Page 15 of The Reign of Blood

What the fuck is going on right now?

Before I can think better of it, I inch closer, dropping down on the log beside him as I stare off into the distance. His words fill the air around us a beat later.

“My father is on The Council. Trusting people is difficult for me. That’s why I stick to the guys and don’t really tolerate anyone else, because their intentions are always unclear.” I try to imagine what that’s like. If the kingdom didn’t fall and everyone knew who I was, what would my friends be like? Would I have any? Or would it still be just Nora and me?

I huff at the thought. If it were up to my sister, she would force me to be so sociable my eyeballs would bleed. But deep down, I know in my core I would have the same regard for outsiders. The issue is that I’ve spent the past sixteen yearsbeingthe outsider, happily enjoying my place, and now, everything is shifting.

It comes with being at the academy. I guess I knew that, but acknowledging the fact now that I’m at the center of it all feels different. I truly have lived a different life than what my birthright declared, and reclaiming it isn’t going to be so easy when it changes every fiber of my being.

My mind races with thoughts and feelings, just as it did in the shower, but thankfully, there’s no threat of tears springing to my eyes this time. Now, it’s with the burning desire to get them off my chest. I can’t talk to Nora about it, not when I’m trying to shield her from everything.

Maybe Flora?

“It’s okay, Adrianna. I get it. I’m highly aware that I promised to fuck you and be gone, yet here I am, like a puppy desperate for more of your attention. I can’t even begin to explain it myself.” He wipes a hand down his face, but I’m left gaping at him.

“What did you call me?”

His eyebrows furrow. “Adrianna?”

“Why?”

He gulps nervously before sweeping his tongue over his bottom lip. “Because Raiden said you’re of… because you are who you are, and you should be addressed as such.”

I frown at him for a split second before I laugh, truly laugh. I cover my mouth to no avail as I try to calm myself down. I don’t know what it is, but when I turn to look at him, seeing the uncertainty in his eyes, I manage to soften just a little.

“I’m sorry, I just… please just call me Addi because that’s so unnecessary it makes me cringe.”

“But—”

“Your dick was inside me before you knew anything, Brody, and you literally just said yourself about how people treat you differently because of your birthright. Are you going to do that to me?” It’s my turn to offer a pointed look, and he shakes his head.

“No, that’s what I’m trying to say?—”

“But your actions aren’t quite meeting with your words.”

Silence descends over us as guilt creeps over his features. He’s right, it is strange. The guy sitting beside me isn’t the same person who took me to the diner on Kenner land two weeks ago. Technically, if I wanted to point fingers, I could blame him, but that just feels like an excuse.

He doesn’t deserve a single thing from me, yet I feel a desire to say something, anything, about last night.

Staring off into the distance, I run my hands over my thighs and sigh. “The worst part about last night is the fact that my history is creeping up to haunt me in the most public way possible, and I don’t know how to feel about it.”

He clears his throat beside me. “Your mom or your attacker?”

“Both,” I admit with another heavy sigh.

She looked well, at least. Pulled along like a pet by that guy named Dalton, sure, but I’m certain she could have looked worse. I believe so, anyway. I haven’t seen her for so long because she abandoned us—just like the stories said—so I can’t be certain.

Butdidshe abandon us? Knowing what I know now, could that be a lie too?

“Am I supposed to just go and save her now?” I blurt before I can think better of it, a new weight on my shoulders that I’m unsure I can shake off.

“Is that what you want to do?”

I turn, blinking at him as I feel the question deep in my bones. My adrenaline kicks in and uncertainty wars inside me as I let the situation consume me.

“I don’t know. It’s taken everything in me to put myself on the path I’m on now. I’ve spent forever hating her, and as much of a surprise as it may be, that doesn’t change overnight.” The truth rolls from my lips, not burning my tongue like I expect it to.

“Then do what’s right for you,” he replies with a shrug, like it’s really that simple.

---