Page 93 of Blood and Reign

“I already know who and what I am.” I nearly took a breakdown when finding out, but his words were nothing new and if this was the angle he was playing, then he was going to be sorely disappointed in the reaction he receives.

King sighs, that smile never dropping. “I don’t think you do. Nor do your mates. You’ve been hiding it from them.”

Hiding it from them… I frown, shaking my head at his asinine words. My mates know everything about me.

“I’m not going to play your mind games.” This fake imitation has nothing on the real one. This King evokes none of the true fear and pain from me, when the real one can do it in a single glance. And although the real King looks more put together, he is completely volatile and would never have allowed me to put distance between us, let alone talk to him like this.

King places his hands behind his back and begins slowly walking around me, keeping a couple of feet between us.

“I know what you are. I know what you’ve been hiding from everyone.”

I watch him warily, making sure he keeps his distance. Just because he wasn’t the real King didn’t make him any less dangerous.

“So, what am I?”

King stops in his tracks, his smile growing into something darker. “You’re a monster, just like me.”

I want to laugh at him, to tell him how foolish he sounds, but even when I force a chuckle out, shaking my head at him, I know deep down that it’s something I’ve always feared becoming.

King stares at me before narrowing his eyes and nodding to himself. “This is why I was drawn to you. This…” He raises a hand and waves it around the room. “…is all happening because ofyou.”

I shake my head. “No. It’s because of you.”

He barks a laugh, making me jump. “I may have been the one to set things in motion, but you are the catalyst to it all. If we remove you, none of this would have happened.”

It’s not true. It can’t be.

I’m too lost in my thoughts to notice him step closer. “Admit it, you’re a monster, just like me. You love the power that runs through your veins.”

I’m nothing like him. I may not be perfect. I may have made many mistakes, but I know I’m not an evil monster like him. I’m not cruel and heartless, with no love or warmth.

“No. I’m nothing like you, and Ineverwill be.”

King steps back, tilting his head. “But what about your mates?”

“My mates love me.”

“But would they love and accept you if they knew the truth, if they saw therealyou?”

“This little speech is getting old quick. I’mnota monster.”

“Are you sure?”

I feel a shift of energy over my skin just as it changes in front of my eyes, my body turning into something bloody and mangled.

I glance down at my clothes, now torn and sliced with large, bloodied gashes and cuts all seeping out.

The same strange energy shifts over my face. I reach up, my hands shaking as I feel my face… or what’s left of it. My left eye is swollen shut with the entire side of my face full of deep ridges and dripping blood.

I look up, using my good eye to find King to my right, just as a mirror appears in front of me.

My stomach drops as I stare back at my mangled face and body on display.

My face is as horrible as it feels, my left eye is barely visible from how swollen it is. The entire side of my face is scared, with blood oozing from some of the fresher scars. And there’s a large, jagged wound that runs down the entire left side of my body, the sight alone something from nightmares.

“This is what you are. What youreallyare.”

I shake my head, watching as the mangled girl in front of me does the same. Her visible eye wide, her face full of horror. “No.”

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