Page 57 of The Oath

“Rylan, you are to be stripped of your rights as a King. Your sentence for killing another King is death.” I hear the slight waver in his tone, but it doesn’t bother me. Syn screams before a hand is slapped over her mouth to keep her quiet.

“I accept my punishment,” I tell him. Syn is throwing a fit. I can hear her behind me, but I can’t force myself to look back at her. I can’t see the look in her eyes.

“That’s not how this works!” I hear Hunter roar. My dad motions for him to stand, and he does, coming to stand next to me.

“What are you saying?” my dad asks him.

“I’m saying that I, as well as Rylan, shot Brady. You can’t be sure which bullet actually killed him.” I glance at Hunter, unsure what the hell he’s doing, but he doesn’t even look my way. He keeps his eyes forward and on my dad.

“What are you saying, Hunter?” he asks him.

“I’m saying you can’t kill Rylan for a death that may or may not have been his doing. Without proof, you have no authority. The best you can do is exile him.” How the hell does Hunter know all this? I know he’s a God, but he shouldn’t know the inner workings of the Kings.

“You’re a God, Hunter. How would you know the rules of the Kings?” My dad asks him exactly what I was thinking. Hunter straightens his spine and stares my dad in the eye. I can feel the tension in the air, but I don’t know what the hell is going on.

“I may be a God, but my father is a King.” The leaders gasp. My dad looks shocked. Me? I don’t know what the fuck to think. Who is his father?

“How do you know this?” my dad asks him.

“How do you not?” Hunter questions him back. “After all, you are my father.” The leaders all talk at once as I turn my head to look at Hunter. He gives me a sad I’m sorry look, and I nod my head. He did what he had to do to stay alive and in power of the Gods. I don’t blame him for a second for keeping that secret.

Everything seems to happen in a blur. The hood is back over my head even as I try to fight it. I’m shoved to my knees once more, and my shirt is cut open. That’s when I hear Syn scream.

“If you hurt her, I’ll fucking kill you all!” I yell loudly this time. Syn quiets down, and I wonder what the hell they did to her. “Syn?” I call out but she doesn’t answer. The next one I hear screaming is Angel and then Becky. Silas and Levi are both screaming at whoever is doing this.

I don’t have much time to think when I feel heat getting closer. A branding iron. It presses into my chest right over my King's brand, and I grit my teeth through the pain. The next thing I feel is a prick in my neck, and everything goes black.

Chapter 28

Tamsyn

I’m honestly not sure how much more my body can handle. After everything that’s happened, I feel weak. My mouth is dry as I try to swallow my spit, but it’s no use. I groan as I roll to my side and hit someone else.

Prying my eyes open, I blink as the sun burns them. I grunt and moan as I realize my arms are still zip-tied behind me. When I turn my head, I see Angel next to me. She’s moving, but not too quickly.

“What the hell happened?” she moans as I shove myself up to a sitting position. That’s when I look around and see the others.

“Ry?” I call out his name when I see him lying a few feet from me. I scoot on my ass toward him as I keep calling out to him. The others must hear me as they all start to move at the same time. Everyone’s grunting and groaning as I stop next to Rylan.

“Rylan,” I call his name, praying to God he isn’t dead. He doesn’t look dead, but that doesn’t mean shit. Slowly, he turns his head and pries his eyes open.

“Syn? What the fuck is going on?” he asks as he pushes himself up.

“I have no idea.”

“Where the hell are we?” he asks as he looks around. I do the same but I have no clue where we are either. Ry shoves all the way up and sits, looking me over. “Are you hurt?”

“No.” Then his eyes move down to my chest, and he looks confused. I follow his gaze and see that my brands are now just … nothing. They’re nothing. They’re a solid circle of nothing.

“What the fuck does that mean?” he asks, narrowing his eyes at my brand.

“I don’t know. Yours is the same,” I reply, nodding toward his bare chest. He looks down in confusion. I don’t understand, and neither does he.

“There’s a knife in my front pocket if it’s still there. Come closer,” he tells me. I move toward him, cocking my wrist at an uncomfortable angle as I slip the knife out. Ry shifts around so he can take it from me, and then he works to cut the ties off himself. Once he’s free, he cuts mine and then the others.

I rub my sore wrists as we all look at each other, trying to figure things out.

“No one heard anything?” Rylan asks them. Everyone shakes their heads, completely lost. I shove to my feet and stumble a little, but Ry is there to catch me. He holds me up as he looks into my eyes. “You sure you’re okay?”

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