Page 22 of A Touch of Gold and Madness

The king stiffened and straightened his cufflinks in nonchalance, regaining his composure. “You’ve always been such an obstinate learner, my dear.”

“My apologies for failing to be the perfect little child soldier you’ve always dreamt of,” I said, struggling to keep the emotion from my voice. I squared my shoulders and held my palms facing outwards at my sides. Oh, how hard I’d tried to be the next Chrome Freyr for him. In the end, it was never enough.

I drew energy into my aura, building my reserves for a substantial electric blast. I was grateful Scarlett, Cotton, and Hazel lent their energies to me, but I would need more in order to best my father.

“It’s a little late for apologies, daughter,” the king said in a condescending tone. “Don’t you think?” A strand of his perfectly styled, deep-green hair fell across his eye. The blue undertones caught on the rays of the rising sun. He calmly pushed it back into place with delicate precision.

“Perhaps.” My palms vibrated from the energy waves I absorbed. The air cooled, and the lights dimmed as I stole the electricity for myself.

Father looked around the room with a knowing smirk, able to sense my absorption fueling the strength of my magic. “Still being defiant, I see.”

I ground my teeth and thrust out my palms, expecting a large blast to slam into him. My heart dropped to the floor when nothing happened.

My magic vanished. It was just gone.

And that could only mean…

“Grim…” Dread sunk deep into my core. I shook my head, realizing that I’d walked right into his trap—another failure.

Grim Valor, the husband of Amethyst, stood behind me. I could only guess that he’d been lying in wait for me to make a move. His dark, empty energy consumed my magic the closer he drew. “Hello, Princess. It’s been a while.”

“Not quite long enough.”

Grim’s loafers screeched against the marble tile as he approached. The cold void of his energetic aura suffocated me. Every second left me feeling more barren. He leaned into my ear and murmured, “Nah. It’s been too long, little one. Too long.”

Ice froze my veins when his rancid breath forced its way from my ear down my neck. I peered at my father, who stood pompous with his arms crossing his chest.

I imagined Grim’s predatory gleam that hovered behind me. I could almost see the layer of grease that always burnished his long black hair, his beady eyes preying upon weakness, and his sharp nose hooking to a gruesome right as if permanently damaged. I never understood what Amethyst saw in him. Maybe it was his corrupted soul that mirrored her own.

“As I said, Gray. You were a mistake,” my father said as Grim’s poisonous fingers trailed down my arms.

I knew better than to shake him off, so I didn’t flinch. “Like what you see, Grim? Amethyst must be holding out on you.”

Cold hands ensnared my wrists, pinning them behind my back. I struggled against them, but a dark chuckle sounded in my right ear. “We’ll see who holds out, Princess.”

“What is this, Father?” I demanded.

I thrashed in Grim’s hold. He yanked on my wrists, causing me to stumble in my struggle. Father leered at me. He believed he’d won.

I slipped an arm loose and bashed my elbow into Grim’s ribcage. The blow forced him to loosen his grip on my other wrist. Freed from his hold, I spun around and punched his pallid jaw. A grunt escaped him as he stumbled. Grabbing his wrist, I thrust my knee upward, nailing him between his thighs. He dropped to the carpet with a thud.

Hatred simmered in his dark eyes as he strained on the floor, cupping himself. “You fucking bitch!” he shouted, spit flying from his thin lips.

I went for a throat jab, but I was snatched backward by my hair. A knife quickly pushed against my throat. I froze. Pain radiated from my scalp. Each breath pressed my esophagus further into the blade, singeing me with a sharp sting, and sending a trail of blood sliding down my skin. A strong arm wrapped around me, binding me to a broad chest.

Shit, shit, shit.

“Well, that was rather fun,” Father taunted from behind. “Grim, get the cuffs.”

With a grunt, Grim straightened his back, running his fingers through greasy hair as he rose on wobbly legs. He retreated from the room with a limp, and I couldn’t stop the fleeting sense of pride that washed through me. I grinned despite the knife against my throat.

“You failed, Gray,” my father said. “Can’t say I didn’t warn you.”

I swallowed, my throat bobbing against the blade. “Well, I guess that was the ultimate disappointment.”

“Indeed.”

A silence overcame the suite, smothering the oxygen in the room.

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