Page 127 of Reign of Betrayal

“Reign wouldn’t plan to kill us,” I say with uncertainty.

“She wouldn’t? Have you asked her?” He laughs. “You don’t know her at all. How do you think we survived the Hollows? We thrived on knowing one day we would get our revenge on all of you.”

His words hurt more than words should, igniting a feral rage within me. I attack, knocking him to the ground. He gets to his knees, panting, and I place the tip of my blade to his throat. He gulps making the blade cut his throat a bit, as a bead of crimson drips down it.

My chest rises and falls rapidly, emotions swirling within me. I want to kill him, to avenge my sister’s death, but he is all Reign has left. Even if she is destined to die, I hesitate. Then, the image of my sister’s lifeless body floods my mind, and I realize I can kill them both.

I pull back my sword for the killing blow, but Elm suddenly juts forward, shock etching his face as he looks down to see a sword protruding from his chest.

Too lost in my thoughts, I don’t notice Kylo behind him until he yanks the sword free. Elm collapses to the ground, panting unevenly and coughing up blood. Good. He’ll be dead in minutes.

“Go sit with my sister, Kylo. I will be there in a minute. I have something I must do.” Kylo looks at me, tears streaming down his face, then nods and rushes off toward Lilyana.

With a heavy footstep and a broken heart, I head off to kill the love of my life.

Sitting up in bed, I realize I am alone. Lukene is gone, but on the bedside table is a handwritten note. As I read it, the words settle heavily in my heart.

My Reckless Reign,

You were sleeping too restfully. I didn’t dare wake you. I went to get us breakfast. Just know, the few minutes I will be away from you will be pure torture for me. I need you like I need my next breath of air. I will miss you like the stars miss the sun, when it descends from the sky. You are my everything. You have been since I first met you. You are now and you will be for eternity. If we ever part, just remember where darkness kisses light, I will always find you.

Yours forever,

Your Dark Prince.

Thinking over the last few days, I can’t believe what my life has come to. I love this man with everything I have. He has healed my heart in so many ways. And yet, I feel an overwhelming sadness. It hits me like a ton of bricks, so powerful it nearly brings tears to my eyes. What in the double burning hells is happening? Then comes the anger and heartache.

Something is wrong—terribly wrong.

I jump up, dressing swiftly, trying not to be overwhelmed by emotions that don’t even feel like my own. I strap the dagger Lukene gave me to my thigh and tuck away the two palm blades I always carry.

Just as I’m about to leave, I notice the note. Not wanting it to be accidentally thrown out by someone cleaning, I grab it and place it in my pocket. I step into the eerily empty corridors, a haunting sadness pressing down on me. As I pass the main entry room of the palace, I hear a strange noise—a wet, gurgling cough.

Deciding to investigate, I find Elm lying on the floor in a pool of blood. I rush to his side, flipping him onto his back and cradling his head in my lap. “Elm, who did this?”

“The pri…” He coughs up more blood, and tears streak down my face as I take in his broken, bloodied form. “The prince is coming to kill you. Run.”

My eyes widened at his words. Shock. Heartache. Betrayal. I feel it all. “Lukene did this to you? Why? What happened?” I scream as I try to make sense of it all. How could he do this to me? I swear the world around me starts to crumble into ruins, or is that just my heart?

“I am so sorry, Reign.” Blood dribbles out of the corner of his mouth, staining his porcelain skin red. The metallic tang of his blood fills my nose. “My husband is dead. I found out last night from a villager in a tavern. Vanna’s guards must have killed him when I went to the Hollows.” He starts breathing in short, gasping pants. “I tried to poison Vanna when she asked me to bring her and Lilyana tea. I had to—for him and for you. But she brushed against my hand when I gave her the cup with the poison in it. I guess she saw I was going to kill her, and she gave it to Lilyana.”

“Is Lilyana dead?” I ask, my breath hitching. My pulse crashes in my ears, pounding out a desperate, frantic rhythm. Please don’t let her be dead. Please, Mother above, don’t let her be gone. I’ve already lost Larah, and Lilyana became one of my best friends. I can’t lose her too.

Tears stream down Elm’s face, and he nods. “No!” I sob, the crushing grief squeezing my heart, the sting of Elm’s betrayal cutting deep. He promised. We had agreed not to act.

“I’m…” Elm’s breathing grows more irregular, each gasp shallower than the last. “I’m so sorry, Reign. I let my pain and anger get the best of me.” His voice fades. He braids his trembling, bloodstained fingers and kisses them.

Tears stream down my face as I mirror his gesture. “You are the sister I always wanted. I love you.” With his final words, his chest stills, and his eyes stare unseeing into the void. A guttural scream rips from my throat as fire bursts around me, flames fueled by my grief and rage. My brother, my best friend, lies dead in my lap.

Sobs shake my entire body. Sobs for Lilyana. Sobs for Elm’s betrayal. Sobs for Lukene, who has lost his sister. And sobs for myself, because I know I’ll never forgive Lukene for taking Elm from me. I will kill him.

“Well, it looks like we both lost someone we loved today,” Lukene says as he walks into the entry way from the corridor, his voice cutting through the air with a sinister, bone-chilling coldness.

My flames sputter out, his words breaking my concentration on Elm’s lifeless body. I immediately realize my mistake because the moment I falter, shadows lash out from Lukene, wrapping around my neck and slamming me into the wall. The tendrils hold me mercilessly, and pieces of my shattered heart sink in my stomach. Pain—unimaginable, suffocating pain—consumes me, mingled with the betrayal and guilt gnawing at my soul.

“What have you done, Reign?” he whispers, his voice ragged. Then he screams, the room echoing with the raw agony in his words, mimicking the heartache he must be feeling, which matches my own. “What have you done!”

I can’t breathe. His shadows tighten around my neck, and the world starts to blur. I kick my feet as I dangle against the wall, trying to catch purchase on anything. Finally, he releases me, and I collapse to the floor, gasping, tears streaming down my face. My heart breaks, torn between the need to comfort and the need to kill him. The emotions are overwhelming, both mine and somehow not mine. Love and hatred. Broken trust and betrayal. Longing and suffering. They mix together in a way that makes no sense.

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