Page 62 of Reign

Chase’s stare cuts through me. But I hold my ground, notching my chin and meeting him breath for breath.

“You know why I’m here,” I seethe, then blink myself out of the instant anger he sparks in me. “This is a privilege unlike any other.”

Chase’s mouth starts to move. Maybe one last warning or threat. Dare I think it could be a plea. He’s so far into the shadows, it’s difficult to make out his expressions, but his jaw is sharper than normal, his cloak shimmering more than the others with his unseen twitches and tics of stress or frustration. With me? With the world?

I’m not supposed to care anymore.

“Then you will agree to my terms,” Sabine cuts in. “You will stay quiet, now that you’re aware how much supremacy I hold.”

The hidden message is obvious, but only to me. Ivy’s quiet whimpers, the sounds of her drowning in her own blood, echo in my ears.

“You claim to be a legacy of this society, but that has yet to be proven, if ever,” she says. “I have centuries of history behind my reign, and I’ve allowed you into this temple and order you to get on your knees, because by now you understand the depth of my abilities to mold you or erase you. I am here to be your queen, Calla Lily Ryan.” She shifts, and her eyes come into the light, gleaming. “And I do so look forward to ruling you.

“On your knees, initiate,” Sabine repeats.

Every limb of mine rebels at the forced supplication, but I’m staring past Sabine, through the wall behind her and into her office, into the princess bedroom, and at the red binder.

Mine.

My mother’s murder is in there. I’m sure of it. Accessing that evidence is more important to me than satisfying Sabine’s hard-on at witnessing me kneel before her. Thinking she’s won.

My knees bend—

“Wait,” Chase says.

I freeze. Sabine frowns. Daniel throws back his hood. “Son, if you so much as—”

“As her chosen soulmate, I’m the one meant to go down there and take her blood vow,” Chase says.

“Why, yes,” Sabine answers. “Although you’re referencing quite an old rule of the Virtues. Remind me, dear,” Sabine says to Daniel. “Something along the lines of a Noble choosing a woman to become a Virtue through the soulmate rite. Hmm.” She puts a finger to her mouth, innocent enough, yet I brace for impact. “That doesn’t apply here, now does it? Callie was tapped before you two got together.”

“Wrong, Mom,” Chase answers. “Father asked me to get close to Callie well before she reached this school. And as prince, it is my prerogative to withdraw any Noble attachment I’ve given to her. And I’m withdrawing it now.”

I angle my head, my stomach swaying at what Chase’s outburst could mean.

Chase looks down at me and doesn’t speak until I raise my chin and lock eyes with him. “I refuse her as my soulmate.”

Sabine turns as still as ice. Daniel glowers while the rest of the cloaks murmur their shock.

“Come again?” Sabine asks, those two words so stilted and spaced out, it’s clear she’s making every effort to remain calm.

“I’m rescinding her soulmate status. And as an unattached, older female who was not initiated as a child…”

“Oh, now you’re really digging deep into outdated Virtuous rules.”

Chase raises a brow at Sabine. “Yet they’re still in effect.”

“Daniel,” Sabine hisses. “Do something.”

“Son, it’s much too late for this unrequited love business. Callie has made it through her three trials and she’s accepted her Virtuous status despite the multiple challenges laid out before her. There is nothing more you can do.”

“An elder initiate with her soulmate status revoked can no longer become a Virtue. It’s made clear, in black and white, in Rose’s original rulebook.”

Chase pulls out a tattered, worn leather handbook from underneath his cloak.

Something crushes against my chest like a vise. My ribs move with my breaths, but they’re coming ever closer to spearing my heart. “Chase…”

I can’t retaliate by arguing my rightful position. I have no evidence of my legacy. Not yet. And I can’t retrieve proof relating to Sabines’ duplicity without becoming a Virtue.

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