Page 129 of Heiress of Fire

Ron had believed that the next time her face was so close to his would be under other circumstances. Her red fists were firmly gripped around his collar.

“What did she offer you? Why did you do it?”

“Davina!” Leilani yelled.

“Davina, stop!” Cara shouted.

“Davina, what the hell?” Caleb claimed.

“How could you? I trusted you. I trusted you.” She slammed her fists into his chest.

He was grateful she hadn’t conjured her fire, the burns would hurt much more than a few of her sloppy punches.

But nothing would compare to the pain he felt because she believed that he would betray her. All he could do was wait.

Ron refused to react for fear of hurting her. May Magnar forbid him from ever laying a hand on her, even if she kept raging at him because of a misunderstanding.

He knew that after the distress of everything she’d been through, her first reaction was to defend herself. He understood that all the deception she’d been through caused her to feel like she needed to protect herself from the world. Ron grabbed onto her bloodied wrists, looking deep into her rageful eyes.

“I did not do what you are accusing me of.”

“Then how? How did you do it?”

She pushed against him. Beacon and Caleb grabbed hold of her as she thrashed against them.

“Davina, calm down!” Caleb yelled.

She ignored him and continued convulsing between them. Beacon scrunched his nose while Davina kicked and punched them both in hopes of being liberated from their grasp. Caleb only grunted whenever her fists collided with his chest. Snow remained impassive as Cara, Valerie, and Leilani stood close to one another with widened eyes.

“Let me go! Let me go! He’s a traitor!” she yelled as she pointed at Ron.

Ron took a deep breath before yelling, “I was kidnapped!”

Davina’s thrashing stilled as Beacon and Caleb held onto her. He watched as her gaze turned from anger to heartbreak.

“What?” Beacon asked softly before letting go of Davina.

The girls flanked Beacon and Caleb.

All the attention was on him now. He felt repulsed by the horror in their expressions as he confessed the truth. A truth he kept hidden deep inside of him, not because he had betrayed the King and everything he had ever known, but because no one realized he was gone.

He recalled having been drunk that evening, but not drunk enough to forget his sorrows. The misery of not being able to bring Davina into his embrace as she completed eighteen years of life.

It was a milestone. Especially for someone who went through hell like her. She had survived eighteen years with the parents that she had, with the rumors, with the rejection, and she remained sane.

He didn’t think himself capable of suffering such unfortunate circumstances and found himself okay in the end. But she survived, and he admired that about her.

“The night of your birthday, Vivi, Raven came and took me.”

“Why didn’t you tell us anything?” Valerie asked.

“Because…” Ron trailed off.

He didn’t know how to explain how much it hurt that no one realized that he was held captive for three days.

Three days as a prisoner.

With hardly enough food to keep him alive, with a pounding headache from the alcohol. The anxiety that ate away at his peace from the chains that were fastened around his wrists.

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