Chapter 20
Unraveled
“Don’t get any dumb ideas,” one of the men snarled, tightening his grip before hurling Luna down in front of the throne.
“Did you enjoy the ball?” King Hendrix asked with a deep chuckle, tapping his fingers together, looking too comfortable on his throne. Pure evil scarred his face, twisting it ugly.
She stared up at him through her lashes, eyes shimmering with tears, not understanding. Red-cloaked men lined the throne room, their bloodstained blades sheathed at their sides. Slowly, the events of the night snapped together.
The king laughed, and his men joined in; their voices echoed off the walls, mocking her—taunting her. As if tonight had all been a joke, and the joke was her.
“What’s so funny about people dying?” she demanded, rising to her feet. With a rigid, straight spine, despite the trembling of her limbs, she stared down the king. “Your people,” she corrected, accentuating each word.
The room fell silent, all eyes fixed on the king.
He stepped forward, his boots reverberating against the floorboards as he approached.
A surge of dread shot through her as his fingers curled beneath her chin, forcing her head upward until she had no choice but to look him in the eye. “You tell me unicorn.” His touch was cold, pressing bruises into her flesh as his soulless eyes bored into hers, stripping her of every defense she had left. “Tonight was merely a sample of the kingdom’s future. Their deaths—and every death yet to come—could have been prevented by you alone.” His voice lowered dangerously, a whisper sharper than any blade. “Transform. Complete the protection ceremonies, and your loved ones will remain safe.”
So, he had orchestrated the whole thing—everything: The violence, the slaughter, each agonizing moment of this night, was all a ploy to get her to transform.How dare he.She balled her hands into fists, rage surging through her, white-hot and consuming, coiling tightly in her hands. “You’re a monster.”
Her words drew a ripple of laughter from the cloaked figures around her, as if these men found it ironic that she was calling him a monster when she, in their eyes, was the beast.
