Page 52 of Reign

“How am I supposed to do that? She won’t say shit to me.”

“James might, if you talk to him. He’s her latest lackey.” I mull over the memory of that jackass tossing a pillowcase over my head, then clamping his hand over my fabric-covered mouth. My heart jackknifed into my throat. My lungs swelled until they squeezed my heart. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t. Breathe.

And one of my supposed best buddies was using it against me. For her.

“Or torture it out of him,” I growl. “I don’t care.”

Undeterred by the ominous death-wish in my voice, Tempest says, “It’s common knowledge I’m your second-in-command. What makes you think—”

“Then go through Rio, I don’t give a shit. Just get it done.” I nail him with a look. “I’m ordering you as my second-in-command.”

“Jesus. Fine.” Tempest sits up. “And what about you? You’re not gonna be able to stand back and let other people do your dirty work, despite your vow to keep Callie at arm’s length.”

My brows lower, shadowing my vision. “I’m going to the source. Sabine may have her reasons for allowing Callie into the Virtues, but my father’s priority will always be the Nobles. He doesn’t want them destroyed any more than I do.”

“Ah.” Tempest leans back. “And if Sabine has already conned him to her side?”

“I have another option,” I answer. “If Callie tries to claim her rightful place, I’ll stop her. Simple as that.”

“Uh-huh. You’re the boss.”

“I am.” Stopping in front of the mirror by the door, I take a good look at myself, arming my expression for what it will take to protect the new Nobles from whatever fuckery Callie’s planning.

The Noble alumni may be far from her reach, but the initiates aren’t. Briarcliff Academy isn’t.

But Sabine can’t win. She’ll have to get through me if she wants to so much as flick a finger against Callie’s nose. I have to somehow stop the Virtuous Queen from harming Callie, and yet I also have to stop Callie from reaching her truth and finding justice.

I have to save her and sabotage her, all at the same time.

* * *

The lake house is dim and deserted when I pull up the drive and shut the car’s engine off. I slide out, my shoes crunching against the gravel, the noise amplified in the quiet, surrounding forest. It’s so cold and blustery, not even the owls hoot.

Ice crackles in my periphery. I glance over on instinct, but it’s the brittle tree branches weighed down by snow melted by the sun, then hardened by the moon.

Unlocking the door, I step into the warmth, our lake house kept at a warm 75 degrees despite the lack of residency most of the winter.

My father: the environmentalist.

I don’t waste time on the main floor, though my stomach growls at the lack of sustenance I’ve given it since returning to Briarcliff. My crew practice suffers for it, my 2k completions on the erg becoming longer and longer stretches of time, but I can’t bring myself to give a fuck.

Not when Sabine’s treating the Virtues as a brothel, with my sister as a victim and Callie’s revenge on ultimate nuke level.

The Nobles are redeemable, I think on a determined frown as I take the stairs to the basement level. I wish Callie would simply focus on the destruction of the Virtues, but no, she wants all of us.

I was on her side until she admitted the Nobles had to suffer, too. Now we’re at odds, and I’ve come to believe the rumbling in my stomach isn’t solely due to hunger for food.

It’s starvation for her.

I’m unable to fill myself on her scent, sink into her warmth, find gluttony in nipping and licking her skin. It’s sent me into a spiral, where all I can see is her smile, such a rare thing, yet it’s settled in my mind’s eye as a soft-focus filter whenever I think of her.

I can’t. She’s the enemy now.

Because of this bullshit, instead of running my hands all over her naked body, she has me going through Father’s things, proving her wrong, showing Callie there comes good with her Missing Heir status, not simply murder and mayhem.

Sabine has to go—I’ll help her with that. But my brothers? My heir status? No.

I step back after punching in the code at Father’s bookshelf, waiting impatiently for the hidden door to slide open and I can access the Noble files.

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