Page 49 of Dust to Dust

The book of your past life is now closed, Kukla. If you keep going back to reread it, it will swallow you whole. You'll no longer be a queen but a puppet. Take my advice. Close the book, burn the book and move on. Help Titan with his final mission. Forget the past and write your future.

Until we meet again, my doll…

-Anton

Chapter 37

"Every single one of them?" Dash asked.

"Yes, every messenger that remained alive has vanished," I repeated.

The Rites of Passage's messengers managed to escape from our elite security teams. All video feeds were remotely wiped, which meant The Rites of Passage could hack intoallof our systems. We found five of our soldiers drugged, not killed. The rest of the men never saw a thing. Whoever extracted Anton from our armored walls was beyond skilled.

"The Rites of Passage," I paused as I hated to admit what I was about to, "we need them. If they have this kind of power.” I shook my head.

Our security system used encryption that the public didn't even know existed. If The Rites of Passage could hack into our encrypted walls and take over some of our systems, then their power was on a different magnitude I couldn't begin to fathom yet. A good ruler knew when to break bread with a powerful ally.

"What about Anders?" Dash questioned, "He killed his messenger."

Damian nodded, "His note was a warning. They are going to take something he cares about."

Dash rubbed his jaw. "Tomorrow is Mila's graduation. I want it to be normal for her. After that, we go to war. We take out Fontaine and then…” Dash looked to me.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I wasn't the leader. We all ruled together regardless of what The Rites of Passage believed.

Dash grunted and shook his head, "Because you are our leader whether you want it or not. The weight of being firstborn to the King empire. The Rites of Passage said you had a ruling seat."

"We're just your bitches," Damian grinned.

“You both have talked about this?" I eyed them both.

"Yeah. Damian will be the bottom sandwich, and I'll be on top in our little triangle." Dash joked.

"Fuck you," Damian punched him hard in the shoulder.

"I'm not making decisions alone. You're my blood, my brothers in more ways than one. The Rites of Passage will have to realize that. We walk together; we rule together. If they can't agree, then," I paused.

"Then what?" Damian probed.

"Then we go to war."

It was a war I didn't want to fight. I didn't see The Rites of Passage weapons vault, but I got a glimpse. I couldn't risk my cousins, brothers, or my wife. I needed to break bread with The Rites of Passage. Play along.

We all agreed that Mila deserved a typical college experience after what happened to her. Part of that was tomorrow. Technically it was all our graduation, but only Mila would be walking. After that, I would begin my hunt.

Franco Fontaine was a dead man.

Chapter 38

It's a sea of blood.

A red sea flowed in the wind from the intense air conditioner overhead. Red drifts with every motion of the crowd. The color of the caps and gowns was a joke or a prelude to what most students will be—a path of blood to their thrones of power. The school must know this, thus the color. It isn't a deep wine red or maroon. It is arterial blood red. The type of shade that spews out when you hit an artery and only have minutes to live.

Titan squeezed my hand, "You ok?" He whispered next to me.

I nodded, but it was a lie.

Even though we all were graduating from Empire University, Mila was the only one walking, which was fine because I didn't want to be trapped in the color of my sins. Plus, that shapeless gown was something, not even a top model could pull off. I didn't want to hide my curves, thus my skin-tight navy blue dress. It matched Titan's blue suit.

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