“That day, I finally understood the lesson he’d been trying to teach me. Of never letting the world see what held value in my life. Because if I did, someone would come for it and use it against me. And to never rely on another person so intensely, because the world would always find a way to take them from me.”
Tears filled my eyes. Because I had a feeling I already knew what I’d see when we reached the end. Deep inside the cemetery, we reached a large tree, and Kingston turned me to face him.
With his hands on my upper arms, he stared into my eyes. “Quinn, what I’m about to show you isn’t real. It was a cruel trick played on a small child who loved his best friend the way he thought he was supposed to. And you don’t have to look, but if you do, I need you to remember it’s not real.”
At my nod, he stepped to the side. I drew in a shaky breath and lifted my head.
And even though I’d been expecting it, a gasp rang out in the silence around us when my eyes fell on the tombstone.
But I found two.
One marked with Landon’s name.
The other with no name at all. As if the person who rested there—who they were and what they’d meant to the world—had been forgotten.
Or purposefully erased.
All it contained, etched in the stone, was a symbol.
A crown.
“Fuck.” I shook my head, my voice coming out strangled. “Kingston, this is so…totally fucked.”
He removed his hands from my arms and nodded, the grief on his face carving deeper. It set in the longer I stared at the tombstones. And when he slipped his hands into his pockets, his arms trembled with everything he fought to contain.
For me, Landon’s name being carved on that stone was horrifying, but it wasn’t real. My mind knew that, and so did my heart. But I couldn’t imagine what it had been like for him.
Believing it was.
“Kingston…”
“Quinn, I learned very early that I had to do whatever I could to hideandprotect anything I valued. And I’ve taken great care to live by that lesson, out of certainty—” His voice cracked. “Knowingthat if my father ever found out what I valued most in the world, I’d lose it for good.”
He walked up to the tombstone and placed his hand on it.
“That has always been him. Even though I’ve had to treat him like everyone else.”
As his head fell, my heart broke for them both.
“He may never know how much I care for him, but I do, and there’snothingmy father, his world, or their way of life could ever offer me that I’d choose over him. I’ll do anything in my power to keep him safe.” Blue-gray eyes met mine. “Now, that also applies to you.”
He held out his hand, and I joined him. Instantly.
“I refuse to make the same mistake again. I’ve said to him many times, and I will tell you, now, that I will do whatever it takes—anything—to get you to the end of this, if you choose to stay. Or to keep you safe and protected, if you choose to go.Both of you.I’ve made choices I wish had played out differently. Balancing how to protect you both at the same time was a challenge I never expected to face. Quite honestly, because I never thought I’d hold anyone so dear, again, after—And I haveto live with knowing you were hurt because of my mistakes. But...”
He held out his arms, opening them for me, and I went into them without hesitation.
“You’re here, Quinn. You’re with me. Not unharmed, but you’re safe. And I’ll stop at nothing to keep you that way. So, I can’t regret what it took to get you here, or say I’ll never make a choice like that again, because…I know how necessary it was.”
I stared up at him, as his eyes lingered on the tombstone, voice resolute but broken.
“And I know the alternative could’ve been so much worse.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Had this really been what I wanted? I’d asked for this? Hunted for his secrets and demanded answers?
Hearing them, I had no idea why.
