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)
“There’s no exit. If I’m guessing right and it is the Ministry, then we’re locked in the vault below the meeting room, since it’s the only place no one can enter unless you’re a Ministry member.”
“So, in other words...” Legend laughs manically. “We’re fucking stuck in here until they don’t need us anymore.”
“Or kill us...” I say through gritted teeth.
“Why the fuck would they kill us?” Sinner asks from the side, and I have to fight everything inside of me to not tell them what I’ve been thinking all along. Or maybe they already know. No. They don’t.
“Have any of you noticed how calm mom has been since dad was murdered?” I keep my eyes peeled to the one door in the room. Waiting for it to open, for one of the Ministry members to stroll through and finally tell us what the fuck has been going on.
Had they wanted this all along, to kill us, only waiting for the King to die? Possibly. Most likely.
“Expand on that.” Creed tries to turn toward me. “Are you saying she put us here?”
“No, I’m saying she isn’t at all upset about the fact that her mate is dead.”
“Where the hell is Mom? She was with us, in the hall.” Legend frowns between us. “Think they killed her like they likely did dad?”
“No,” Sinner spits. “They’d make us watch if they did. She’s likely locked up somewhere with talons in her temples so they can steal her every last bit of information to use shit against us.”
I tug on the rope again, even though the fire burns through my skin. The way I continue to heal is a weak distraction from the turmoil that’s spinning inside of me. I think over the people in the Ministry.
I killed Storm, leader of the Ordinaries, so that only leaves three other options.
Magdalena, leader of the Mages and ruler of Rathe U. Naw. Too weak. Her need for attention outweighs her want for chaos and destruction, and she has a son to think about. Not that his existence outweighs her position.
Odin, leader of the Monsters. Quiet. The silent leader in the corner who watches other people make decisions while obviously compiling his own opinion internally. I’d never really noticed him much until the King died. Suspect.
Agro speaks for the Fae. Don’t fucking like him or his god-complex. Definitely him, but he couldn’t do this alone.
And the Royal Monarch—us—rulers of all Dark Creatures that rule every nightmare you were told as a kid.
Who. The fuck. Out of these people would do that. Only two. Agro and Odin.
Someone kicks my leg and I look up to see Sinner glaring at me. “Get the fuck out of your head.”
“I can’t feel her anymore.” I let the words fall from my lips, even though I want to chew them up and spit them out. The room falls silent.
“Are you sure, Knight...” Legend breaks first. “Are you sure you didn’t just … finally manage to break the bond like you wanted?”
I didn’t want that. Or I did but that was before, that was in the very fucking beginning. Even when I hated her, when I took her and locked her away, when I thought she took someone I loved from me, and when she wanted to leave me to go to Ben, I still wanted her, I just didn't know it was me. I thought it was the bond forcing me to feel what I was.
I was fucking wrong.
It was me.
I did want her.
I do love her.
“He didn’t break the bond.” Creed grabs everyone's attention then, but his eyes don’t leave the door. “He completed it.” Finally his eyes move to mine. “I saw it in his head the day he let me in to share the truth about Temperance’s death with us all.”
“Knight?” Sinner’s tone is laced with more frustration than I’ve ever heard, so I look to him. He stares long and hard, a small frown etched across his face.
I didn’t tell my twin and I tell him everything. He’s hurt and he wants to know why. He deserves that. All my brothers do.
“I knew if people found out who she was it was over for her. They would never accept her as their Queen. There was only one thing I could give her in this life, so I gave it.”
“Her Ethos,” Legend breathes.
I nod, moving my eyes back to the door.
“Did you see it?” Sinner wonders.
My lip twitches despite everything. “She would have been fierce if she had half a chance to figure out what lived beneath her skin.”
A sharp ache jabs at my ribs and I inhale deeply, welcoming the pain.
Mother never showed a sign of pain, never got her black veins either.
Creed’s head snaps my way.
“We’re going to get out of this, and when we do, we will find who took from you, brother. They won’t get away with it. It’s fucking on as soon as we get the fuck out of this.” Legend gestures to the ceiling. Just as I’m about to open my mouth to answer, footsteps echo through the walls. Boots slap against puddles of water, and then a distinct sound of heels clinking across the concrete.