Page 35 of Cruel Crown

When she spoke, her words were low but precise, shaking me enough to remove my hold on her.

“For the same reason I could never kill you.”

I took a step back, aware that I was laughing maniacally.

“Fuck you bitch, you left me out there to fucking die!” I screamed the words at her. She blinked and tears fell down her cheeks.

It was getting to the point that I didn’t know if I was angry or hurt, and if her crying made it better or worse.

“I gave you a chance,” she whispered. “We both know that had I wanted you dead, you would have died a long time ago.”

My chest was rising and falling as I heaved. I grabbed her arm and pushed her, making her fall on the bed. The towel she was wrapped in opened. My mouth watered, but I ignored it.

“Is that supposed to make me feel better? You left me a knife—was that supposed to be enough?”

She immediately sat up, grabbing the fur blanket and wrapping it around herself.

“You are notorious for making it out alive from impossible situations…” She looked down at the floor, and I saw the sparkle of a tear fall from her cheeks. “I had hoped you survived this too.”

I couldn’t believe what she was telling me. It was unexpected, and I was unsure if it was welcomed. I took a step back because if I took one forward, I would fuck her and then probably kill her right after.

Daphne turned toward me, her gray eyes wide, looking at me like she never had before. There was a warmth in her eyes that was all for me—because of me.

“It’s not like it matters anymore,” she told me, her voice low and cold. “If we had a small chance before, all of that went to hell the moment you made a deal with Damian.”

My throat was clogged tight with all the anger flowing through me, making it painful to swallow. “What. Fucking. Chance?”

Shaking my head, I couldn’t even look at her. I turned around, ready to leave her room and think straight because I was teetering between two outcomes. Both sounded fine to me at the moment, but each would have repercussions.

Just as I opened the door, she spoke again.

“Did you ever wonder why I didn’t want you here in the first place?” Her voice was soft, with no malice.

I punched the wall because if I didn’t release my rage, it was going to burn me alive. My knuckles split open the moment they hit the concrete wall. I heard her get off the bed but I walked out of her room slamming the door in process.

***

Daphne

Walking over to the wall Gideon had punched, I traced my fingers over the little droplets of blood. I’d never felt as tired and drained as I did now. It would be easy to give in to lust and desire, but doing that would be a betrayal against everything I was fighting for.

I closed my eyes, and I saw his face angry at me. The look in his eyes. The sight that was now scarred and marred because of me. It was going to be a permanent reminder of my betrayal.

How did we get like this?

Feeling something for someone and seeing them only moments at a time through the years was not enough to unravel you. But now we were stuck in a castle for a month, and everything that had lain between us from the start was going to come to the surface.

Damian had a file on everyone except for me, because I never allowed myself to love anything or anyone. I had to make sure that at the end of the month, it remained that way because the things I‘d liked and loved had ended up dead or broken.

I walked to the fireplace and added more wood. Then I changed into black leggings and a long-sleeve. I grabbed the old flats that somehow still fit and my wireless headphones, and I made my way out of my room. No one ever ventured deep enough into the catacombs because of the cold temperature. The left wing was where the scientists worked with level-four agents. The temperature was naturally cold, which made it easier to power the rest of their lab equipment.

People got so used to their luxuries that often they forgot how to do essential things themselves. I grabbed a torch that was hanging on the wall that led to the entrance of the science floor, and I made my way deeper to where our most guarded treasure lay: the Amber Room.

When the world was at war, one of Russia’s greatest treasures disappeared and was never found again. When they built the runway, they brought back the room, dismantled and left it here. Only when the Sekt began to grow in power did they reconstruct it. I lit the torches by the door, illuminating them—large white doors with gold trim that made you feel insignificant.

Once inside, I started to light some of the chandeliers knowing that if I fell, it was risky, but this room was an experience, a piece of history. It would be a sin to practice in here in the dark.

Gideon

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