Enzo’s gaze hardens enough to slice me open. “Careful, Ace. Words that harsh make you sound just like him.”
My father.
The breath punches out of me. My nails dig into my arms so hard they might draw blood. “Good!” I burst, my voice trembling. “Maybe then you’ll finally stop treating me like a child.”
Something flickers in his eyes for a moment before he silently steps aside, dismissing me without another word.
I don’t wait for anyone. Not Enzo. Not Elijah. Not Gen.
The door slams behind me, the sound reverberating in my skull. I collapse onto my bed, heels and all, curling into myself with my knees pressed hard against my chest. The tight black dress digs into my ribs, my boots scuffing the sheets as if I could erase the night by kicking harder. I close my eyes, but it doesn’t help.
The tears finally rip free, hot and violent, and I shake as the words replay in my head:kill her. I don’t care. Did you shoot him?
My voice—but not mine.
“I hate them,” I hiss roughly. “I hate them. I never want to see them again.”
My stomach is trying to escape through my throat. I can still feel it—the way Gen pressed against Elijah, the laugh, the kiss. That stupid, soft press of lips that made my blood boil and my chest ache.
I told him. I told Enzo to kill her. My hands go to my face, pressing against my hot cheeks, trying to stop the panic from spilling out of my mouth in screams or curses. Who even am I right now? The Aurelia who jokes too much, rolls her eyes, hides behind sarcasm… or the one who just unleashed a command to murder someone? Neither of them feels real. “If you don’t want her here… then I’ll take care of it.”
I can’t sit here. I can’t. My boots scrape the floor as I push off the bed, the dress tightening across my hips. I throw the door open. The halls are unnervingly quiet, the kind of silence that makes your ears ring. Marble glints under dim sconces, golden trim catching shadow. The air smells faintly of wax and dust, cool and too clean against my skin.
Heart hammering, I sprint down the hall to the main staircase. Heels click, echoing through the cavernous foyer. I twist through the corridors, calling out, but my voice is absorbed by the estate, bouncing back muffled and meaningless.
Nothing.
Panic presses in. My chest burns, tight and heavy. I need someone—anyone—to tell me I didn’t mess up so badly that there’s no coming back. Someone who saw. Someone who understands. Someone who will stop me from screaming and throwing myself into a wall.
I dart toward the staff building at the far edge of the estate, boots skimming cobblestones slick with moonlight. Shadows stretch long and grasping across the courtyard.
A single window glows a soft yellow, someone is there. Someone who might have seen.
My hand hesitates on the cold metal handle before I push; the door opens with a faint creak, warm air hitting me. It’s coffee, cleaning supplies, and the faint musk of someone who’s been working late. Tables are cluttered with papers and half-empty cups, a small fan whirring lazily in the corner.
Then a chair creaks somewhere in the room.
“Hello?” My voice shakes, thin and high, the kind you use when you’re trying to pretend you aren’t about to vomit. “Did anyone… see them?”
And then—a scream.
High, piercing, a sound that rips through the quiet, and my chest. I press myself flat against the wall, breath hitching, eyes wide.
Chapter 35
Aurelia
Present
“I’ll share first. Nothing serious, I promise,” Adrian says casually, like he didn’t just get beaten to a pulp a few hours ago.
It’s been about five hours since I got put in the same collar and ankle locks as Adrian. He’s been surprisingly chatty for someone who just got punched so hard it nearly knocked him out, but I can’t say that it upsets me.
After Adrian regained consciousness and spent ninety minutes apologizing for how he had to help me, he reassured me that all he was trying to do was get me taken down from the posts. I chose to believe him. I don’t think I even realized the toll that being strapped to those posts had on my mental state.
Now that I’m down and my blood is properly circulating through my body, I can finally think straight, and I can see Adrian as a temporary ally. At least until I get a better option.
“Come on, Ace, how much more do I have to do to prove to you that you can trust me. I promise I will cherish and love anything you choose to share.”
