Page 103 of Shattered Jewel

Clover seems to read my thoughts. Again. “You have to maintain your own identity, your own desires.”

I swallow hard. “And if my desires align with theirs?”

A slow smile spreads across Clover’s face. “Then you embrace it. You revel in it. But you never let it define you.”

She leans forward, her elbows resting on her knees. “These men, they’re not just lovers. They’re protectors, guardians. They’ll kill for you, die for you. But they’ll also try to control you, to keep you safe at all costs. You have to be willing to fight for your independence, even as you surrender to their obsession.”

I let her words sink in, my heart racing at the implications. I know she’s right. I’ve seen the way Wilder looks at me, the way his body tenses when I’m in danger. I’ve felt the way Cav and Kaspian watch me, like they’re just as likely to kill me as they are to fuck me. And there’s Axe’s barely restrained triggers, unleashed when he gets near me.

“I want that,” I say, my voice steady despite the nerves fluttering in my stomach. “I want to be that force.”

Clover’s eyes sparkle with approval. “Then let’s make it happen.”

She leans back in her chair. “But first, you have a mystery to solve. Tell me everything.”

So I do. I explain to Clover about my brother, the circumstances of his death, and the cursed legacy Maverick dug up that he connected to the Sovereigns of the Cimmerian Court and the ruby Heart Sarah Anderton left behind in an undisclosed location before her death.

Clover listens so intently that I go into how each of the guys—Axe, Cav, Wilder, Kaspian—have a strange, horrible connection to the missing gem, and that its supposed “curse” started when Sarah Anderton was accused as a witch and killed. I even explain my fear that if I don’t find it before the Sovereigns do, Wilder and everyone else will continue to be tortured, brutalized, and sacrificed for the Sovereigns’ false deity with very real consequences.

“And that’s why I’m here,” I finish with tremors in my voice. My throat is raw from talking, from baring my soul and the burdens I’ve been carrying. “I thought maybe you could shed some light on Sarah Anderton and why she’d have a ruby of that size and where she might have hidden it.”

Clover’s eyes are wide, her lips parted as she takes it all in.

“That is quite an adventure,” she says finally, her voice softer than I’ve ever heard it. She shakes her head slightly, as if to clear away the fog of information. “I knew you were wrapped up in something dark, but this...”

Inwardly, I wince. It sounds like something out of a horror novel when said out loud. I look down at my hands clasped tightly together in my lap.

“We told Cav the Heart doesn’t exist,” Clover adds suddenly. “We even provided him proof a few months ago to take back to his bosses—the Sovereigns. Of course he didn’t listen.” She huffs out a breath. “Now he’s roped you into a mystery that is not a mystery. We solved it, Elara. I can’t go into details but Sarah … Sarah never had a treasure. Not in jewels, anyway.”

I stare at her, the words bouncing around in my head. She must be mistaken. “But Maverick?—”

“Maverick was misled,” Clover says gently, sympathy in her voice. “By the Sovereigns, I’d bet. You see, there is a treasure of sorts...” she trails off, her gaze conflicted.

“What is it?” I ask.

“Sarah’s true treasure was knowledge,” she finally says. “Her grimoire—her spells, potions and ... remedies.”

The last word is spoken with a hint of agitation, like Clover isn’t telling me the whole truth.

“My brother didn’t die for a book,” I say flatly.

“No,” Clover agrees, shaking her head, sorting through her thoughts. “I’m saying you’re chasing the wrong thing.”

She pauses, letting her words settle before continuing. “Sarah Anderton was a healer, but she was also an incredible strategist. The ‘Ruby Heart’ might not be a real gem, but a metaphor. A symbol for something else.”

“What could that possibly be?” I press.

Clover shrugs casually, as though we were debating a professor’s lecture rather than matters of life and death. “That’s for you to discover.”

Rage hits my cheeks hard. The blood under my skin grows hotter than the fire warming its surface. I liked this girl. I really thought we could form a friendship from our commonalities, our outsider-ness.

But I love the men in my life more.

In a single, sharp move, I reach for the amulet in my pocket, then throw it at her face.

Chapter 26

Elara

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