Page 15 of Hell's Queen

“Tell us what?” Killian asks impatiently.

“I have another daughter the same age as Derrick, maybe older. She killed Fenric because she wanted the throne,” my father says, almost ashamed. His eyes are watering. “She thought she would be the next in line for the throne if I died.”

Killian’s eyes tear up as he looks at him. “It’s okay. We will defeat her together as a family and get revenge.”

Derrick nods, wiping his cheeks.

Killian, not being pissed doesn’t surprise me. He’s always been sweet and forgiving, like Fenric.

But Derrick shocks me and makes my body grow hot. “You guys… forgive him?”

“He didn’t directly kill Fen,” Killian says.

“He had a vision. He could have stopped it.”

“Didn’t you have a vision that came true, but in a different way?” Killian said.

My eyes roll. “Maybe. The battle isn’t over.”

“I thought you wanted to control this,” Derrick snaps. “So, control it.”

“I can’t!” I bark back. Anger rises in me. “I’m so fucking pissed at him, at everyone! I didn’t get enough time with Fenric!”

“No one did! Even if he died at ninety-nine, no one would get enough time with Fenric.”

I blink, feeling hot tears roll down my face. “I n-never thought I’d get the crown like this.”

“I—” My father steps forward, and I step back. “I got the crown the same way.”

My eyes snap to him.

“Your grandfather, Edris, died closing the gate, and I got it instantly. I wasn’t ready, obviously. But I took it, and I rose into the position.”

“I—” I want to say that I didn’t want to rise, but I wanted to. I wanted to be above this, and I didn’t want to be this angry to the point no one could touch me.

“I didn’t see Fenric’s death. I knew about mine. I thought… I thought.” He lets out a sigh, unable to put his words together. “I’m so—”

“Sorry?! I know you are. That won’t bring him back.”

He stops before me. “There’s no real way to harness this power. The rage will always be there, but you have to control it. I was calm all the time. Not because that was my personality, but because… I couldn’t let the rage consume me.”

“Is that why you baked?” Derrick asks. “And why you get baked?”

My father looks at him, frowning. “Get baked? What does that even mean?”

Killian lets out a laugh, wiping his tears. “You know, the devil’s lettuce.”

“We have lettuce?”

I can’t help but laugh at the dad jokes. It almost feels like he’s still here. “Drugs, Dad!”

He looks at me with wide eyes. “Never in my life have I ever tried drugs.”

“Not what the fae tells me,” Derrick said.

“Oh, the devil!” my father says. “They are lying. I swear. I was a good child.”

“Not with the way you fuck,” I mutter to myself.

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