Page 6 of Kingmakers, Year Three

After a long and achingly sweet summer in Chicago, I’m boarding the ship to Kingmakers once more.

The reality of my situation is crashing down on my shoulders.

It was easy to forget how much trouble I’m in when I was whiling away the hours sightseeing with Zoe and Miles, and Miles’s little brother Caleb.

I never imagined I could be treated so well as a guest. The Griffins embraced me like one of their own, even though it’s Zoe who will marry into their family, not me.

They took care of my every need, ferrying me around the city, buying me delicacies and souvenirs, making sure I was never bored, lonely, or lacking for the smallest thing.

I shut out the memory of what I had done at Kingmakers.

I pretended to belong among the Griffins, like Chicago had always been my home.

But now it’s all over.

I returned to my father’s house in Barcelona for one dull week before packing my bags again.

My father was in the best mood I’ve ever seen him. The deal he struck with Miles Griffin has surpassed all his wildest dreams in the sheer volume of money pouring into his account. That was the bargain: Miles’s dark web drug pipeline in exchange for Zoe. Miles has made my father and his associates into very rich men.

As a small sweetener, Miles stipulated that my father refrain from coercing me into any unwanted marriage contracts. My father has upheld his end of the bargain: he left me alone my entire week in Spain, not even demanding that I accompany him and my stepmother Daniela to any of their tedious parties.

Still, it was a long, lonely week after the warmth and bustle of the Griffin household.

I miss Zoe already.

I miss her horribly.

She asked me again if I wanted to come to Los Angeles with her and Miles. I wanted to accept so badly. I feel safe with those two. Zoe is the only person on the planet who truly loves me, who would do anything to protect me.

But I knew I’d only be a third wheel, an anchor dragging them down while they try to build a life together.

I have to return to my own life at Kingmakers. Even if there’s something horrible waiting there for me.

It’s ironic. My father is forbidden to force me into a marriage contract against my will. But I’ve already trapped myself in something far, far worse.

The moment I step foot aboard the ship to Kingmakers, I’m looking around for Dean Yenin.

I remember the last words we spoke to each other as though it were three minutes ago, instead of three months.

“I know what you did . . .

“I saw you . . .

“I won’t tell. But understand this . . . I own you now. When we come back to school, you’re mine. My servant. My slave. For as long as I want you . . .”

I almost spilled my secret to Zoe a hundred times. I almost told her what I did.

But in the end, I stuffed the words down again, into the ball of frozen fear that’s been lodged deep in my guts all this time.

This is my burden to bear, not hers.

If I told Zoe the truth, she’d never feel free to go to L.A. with Miles.

She’d be compelled to stay with me, to try to protect me from something she simply can’t prevent.

Dean knows what I did. He could tell the Chancellor at any time. Nothing can stop him from doing that. My only chance is to stay on his good side. To trust in his mercy.

The only problem is that I don’t think he has any goddamned mercy.

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