Page 83 of Blood and Reign

“You were more… subdued.”

Kai snarls at him. “You mean easier to control.”

“I was broken. Weak. Just what you needed to use Xavier on me.” My voice is as hollow as I feel. I stare down at the blade in my hand, its weight feeling a lot heavier than it did a moment ago.

“How did you do it?” I wanted to know exactly what happened when my and Xavier’s paths crossed sometime very soon.

“At night. When you were sleeping.”

“Still, I should’ve been able to block him…” Xavier was strong, but even in my weakened state, I should have been able to at least mentally fight him off.

“And you were, so we slipped you a little help to ease you into it.” My father’s words hit me like a physical punch to the gut. My eyes widening when I realize what they’d done.

“The teas you gave me to help me sleep.” I couldn’t sleep when I came home, barely getting a couple of hours, so when my mother suggested a herbal tea to help me, I jumped on it, thinking they finally cared.

And just like that, everything starts to fall into place, and why they suddenly changed their attitude toward me. Why they were more attentive, and what I thought was caring. My eyes close as my shoulders drop.

They never really cared, did they?

My heart aches deep inside my chest proving to me that it’s not made of stone. All while the world I built slowly crumbles around me making me realize just how alone I really am.

As if Kai can hear my thoughts, he steps forward, placing a hand on my shoulder. “I’m here now, and I’ll never leave you again. You have my word. Our family will be back together. And this time, none of us will leave one another again.”

I frown as Kai looks at me, his eyes full of hope. But before I can agree, something stops me, making me pause.

Could I just go with Kai and forget everything? What about the others?

“This is all very touching, but you still have a job to do,” my mother states as if the last few minutes never happened.

“Is he innocent?” I ask, not able to look at her.

She sighs loudly, as if put out by the question. “What does it matter if he’s innocent or not? He needs to be disposed of for the family. Our family, and that’s all you need to know.”

My stomach churns at her words. I glance up at Kai and see my pain reflected in his eyes, followed by guilt and sorrow.

But I’m the one who should feel remorse, not him. I’m the one who killed all those people just because my parents told me to. I knew many of them were not good people, but I never questioned whether any were innocent.

I craved their love so much that I turned a blind eye to what my gut had been telling me all along.

That this iswrong.

But no more. No more will I be their personal assassin. No more will I be their… son.

I never was to begin with, anyway.

Glancing up at them, I look them both in the eye. This time I’m the one wearing the disapproving look. My mother narrows her eyes on me, opening her mouth to speak, but I’m done with both of them and their lies.

Throwing my dagger to the ground, I glare at them. “I will not kill an innocent man. I’m done being your personal killer.”

My parents’ faces grow shocked before anger leaks out around them. I turn to Kai, ready to get out of here, when I hear the clank of steel.

Whipping around, my eyes widen as I watch my mother use my dagger to slice the man’s throat, all while wearing a satisfied smile. The man chokes on his own blood, dying instantly.

“If you don’t go with us, then thisinnocentman’s death will be on your hands.” My mother shares a smile with my father, making me feel nothing but disgust.

How did I let them get inside my head when their true colors are as obvious as the day and night?

Kai steps up beside me wearing his own smug smirk. “You don’t think I’d come here unprepared, do you? I did a little digging on the Dufort name and couldn’t believe my luck when I ran into an old friend of yours, a demon named Hyde.”

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