Page 82 of When Day Breaks

"One day, I did a little snooping and found out that my mother was actually just some boring human girl that my father couldn't avoid helping himself to." His tone sounds bitter, like he's been upset this whole time that his mother was human.

"Why does any of this matter to me? I don't know you or your father," I say, trying to convince him to back off. Does he have me confused for someone else? Have we met in the past and that's where his face looks familiar from? And what the fuck does he have to do withmymother?

I look over at her and her body seems completely still as she keeps steady eyes on Travois, seemingly zoned in on his body.

"You're right, you don't know me or my father. But you do know Rivian and that's all the leverage I need to enact the last of my plans." Uncertainty paints my expression, still not understanding what is going on. I gasp when I feel the hard wall hit my back. I lay my palms out beside me to steady myself as he closes in on me.

"You see…" He swallows before finishing. "Rivian is also my father's son." It takes me a minute, maybe more, to comprehend what he just said.

"You're what?" Skepticism laces my tone. He's joking.

But he doesn't falter. He finally reaches the toe of my shoes and cozies himself up against me. I cringe and try to push him off me but there's no space for me to move my hands without risking him grabbing me first.

It's too much.

"You know what that means, right Lucynda?" His tone is teasing, forcing me to think about the unraveling of his confession, and then it hits me.

First-born male must rule.

I recall Rivian explaining that to me at one point. And then another conclusion.

He's a Royal.At least half.

"You were supposed to be the king…" I say under my breath, the statement is a culmination of the last few moments alone.

"That's right. ButGod forbida ruler of Outsider blood be sworn to the crown," he finally takes a small step back as he waves his hands around in sarcasm, clearly peeved by the declaration. "And as it was, I had noanima vinculumand there was no rush for me to find a wife as my father's reign had just begun." A devious chuckle falls from his throat, his head falls back just an inch as he bellows the sound.

But without even blinking, he tips his head back down and pegs me with mania in his eyes.

"But itwasme!Iwas supposed to be the king!" His roar frightens me, causing me to wince at the sound of his resounding voice.

"D-does Rivian know?" I try my best not to stutter over my words but the delirium of his timbre and the fixation bleeding from his eyes does petrify me.

He turns around to look at Ameliana, then eyes Travois. I could jump. I could penetrate his back and tempt to rip his heart from him that way. But I can't move, like I'm stuck. And that's when I notice that my mother's eyes are now on me. Almost as if she's holding me here.

He scoffs. "Rivian was too focused on his own trivial agenda to see the very downfall of his own being. But that's beside the matter at this point." My heart pounds against its cage, racing with anxiety. "What matters now is that I am here to take what belongs to me." He turns back to look at me.

Bile rises in my throat and layers the back of my tongue. I know what he's about to say. I know because I said something similar when I threatened to rip out my own mother's heart.

He opens his mouth and steps up to me once more, looking down and smiling devilishly. "I'll start by taking what belongs tohim."

"No-don't-" I try to push back but it's too late.

His hand is in my chest. My heart pressured in the palm of his hand. He squeezes and my gut chokes as I nearly bend in half. My lungs cry and everything burns.

"You don't have-" I try to plead, convince him that he can stop this now. But I sputter on my words, feeling blood rush everywhere except my heart. I can't breathe and everything starts to fade.

One yank and he'd take my heart.

He stares me down, laughter spilling from his mouth as he dips his head and smirks.

Footsteps sound from a distance, coming quicker and nearer.

"Ah, perfect. Right on time," the man says but he stays facing me and I don't have any strength to even peer over his shoulder to see who it is.

"Let her go, now!!" Rivian's voice reaches my ears and it's like coming to an oasis in the desert. But I can't be happy, the life is being squeezed from my body, and I have no energy left to fight against his hold.

"Mom? Travois?" I hear my sister's frantic voice follow behind. I can imagine she's confused at seeing Ameliana standing in the room, and worried about her brother's body in the middle of the floor.

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