Page 61 of A Girl and HER Prince
“I’m sorry this is all happening to you,” she said. “I hope it doesn’t feel like déjà vu.”
He turned silent, and she wondered if she’d said too much.
“I thought this was all over,” he said. He’d unexpectedly broken through his usual reserve with a despondent tone. “My father told me the Myrdons would be after me when… uh, after my cousin abdicated the throne to me.”
Livvy twisted to look at him. Helena of Tirreoy had given the rule of the kingdom to him? She supposed she should’ve looked up Tirrojan History 101 after she’d kissed him—she’d just been so positive there wouldn’t be a repeat—maybe there won’t be if Venice is actually going to be a king.
A rush of despair plummeted through her stomach that she wasn’t prepared to feel. “You’re going to be the ruler of Tirreoy?”
He let out a weak laugh. “I… I’m not sure about anything right now. My father’s been through so much already. Anything less will break him… I don’t know what to say to him, or what I’ll do.”
Without thinking, she pressed his shoulder to give him comfort.
“Even if I can fight him on it, who does that leave to rule? Bris? She’s not… anyway, it wouldn’t be good for her. Power would go straight to her head.”
After meeting her, Livvy completely understood.
“Achilles and Bris have their differences,” he said, “but they’re practically siblings—if I’m not there and those Myrdons try to get to her too, he’d keep her safe…”
Unless he’s behind this.But Venice didn’t need Livvy pointing that out right now. He needed to believe that Deedee or Turner was behind this, even if her every instinct told her that just wasn’t true. Venice had talked about Achilles’s rebellious streak earlier. What if he’d never really gotten over it?
Venice sighed, resting his head against hers. “Let’s conserve the light, Luvvy.” He must be getting tired, but more than that, he was trying to hide his pain again, this time shrouding it in darkness.
She studied his marred brow, wishing she could find a way to comfort him, to somehow take away the past, so that she could feel the brightness of his amazing smile.
That made her just as bad as he was, huh?
She flipped off the flashlight and settled back against his arm. “We’ll get through this.”
He squeezed her hand, and she wasn’t sure if it was to comfort himself or if he was burying his sorrows again by concentrating on hers.
Did it matter? Just having him next to her was soothing, so much so that she drifted off into a dream world where Myrdons weren’t chasing them.
Chapter Twenty
Maybe Thursday, August 23rd
Venice woke up, clinging to the girl who’d saved his life over and over again. If it hadn’t been for Livvy, he’d be floating like a piece of forgotten driftwood through those murky underwater caverns, another lost soul taken by the sea.
She’d bashed that assassin with an air tank, led Venice to air, bandaged him up with her own clothes, and had patiently listened to him jabber on like a spoiled prince who pushed away his duties. He’d never talked about his troubles withanyoneoutside Bris and Achilles, and yet somehow it felt right taking her into his confidence like this.
This strange, otherworldly angel had been a surprisingly steady shoulder to lean on, though presently she was making do with his.
How long had they been sleeping?
Each time he’d awakened during this storm, it was to another crack of thunder or to the furious shriek of toppling trees—and who knew what else was getting ripped apart outside? The night air held the violence of a war on the other side of these rock walls with thunderous blasts igniting a vicious downpour.
The wind howled like Furies tracking them down, and while in the state between waking and asleep, he held Livvy closer to protect her from it all. Somehow their combined warmth had worked like a heater to bring up her core temperature and dry her wet hair and skin.
Thankfully.Poor Livvy had been freezing. If they hadn’t found a place to huddle away from the elements, they’d never have survived the night.
Something he had to remind himself of every time the calamitous storm startled him awake. They’d found shelter! No one would find them down here. She was safe in his arms. The feel of her soft hair brought him comfort as he’d snuggle closer and drift back into the blessedly healing grasp of sleep.
This time when he woke, however, it was because it had grown unnervingly silent outside. After the piercing hurricane winds, it sounded unnatural.
He reached around Livvy to get the light she hugged against her stomach. Peeling her fingers away, he flipped it on, transforming the blackness around them into the cell-like chamber from before.
She buried her face into her arms to escape the brightness. “What time is it?” she asked.
