Page 54 of The Broken Queen

I walked out of the office, heading off in search of her. I needed Raven on my side.Why couldn’t he get that?

I was an unknown in this world, apart from possibly being the Queen’s killer, I needed someone who knew the people as well as she did, so she could earn me some of the Kingdom’s respect.

Now to make sure she didn’t do something stupid, and get us all in a bind.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Raven

My feet moved of their own accord towards the back of the cemetery. The weather was partly cloudy, heavier on the clouds, with a warm breeze. The gravel crunched under my shoes, and my hands curled around the stems from the fresh roses I’d just picked. The thorns remained on the stems, and they were stinging my hands as they poked through the skin.

I sucked in a breath when my feet carried me directly in front of the gravestone. I fell down to my knees, placing the roses on top of the grass that covered her coffin. I needed to ask her so many questions.Did she know what Father was up to? Did she know that Slade and his parents were true royalty? Did she know what really happened to his parents? Did Father have something to do with it? Or was it really a plane crash like the news reports had said?

Birds chirped in the trees around me, but I couldn’t bask in it. I was so lost; I didn’t even know where to start. I pulled my legs from under me and sat in a criss cross position next to her grave. When she first passed away, I couldn’t get myself to come out here. But now that she had been gone for a few years, I was able to come to her final resting place and just be with her, even though her spirit was no longer here.

I put my head in my hands, gripped my hair, and let out a scream. Emotions of every sort slammed into me.

Did I fail Julianna? Was I doomed to have the same fate that Mother did? To leave my daughter alone in this cold and cruel world?

“What have I done, Mother? Why didn’t I just escape this world when I had a chance?”

I picked up a spare rock and threw it across the way. “Slade is the true heir to the throne. Is this what got you killed? I’ve failed you. I couldn’t save you, and I can’t save Julianna from this world either...unless I do the unthinkable.

“I don’t know what to do. Should I just leave them behind? Julianna loves her dad, and she’s always happy when he’s around. Not only that, but Slade seems to be happy where he is at as well. He’s doing better without me in his life. The baggage that I have is only bringing them down. I don’t want this life for my daughter.”

“That’s not true.” I froze when Slade’s smooth voice rattled my ears.

I turned and there he was, the devil’s prodigy. The truest form of temptation, because whenever he was around, I couldn’t resist him.

I stood up, wiped away a tear, and turned towards him. “What are you doing here? I didn’t want you to follow me. I think I’ve heard enough for one day.”

He had a hand behind his back and while he stepped towards me; he maneuvered himself around to where he could place a few yellow flowers on her grave. Even though my heart had hurt for everything that was to come, that small gesture reminded me that he cared.

“I’m here to talk you out of whatever stupid bullshit your brain is feeding you. Whatever it says, it’s not true. Stop listening to Elijah, he doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about.”

I took a step back and looked at Mother’s grave. I still couldn’t figure out how we got here. At some point in my life, there was a time when I wasn’t living in a constant state of fear. Imissedthose days to where I could go about and do what I wanted freely.

Unfortunately, I would never have that feeling again.

I scoffed, “It’s not bullshit, Slade. It’s reality. My whole world, everything I’ve ever known, been put through, was just to hide the fact that we weren’t royalty. I could’ve lived a normal life, buthehad to make sure we suffered every Goddamn day.”

He took a step towards me, his body tantalizingly almost pressed against mine. His beautiful silver gaze bore into mine, making me feel important, wanted.

“The torture you were put through, the agony you suffered at the hands of your useless waste of that asshole, wasn’t for nothing.”

Another step...and his calloused hand reached for my face, cupping my cheek in his hand. The warmth from his touch spread through my body like a roaring fire roasting marshmallows.

“WhileImade a mistake that kept us apart for years, brewing hatred between the two of us, that doesn’t mean that you weren’t made for me. You were put in this role for a reason. I didn’t know the secret for a long while, but once I figured it out, I knew that I was taken out of the spotlight for a reason.”

I licked my lips, wishing that he would stop saying those perfect words and just press his lips firmly against mine so I could forget everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours.

He looked around the graveyard, and a crooked smile came onto his face. “Come with me.”

My stomach flipped. “What? Where?”

Before I could blink, he reached for my hand and pulled me away from the one person who had always made me feel safe in a world of darkness. Even though she was gone, it was never easy leaving her behind. He took me to his Black Death trap, an R6 bike that he used on occasion when he didn’t want to drive his Subaru.

I pulled my hand from his, “You can’t expect me to get on that thing. I never have and never will.”

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