Series: Lords of Rathe Series by Meagan Brandy
Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 98580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
It was in the haze of the morning, my mind, still catching up to the decisions my subconscious made, so when her secrets came for all of us to hear, I reverted to the only thing I knew.
Family above all.
Blood for blood.
I let anger consume me and I did what a Deveraux is raised to do.
I took. I took without thought and without regret. I took without a fucking care.
I fucked up on a major level, shot straight to vengeance like a fucking boy, instead of demanding answers like a man.
My brothers watch me closely, but it's Sin who steps forward, tension tightening his tone, ‘cause he's a perceptive motherfucker. Especially when it comes to me.
“Brother?” His brows draw in. “What do you know that we don’t?”
I look to Creed, who nods, and when he tries to pry into my mind, I open it up for him. His face falls instantly, his hand latching onto Sinner’s shoulder.
Sin’s eyes turn white, and then the scene plays out for him and Legend to see, just as Creed is seeing it in my mind, Sin’s illusion leaving no detail out.
I wince when the blade sinks into my flesh, and stumble slightly. London sucks on my mouth with the dagger still to my neck, when everything turns black.
Darkness whirls around the space, the walls cracked like the roots of the ancient tree and the ground shakes beneath our feet.
Tears swim in my wife's eyes as she lowers to the floor beside our little girl.
“What the hell happened here?” I look around, a lifetime of death and war allowing me to remove myself from the emotion of what’s before me.
Temperance’s eight-year-old body cold at my feet.
“You said it was getting better.”
My Queen's glossy glare snaps over her shoulder, locking with mine. “That is all you have to say right now?”
“Did you lie to me?”
Her eyes flare white, and she turns back to the princess of Rathe, lifeless on the floor. She brushes her dark hair from her face and stands.
“No one can know what happened here today,” Cosima demands, locking her sadness away.
My eyes narrow, waiting to hear what plan she could possibly have.
I hear her before I see her, the soft little voice echoing down the empty halls of the royal manor.
“London’s bridge is falling down, falling down...”
Panicked, I throw my hand out to fling the door closed before she gets too close, but the door freezes mid-way, slowly reopening.
My eyes snap to my wife, narrowing but before I can ask what the hell she’s doing, Villaina skips through the doorway, white hair bouncing behind her. “Tempy, I’m here—” her feet stop, and a piercing scream fills the air.
“Fuck.” I dart forward, dropping to one knee and pulling her into my chest to hide the sight. “You should not be down here, Villaina.”
She sobs, her body beginning to shake uncontrollably, and a chill covers her skin. She pulls back, big icy-blue eyes locking with mine. “What happened to Temperance, King Arturo?”
My mouth opens, but before a single word can escape, Cosima is there.
She pats Villaina’s head, looking up, causing tears to spill down her pale cheeks.
The Queen smiles at the little girl, placing her palm on the back of her neck... and then she snaps it.
Her body falls lifelessly into my arms, and I look up at my wife.
She lifts her chin. Her eyes lock with mine. “End her.”
“Cosima,” I bark, lying Villaina’s lifeless body down and shooting to my feet.
“Someone must go down for this.” She lifts a shoulder. “Her father was a monster. It makes sense, Arturo. End. Her.”
“You do not make the rules here, my Queen. I am the fucking King, and that girl is written in our future more than any other before her!”
“Be that as it may,” she seethes, facts not something she’s fond of. “If people learn the truth about what happened here today, the Ministry will use it against us. Against our sons. They have been searching for a way to overthrow us for years. This might help their case.”
“I will kill them all now, today, and be done with it they dare.”
“No. That will bring war.”
“A war I will win,” I remind her, even though she’s wrong.
The council could never rage against us. We have a thousand times more Gifted on our sides than they could ever wish for.
“The girl already lies at your feet,” Cosima tries to reason. “She doesn’t breathe. She will feel... nothing. Think of your sons and do as you must, for if you do not... I will tell them all she is at fault for the fall of our beloved princess. She will die either way.”
With that, my wife lowers to the ground beside our daughter.
I could very easily override my dear wife, but that will do nothing to stop her from spreading the lies about the little girl at my feet. I could end her with no pain, spare her the death the Ministry will demand of her.