Page 84 of Reign

“One sound,” a voice whispers into my ear. Falyn. “Just one, and I won’t hesitate to toss you into the lake again.”

I stiffen under her hold on both my wrists, but don’t so much as whimper when she pulls me into a stand, the blinding cloak still in place.

The fight continues somewhere to my right, Chase and James, arguing, cursing, slamming each other into furniture.

“It was you!” Chase roars.

Scant light, then ripples of shadow, seep into the fabric over my eyes as Chase shouts, “You knocked me out, dragged me from my room, and brought me to Sabine. Why? Did you know she was going to kill Ivy that night? You want to betray me, fine. But Rio? The guy you love like a fucking brother? You let his soulmate die.”

“Sabine has the right idea,” James retorts. A muffled grunt follows his words, buffered by another swipe from Chase. “She learns weaknesses and exploits them until her chicks do whatever she says. Then, she deploys her little dollies out into the world, willing to do her every bidding. Why wouldn’t I want to support that? I wish the Nobles would follow suit. They were, actually, until you decided to find a voice and side with that bitch possum over there. Do you have any idea what we could’ve accomplished?”

“And what do you think Sabine’s succeeded in?” Chase’s response comes out as a dangerous whisper.

“A First Lady, for one,” James spits. “When Sabine calls, that chick does whatever Sabine wants.”

“Because she was probably abused, molested, and blackmailed for years, you son of a bitch.”

“Sabine has these girls tying themselves to men of influence, and those men turn into their asshole goons. So we either gotta join her, or become the puppets to her dolls. And I ain’t turning into one of those. I’m giving you one last chance, bro.”

“She left my sister to die! She murdered Ivy and had Callie’s mom killed,” Chase shouts. “Sabine is a fucking psychopath. We need to stop her, not join her!”

“Suit yourself,” James says, and a sickening, wet crunch follows.

“What was that?” I cry out, stepping forward, but Falyn holds me back. “Chase? Chase?”

James says offhand, “Knock the bitch out, too.”

I don’t hear the thwack when it comes to the side of my head.

But I do see the black.

* * *

I’m enveloped in a dark, warm, velvet blanket, and a gentle caress brushes my cheek.

I smile.

“Chase?” I murmur, arching toward the tickle of sweetness.

A gentle lapping drifts into my ears, its lulling tune allowing me to drift away into a relaxing, calming dream, where I do nothing but float…

Wait, float?

I’m floating.

My eyes pop wide and I spear up, but the motion sends the surface I’m lying on tipping violently to the left, then to the right, every sharp dive causing a dangerous wetness to creep into the hollows of the—boat.

“Oh my God.”

My desperate whisper doesn’t reach the shore.

I lift my head, scanning and blinking wildly, but any small movement unbalances the boat in a way that makes my heart thump, thud, crash into my ears.

And my hands are tied behind my back.

My legs shoot straight out, stuck in a type of foot harness that keeps rowers stable.

Rowers. I’m in a scull. It’s nothing but a thin strip of white in the black of the lake, and I bob helplessly along with it, my butt fitted into the rower’s seat with tiny wheels underneath that move with my every tremble.

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