Page 15 of The Broken Queen

My laughter died when they looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “You’re joking, right? This is just another one of your fucked up mind games to make sure I’m ready?”

Father shook his head and sighed. Zeke kept his creepy gaze on me and didn’t waver.Not once.I narrowed my eyes. He smirked. Yep, I didn’t like him. And I sure as hell didn’t want him around my daughter.

“Mommy!” I whipped around quickly when I heard her voice. I didn’t want her anywhere near this guy.

Julianna came running out the front door and tripped in the snow on her way over. I went to move, but one of the security guys beat me to it. Liam helped her to her feet, and she gave him a little curtsy as she ran the rest of the way to me. I bent down to take her in my arms, but she crashed into me, making us both fall over in the snow. She giggled, which made me burst out laughing. If it weren’t for her, I’d be running away screaming.

She rolled off me and laid flat in the powder with her arms, and legs spread wide. “Mommy, look! I’m making a snow angel!”

I chuckled. “I know, baby girl. Mommy is making one too!”

We continued to make snow angels while everyone stood around us like zombies. Father, Zeke and the bodyguards that were stationed had a hard time trying to keep their smiles hidden. I rolled over and placed my elbow in the snow and my head in my hand. My gaze roamed over her. She thankfully had her coat, gloves, and boots on. While the cold no longer bothered me, I sure as hell didn’t want her catching anything.

“Why did you come out here?” I asked.

“I don’t remember. I got distracted.” she said through giggles.

I shook my head and stood to my feet. I bent down to pick her up, placed her on my side and dusted her off. She was getting too big for me to pick up. My baby was growing fast, and I didn’t know how to feel about it.

“Mommy, look what we did!” She pointed to the ground where our angels connected at the hands. It almost looked like two turtle doves. “Do you think Grandma is making one too?”

I stiffened but relaxed my posture quickly so she wouldn’t be alarmed. Every time Julianna mentioned her, it was like the wind was knocked out of me. I was never prepared for it, and I didn't like talking about it. I opened my mouth but Father was the one that answered.

He took her from my arms and gave her a warm smile. “She sure is, Princess. How about we build a snowman for her? What do you say?”

Her face lit up. “Oh, I want to build a snowman! Can we call him Frosty? Can we Grandpa? Can we?”

He chuckled and shook his head. “Of course we can. Let’s go inside and get some items we’ll need to make the face.”

Ignoring me, they walked back to the front of the mansion and went inside. Suddenly, a cold chill made goosebumps rise on my body. I glanced over at Zeke and he was watching me with a weird look on his face. I took a step back. There was something off about him. I narrowed my eyes. It was almost like I’d met him before.

He grinned. “Are you going to go inside?”

I folded my arms over my chest. His eyes watched the movement.It was fucking creepy.“After you.” I wanted to keep an eye on him. He was up to something for sure. He made a wide berth around me as if I had some kind of disease he didn’t want to catch. Once he passed me, I let out a heavy breath.

I rubbed my hands over my face and sighed. I walked over to the snow angels and heavy feelings slammed into me. Water began to fall from the sky and the two angels blended together, erasing yet another happy memory.

My shoulders drooped as a familiar pang of grief took over my body.I needed her here.I fell to my knees, hunched over and let out an agonized cry. The anniversary of her death was coming, and I wasn’t ready. I was plagued with nightmares and memories. I tried everything to force them away, but the closer the day came, the worse they became.

The water began to fall harder and faster with each drop. Soon, the pellets turned into icicles as I remained hunched over the now forgotten angels. Even though I was Queen, I was long forgotten. The truth was, they didn’t care whether I lived or died. The only person who did was the little girl who had Mommy sing to her every night so she could go to sleep. I needed to survive forher.Keeping my body the way it was became too much, and I rolled over in the snow and looked up at the sky as the rain soaked my clothes, weighing me down into the ground.

Eventually, the rain began to let up, and my eyes grew heavy. I kept my tired gaze on the sky and I knew that somewhere upthere, she was watching me. She was looking out for me, even though she was no longer here. And with that small amount of comfort, I fell into a deep sleep.

SLADE

My hands clenched at my sides. Everyone else had already left, but I stayed behind and watched Raven fall asleep in her drenched clothes. I couldn’t look away. And dammit, I wanted to. I wanted to run the fuck away and forget about her. Sheruinedme and it was my turn to return the favor.

I ran a hand through my soaked hair. The bodyguards had followed the King inside, leaving Raven at the hands of my mercy. How the fuck could those assholes leave her out in the wide open like that?

My lips tightened when another emotion burned inside my chest. When my daughter rushed up to her and the two began to make angels in the snow while laughing and giggling, something happened. My heart was dead. It was no more. I suffered too much at the hands of those people and yet, here I was watching the one person who held my existence in the palm of her hands, breakdown.

I didn’t want her.

She wasnothingto me.

So, why couldn’t I leave?

Chapter Seven

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