Page 77 of Darkest Heart

“I promised I’d take you both,” I said. “I’ll arrange a boat.”

I’d have to carry them to the shores if they had any chance of getting out of here. There was no way Kalon would allow me to save a mortal, let alone two.

I looked at her one last time before getting off the bed.

She pressed her lips together, wanting eyes pulling me back in. “Why are you staring?”

“I wished you’d stop being so beautiful. You’re making it hard to let go.” She rolled her eyes but smiled to herself. I’d barely got to know her. It would be one of the few regrets I carried.

***

I returned to the throne room, Elizabeth safely locked away until I could fly her out tonight. Gwen stepped to my side. “Where’s your mortal?”

I didn’t dare show a glimmer of weakness. Nothing she could feed off. Jealousy would influence her intentions. “I killed her,” I lied.

“Really?” She arched a brow, seeming unconvinced. “I thought you liked her.”

“She tasted good. That was all,” I replied, nonchalant.

She breathed deeply. “I’ve been waiting to talk to you.” She touched my biceps, and I caught myself before I shuddered from her touch. Something about her suddenly seemed repulsive to me. I looked into her eyes and sensed something different. My mind slowly cleared, replaced with memories terrible and deadly. Anxiety swept over me when I realized why I felt the way I did, and what was happening. “Where’s Kalon?”

“He won’t be joining us, but my mother will be down shortly.”

I recognized her satisfied smirk. It usually appeared after she’d gotten away with one of her schemes. “What did you do?”

“Me?” She glanced at her painted nails. “Nothing. You know I don’t like to get my hands dirty.”

“Come on, love,” I probed. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“Ah, there’s my mom.” She pointed at the arch as the smell of blood filled the room. Velda swept in, looking just as shocked at me as she looked at her pale blue dress, blood veining through the fabric. Crimson splattered her face and arms, her tear-stricken eyes uncertain as she found her daughter.

I breathed deeply, determining the source. That wasnotmortal blood. But it didn’t look as if it was from herself either.

“Now that’s over with,” she said simply. “We can stop pretending.”

“What’s over with?”

“Kalon.” She beamed, and Velda dropped to her knees, her face in her hands. Soft sobs echoed in the silence as Gwen took her place on the throne. “You wanted him out of the way, too. I compelled her to kill him.” She pointed at her mother with a coldness in her eyes I hadn’t noticed before.

A chill ran over me. I could hardly think. Killing him had been an idea in my head, a task on my list to cross off on my way to becoming king. But the reality of doing it never fully sunk in.

My heart hammered as heat flushed my chest and face. I hadn’t even had time to tell him about what I’d learned about Vener and Salenia, which wasn’t a lot. But I believed she was in the castle.

Goosebumps spread over my body, every hair standing on end. My jaw tensed as I stared at the woman who’d once stolen my heart. “What’s your real name?” I asked tentatively, stepping back.

Her smile widened, her fangs poking out behind her lips. “Salenia.”

Fuck.I closed my eyes as the sounds of the castle descending into chaos thrummed into the room. Salenia laughed as people announced my father’s death, along with Sargon’s. The royal bloodline had ended.

TWENTY-SEVEN

Olivia

“I’ve missed this,” I admitted as Azia passed me a chamomile tea, sensing the magic infused with it. The steam pillared to my nose, the smell calming me. He’d insisted Sebastian, Erianna and Zach leave us. “How did you find us?” I asked, as I pushed away the thought of my mother dead. I couldn’t let it sink in yet. The very idea threatened to tear me apart.

“I tried to find your father.” He bowed his head, exhaling heavily. “I couldn’t find where they took him. Then I searched for Sebastian, and my contacts led me here.” He looked around at the inn. “I’m so happy to learn you’re alive.”

I took a sip, the honey to sweeten it coating my throat. Whatever spell he used; it was already working. The anxiety melted away, yet no matter what I tried to do, I kept zoning out. “I can’t stop,” I explained, as I missed whatever he was saying, pulling my stare from the wall.

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