Page 4 of Cruel Crown

Having memorized the camp, I started running toward the tent where they had the Estacado girl, but I didn’t have to go very far because Bastian emerged from the shadows.

A wave of relief washed through me making the heaviness I carried since walking out of Gideon’s tent diminish a bit. I hated it. I hated this weakness that was growing in me. Bas smirked at me. He was everything I always wanted in a brother—I would never be that lucky.

Perched on his head were night googles. He wore his commando get-up just like I did with a bazooka strapped across his shoulder and the Italian princess over the other.

“I gave her a little something. She started screaming as soon as she saw me.”

I shook my head, but I smiled at him, for a second forgetting what I’d had to do to get to this moment.

“We should go,” I said.

He nodded, then brought his hand to his head and fixed his goggles. He took off jogging, and I followed him until we reached the jeep Damian had left for him.

“The jet should be on standby already,” Bas said.

Nodding absently, I got in the passenger side.

“Did you do it?” he asked me.

I couldn’t look at him when I answered. “It’s done.”

There was a moment of silence as Bas strapped the girl in the back seat. When he was done, he came to my side.

“Get out of here,” he told me as he handed me the keys. “I need to take care of a loose end. I’ll meet you when it’s safe.” He then leaned in, kissed my forehead, grabbed a backpack from the back of the jeep, and left me.

Tipping my head back, I let the water wash over me as if that would clean tonight’s events off me. I had no idea what Bas was doing, I didn’t even know ifhesurvived, but I sure fucking hoped so.

I got everything I wanted, and I felt worse than I ever had.

Once showered, I walked out and changed, glad that the girl was still sleeping. I left the room, locking it from the outside. Having captives wasn’t anything new to me. I didn’t like it because it usually ended in one of two ways. One, the captive tried to run away, and I would be forced to kill them. Two, the prisoner would kill me. So far, one had worked well for me.

Making my way to the bar, I looked at the selection of drinks and gave a dry chuckle as I went for the whiskey. Good, let it burn. Once I poured three fingers, I remembered his voice the night we were in Sinestre. It was a lifetime ago, but it still felt like it was only yesterday.

That’s the thing about time. It passed by, but moments stayed frozen, keeping the memory alive. A memory could take you back and awaken tingles, make you shiver, and feel like you could taste the desire. A memory had the power to kill you all over again.

I slammed back the drink letting it burn my throat. I put the cup away and went to the compartment where I hid my stuff. You needed a code for the latch to open, and I was the only one who had it. If Damian knew about it, he never said. I pulled out a passport and cash.

Grabbing a few thousand, I walked to the cockpit. The pilots sat a little straighter and didn’t utter a word. I knew they were scared of me, and that’s how I liked it. When people feared you, they didn’t cross you. They had been forced into this world of secrecy by their fathers.

It must be hard living with a foot in both worlds. I imagined it got rather exhausting.

“If anyone asks, it was Bastian and me on the plane… Only Bas and I.”

They replied, “Yes, ma’am,” in Russian.

Leaving the money on the floor for them, I went back to my seat. The jungle was long gone from my view, and I wondered if it was the last I would ever see the lone wolf.

The more I thought about it, the sillier it seemed to have this—attraction. No, attraction was too tame of a word. My theory was that we lived life on the edge. Every moment was heightened, knowing that any day could be our last. I think living by the sword made us get attached to people who saw us right away. Relationships took time, people revealing little by little all their negative qualities. In this world—my world—everything was already ugly. When people saw you, they saw the ugly first. They had heard of your sins, and if, for any reason, they stayed, it meant they knew what you were capable of and didn’t care.

There was a reason why the Sekt made us emotionless, because emotions were cancer that made you weak. Feelings made you exploitable. Caring about someone made them a target, and I never wanted to someone to bear that burden.

Daphne

Location:Italy

Castles were pillars of hope. A strong structure meant to house kings and queens, keeping them safe from the outside world. Castles were also a prison when you were on the inside looking out.

My mother burst into my chambers first thing in the morning. Since winter was harsh and cold, the sun hadn’t even risen, but that didn’t matter, not when business awaited. It might have been early, but my mother was dressed to the nines already.

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