Page 21 of The Queen
My senses are dialled to their limits, searching for the slightest hint of Felix and his crew.
We round another corner, and I spot a door slightly ajar, a slice of darkness beckoning us.
Time is slipping away, and if we don’t find Felix soon, we’re all as good as dead.
“Eliza! Clock’s ticking!”
The sudden boom of my name makes me jump, gripping Flick tighter as I curse. “Fuck off, asshole.”
“Left or right?” James asks, voice low, as we hit a fork in the corridor.
“Right,” I decide without hesitation.
We move swiftly, checking each door we pass, every shadowy nook where danger could lurk. It feels like we’re chasing a ghost, but he’s here, somewhere, watching, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
“Eliza,” James says, his hand on my arm pulling me back just as I’m about to step forward.
“What?” I snap, irritated at the delay.
He points to the floor. A thin wire stretches across the hallway—barely visible, nearly invisible against the darkened floor. A trap. My heart hammers in my chest. So close.
“Shit, thanks,” I whisper, stepping over it carefully, my eyes scanning for more traps. I couldn’t say for sure that Felix set that, it’s creepy as all fuck down here, but there could be more. I didn’t even think to look, so thank fuck for James.
Then, a shadow moves up ahead—a figure slipping around a corner. Without thinking, I break into a run, James hot on my heels. We round the bend and stop.
“Eliza,” he sneers, raising a wicked-looking gun that could no doubt blow my head clean from my shoulders. “You think you’re so untouchable, don’t you?”
“Drop the weapon,” James commands, his gun trained on my half-brother. “You know who I am, so you know I won’t miss.”
Felix’s eyes flick to James briefly, fear flashing because he does know. But he’s too full of hate to back down.
It’s a standoff, the air thick with the possibility of violence. I can almost taste the tension, my senses alive. This is a showdown that makes the one I had with Lila pale in comparison.
“Neither will I,” Felix taunts with a wicked smile.
But we don’t back down. We can’t. Too much is at stake.
“Why do you hate me?” I suddenly blurt out, which causes James to give me a glare that could kill a houseplant. But I need to know. “Are you jealous?”
“Jealous?” Felix scoffs. “Of you?”
“Yeah, because I have a dad who loves me and made me his heir to the empire.”
“Fuck you,” he spits out. “You’re just a little girl playing at being tough. I’ve been watching you for months. Taken in your every move. You don’t have what it takes to survive in this world.”
I baulk, but not at the revelation that he’s been watching me so closely for months. Oh no. It’s at the arrogance that he thinks, even after all that, I don’t have it in me. “Fuck you, asshole. I could kick your ass from here to next week!”
“Come on then, little cunt,” he growls, and I lunge as Felix shoves his gun in his pants. “I’ve been dying to kick your ass.”
“Oh, same!” I snarl and leap at him as James sighs heavily, heard even over our snarling.
“Eliza,” he snaps. “For fuck’s sake, he could’ve blown your head off.”
“Doesn’t have the guts,” I grunt, kicking Felix precisely there.
He grunts and doubles over, and I follow up with an elbow to the side of his head. Felix stumbles, crashing against the wall with a dull thud that thrills me more than it should. James moves beside me, gun still trained on Felix.
But I can see it in James’ eyes—the way he’s holding back, letting me have this moment. Because he knows how personal it is, how much I need to prove to myself that I can take down this asshole.
