Page 224 of Royal Rebel

She wore the black queen around her neck. The gift he’d given her—the piece he’d carved—she kept it near her heart.

He wasn’t a fool. He knew she loved Grayson. But she loved him, too.

He’d once told Mia that he wasn’t afraid of anything, but that was a lie. He was terrified of losing her. She was the one person in his life who didn’t hate him. The one person who made him feel even remotely redeemable. She was his air, his light—and he would do anything to get her back.

Tyrell had lost tonight, but he was not done fighting. He would go after Mia, and he would bring her back to Ryden. But first, he would return to Lenzen.

When he found Mia again, he would not lose her, and Grayson would not escape.

Next time they met, he would have an army at his back.

Chapter 54

Clare

Clarestoodonthestone balcony attached to her suite, overlooking the distant harbor of Madihr. The city was spread out along the shoreline, with hills and dark foliage separating the main port from the expensive manors the nobles lived in. The sea glittered in the early morning sun, stretching as far as Clare could see. A soft breeze played over her skin and teased the loose hairs that hung by her cheeks. She closed her eyes, sinking into the peace of the moment as she breathed in the tropical, earthy air.

Movement stirred behind her, but she didn’t open her eyes. She knew who it was. She would always know him.

Bennick came up behind her, his arms folding around her middle. His chin settled against the top of her head, and she leaned back against his hard chest.

He joined her in her silence, his presence making this rare moment of peace infinitely more precious.

Her sleep had been troubled last night, but that made sense. Zilas had only been dead for two days. After haunting them for so long, his death didn’t seem real, even after Bennick had helped bury his body.

He would no longer hunt them. Terrorize them. The Rose was gone.

I’m not the only one.

Zilas’s final words ghosted through her thoughts. She’d been turning them over in her mind ever since he’d spoken them. She remembered every detail. The way he had looked at Bennick, the struggle in his dying words and the almost desperate shine in his eyes.

I’m not the only one.

Not the only assassin who would try to kill her or Serene? That seemed an easy assumption.

Not the only discarded child of the commander? Considering Commander Markam’s long line of mistresses, it wasn’t hard to believe he had other children. In fact, Zilas’s last words had reminded Bennick of something the assassin had said back in Devendra, when Bennick had first learned they were half-brothers.

You knew the commander sired other children. Is it really so surprising that one of them learned about you?

Bennick had been so stunned to learn he and the Rose shared blood, he hadn’t truly processed the off-hand comment at the time—or thought anything of Zilas’s assumption that Bennick knew he had other siblings. Now, those words took on a new and sinister meaning.

While Bennick had speculated about Zilas’s final words, it was clear he didn’t really want to discuss the Rose. Clare and Vera, however, had talked late into the night.

“I thought I would feel better,” Vera had confided quietly. “For so long I’ve wanted him dead. I’m relieved, I just . . . His death didn’t heal my grief at losing Ivonne. And I’m worried something worse is out there. The Rose was every kind of evil, but we knew him. He was a demon with a face. Now . . . I don’t know where the next strike will come from.”

Clare felt the same apprehension. Perhaps that’s why Zilas didn’t feel gone. It wasn’t him she felt, just an overarching danger that still hung over them.

It was harder to shake the feeling at night. But in the daylight—especially with Bennick—her fears receded. She didn’t know what the future held, but in this moment, she had him. That was enough.

Bennick shifted behind her, his voice soft. “I spoke with the Hassans.”

Kashif and Ilah had apologized profusely for the part they’d played in the Rose’s plan, however unwillingly. They’d faced Clare as if she had the ability to call for their heads, even though Zilas had told them she was only Serene’s decoy. As they’d stood before her, pale and shaking, Clare knew she couldn’t blame them for doing what they felt they had to in order to save their daughter; especially since she herself had cooperated with the Rose to save Venn and Vera.

Of course, forgiveness was easier knowing everyone had made it out of that night alive, with the exception of Zilas and his hired men.

“They want to know if you wish to return to Duvan,” Bennick said, bringing Clare back to the present moment.

“I’m not ready to go back,” she said. After what had happened here, she supposed it was a miracle Dorma still felt safe to her, but it did. This island was an escape from the chaos in the rest of Eyrinthia, and it had helped calm the storms in her own heart as she continued to grieve her brothers.

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