Page 150 of Ink Deep Devotion

He lets the moment hang, choosing silence as his reply.

“I found out how Titan’s dad died. Anton gave him poison, which he took.” He lets the news hit me, choosing not to look me in the eye.“It was a test The Rites of Passage wanted Lucas to take. If he wasn’t greedy like his father, my grandfather, then he would give up his power, take his life, and give it to his son. If he didn’t, then The Rites of Passage would come to kill us all. Uncle Lucas died, so we all could live.”

Now I can understand Avery’s need to undermine The Rites of Passage.

Drum, drum, drum.His tapping fingers echo off the floor.“I think my dad did the same. I think he had to die in order for me to live because that is what The Rites of Passage demanded of him. My father knew he was going to die that night. I saw it in his eyes. Relief. That’s what he felt, knowing that dinner would be his last. He’d never have to see me again.”

“I don’t think that’s what your dad felt, Dash. He loved you in his own twisted way, just like you love me. Your father pushedyou away to keep you safe. You’re his son, you share his DNA, and you are doing the same to me.”

His eye twitches.You did this to us! You made me cruel and heartless because you pried my heart out from my ribs and shoved it into this cage.Then you rung me dry, twisting me, forgetting I was as thin as a paper towel, soon to be ripped up and unable to survive your callous hands.

“That’s a lot to digest.” I mutter in a gentler tone.

He shrugs,“I didn’t eat it yet. I’m still staring at the plate, unsure if I should taste it and discover my dad’s past.”

“You might not have the option, Dash.”

“I know.” He whispers.“Anton, the guy downstairs, he told me more facts about my father and grandfather. Things I’m not sure how to consider.”

“Maybe I can help.”

He speaks without pausing, as if he’s sick and needs to purge all the information in order to feel better.“Anton told me my grandfather, Jules King, tried to take over The Rites of Passage with a few other members. For years, the Rites of Passage was in a civil war. That is until my dad was offered something he couldn’t refuse. So he took it, convinced his brothers to join the other side, and go against their father.”

“What did they offer your father?”

“My mother.”

Chapter 53

Mila

“So your mother was traded like a war trophy?”

“No.” His growl is a warning to tread lighter.“My father and mother were in love, but since they fought on opposite sides, it could never have been unless one of them changed sides. Dad decided to turn his back on his family and pick mom’s side, and he convinced my uncles to fight alongside him, too. But it wasn’t so simple. Power never is. Because of my grandfather’s betrayal, the Kings lost their seat of power. My uncles wanted it back. The Rites of Passage refused to give Uncle Lucas the ruling seat his father once had, but they did offer it to his firstborn if he, along with his brothers, could pass a test and prove their loyalty. Once Titan was born, the test started. They wanted to make sure greed didn’t run in the family, so they ordered our fathers to pay the ultimate price for my grandfather’s betrayal. To give up not only their power but their lives for the cause.”

“So, Titan’s dad willingly sacrificed his life so Titan could gain this seat of power. And your dad, along with Damian’s, also died, so you and Damian could be part of this society?”

“I never said we were a normal family.” He sarcastically snorts.“Now Titan has to pass a test in order to get this throne of power.” Fear ebbs and flows in his voice.“He bears the burden for us all because of what my grandfather did.”

“What if he doesn’t want it? Can he turn them down?”

His snicker scrapes over my exposed skin.“No. And they are so powerful we’d be fools to try to fight them. How can I hate a man who sold his soul to get the woman he loved? My dad and mother loved each other, Mila. They loved each other more than they loved me. I always resented them for that, but now I understand.”

His eyes are claws holding my heart. I try to block out the emotions; my heart shudders and flops like a fish out of water, trying to escape his grasp.

“Not every romance has a rose as its symbol.” I tell him.

“What do you think is our symbol?” He sounds like the boy who first revealed his heart to me all those years ago in our dorm room.

“A candle,” I reply.“When we’re lit, we burn, melting everything in our path.” A shadow pulls at his face as he smiles, but the dim light conceals his lips from me.“But when the turbulence in our life grows too strong, we are snuffed out.”

“Candles can be relit.”

“Not if all the wick runs out.”Don’t do this! Don’t you dare come back to me as the heartbroken prince, then emerge the King after we make love to one another.

“I don’t want to be a weak flickering flame that can only mold something as weak as wax; I want to be a roaring fire that burns anything that tries to come near it. I want to be unstoppable.”

Our eyes meet halfway between the emptiness in the room.“I guess it runs in my genes,” Dash mutters.“Loving someone you shouldn’t have, but are willing to die for.”

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