Page 112 of The Reign of Blood

I search her eyes, unable to find a single hint of a lie in her words, which means I’m going to have to spell it out. Clearing my throat, I lean forward, matching her posture with my elbows on the table, but instead of resting my chin on my palm, I lace my fingers together, bracing for impact.

“Your mother, Queen Reagan, her ears weren’t pointed, and I didn’t see any scars.”

41

ADRIANNA

Her ears are not pointed. Her ears are not pointed. Her ears are not pointed.

What the fuck is that supposed to mean? I wrack my brain, desperate to revisit the memory that plagued me at the castle today to focus on her ears, but I come up empty. I try to recall what she looked like the first time I saw her on the Kenner compound, but I was too shocked to see her to even consider looking at her ears.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Thankfully, Cassian doesn’t press me further. I think it has something to do with the fact that I literally felt the color drain from my face as I gaped at him in horror, confirming that the truth that just slipped past his lips was something I had no recollection of. I would call it the truth, but I’m going to have to see it myself to believe it. The gruff expression on his face tells me we won’t be going back there tonight.

We eat our food in silence, the steak cheering me up a little as I continue to get lost in my mind. When I’m done, I set my cutlery down and avoid his gaze. I need to go home and wrap my head around what happened tonight. It was already bad enough that she was so… happy, carefree, and relaxed. She’s no damselin distress. She’s where she wants to be, and that only confirms the taunting thoughts in my mind; she’s happy without me. Without us.

I’m tough. I’m strong. I’ve been through enough trauma to fight off anything that comes my way, but there’s a part of this that hurts my soul in a way I can’t fight off. I need to talk to my father, but that’s going to take some courage-building first.

“Are you ready to leave?” Cassian asks, and I dare to meet his gaze. There’s no anger there, no distress, and it settles a small part of me as I nod. He stands, and Janie appears out of nowhere the second he does.

“Going so soon?”

“I don’t want to risk the wrath of my father right now,” he states, and I know that’s not the truth; he just doesn’t want to point the finger at me.

“Keep your chin up, Cass. This is a fucked up mess. Just focus on what you set out to do today, okay?” she breathes, wrapping her arms around him in a brief hug before she turns to me. “And you, keep being the badass bitch I know you are.” I gape at her, but she doesn’t see because she’s too busy treating me to a hug too. It’s only a second, but it does something to me. It makes me stand taller and embrace thebadass bitchshe thinks I am.

“Thank you,” I mutter before following Cassian outside.

The night air has grown cold, and I wrap my cloak around me the best I can.

“Do you want to walk for a while or speed?” Cassian asks, and I sigh, reluctance getting the better of me.

“I need to be away from this compound, so speed it is.”

He wraps me in his arms without missing a beat, and before I can brace for the move, he takes off. Pressing my head against his chest, I try to focus on my breathing to calm the nausea that threatens to overwhelm me.

We come to a stop sooner than I expect, and I’m relieved to find that I don’t feel as terrible as I did earlier. Maybe that’s because my body is already dealing with enough stress, and this pales in comparison, or maybe I’m getting used to it.

Taking a step back from him, I note we’re by the fountain, the exact one he was at this morning dealing with two girls who Raiden said were planning to attack me.Bitches.

“Thank you,” I breathe, a soft smile gracing my lips, and he shrugs, the leather jacket flexing around his arms as he does.

“Don’t worry about it,” he insists, and I nod. Exhaustion clinging to me when he reaches for my arm, pulling my gaze to his. “What’s that look?” he asks, tilting his head at me as his gaze narrows on mine.

“What look?”

“That one.” He lifts his hand, stroking his fingertip down the side of my face as I sigh. “You’re distant and hazy. It’s not something I’ve seen in you before,” he assesses, and I hum in acknowledgment as I avoid his gaze, hating the inability to hide my vulnerability right now. “I don’t like it.”

I blink up at him. “What?”

“I don’t like it at all,” he repeats, and before I can understand a single thing he’s talking about, he grabs my waist, lifts me in the air, and unceremoniously drops me in the water fountain.

I stumble, landing straight on my ass in the water, and it sloshes up in the air, sprinkling down on me for extra measure, along with the water already pouring from the top of the damn thing.

I’m drenched, right to the bone.

“Oh my… what the fuck, Cassian?” I yell, anger vibrating through me as he stares down at me with the biggest fucking grin on his face.

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