“What’s going on?” I asked.
He boldly slipped inside my room and all but shoved the garment into my arms.
“Are you insane? If Reyes catches you in here, he’ll kill us both,” I whispered harshly in case the cruel depire was lurking.
“He’s preoccupied, and this is our only opportunity to get you out.”
I should have jumped at those words, but Dylan and I hadn’t spoken in more than broken sentences since his night of riddles.
I knew he was meant to protect me, but he was also Reyes’ most loyal guard. So no, I wasn’t jumping for joy over his suspicious words.
“We don’t have time for this,” he gritted out.
The cloak was snatched from my hands and he pulled it over my head as if I were a helpless child.
“The key,” he demanded next, opal eyes boring into sage.
“No.” I shook my head even though the motion made me nauseous. “The last time I blindly trusted someone to get me out of a situation, I ended up having to come here.”
“Duvessa, if that someone is Toby, he was brought into the Grid Iron two nights ago.
“And before you rush to his rescue, my—the king will kill him if you even think of trying to bargain on his behalf. We need to get you out.”
I blinked rapidly. “You keep saying that. How? Reyes will know.”
“Key,” he demanded again.
“The bottom dresser drawer, folded in the light blue bra.” I touched a hand to my forehead.
“What the hell is going on?”
Dylan reappeared right in front of me. Flats were slid onto my feet, the key wedged in my pocket, and the broken crown placed on top of my head before the hood of the cloak was lifted.
“Let’s move.”
Without warning, he grabbed my hand and all but dragged me out of the room.
“Clear?” he asked Wesley.
“Yep, all the chaos is in the throne room.”
“What chaos? Dammit, if one of you doesn’t tell me what is going on, I will scream bloody murder up and down this hall.”
They ignored me for a full flight of stairs, taking the set I rarely used. When we reached the bottom, Dylan tightened his grip on my hand and came to an abrupt halt. The look in his eyes gave me a dreadful sense of déjà vu.
Something was very wrong.
“I apologize beforehand because I’d planned to tell you this in a much calmer setting…” he paused and his throat bobbed as he struggled to choose his next words.
“What is it?” I questioned, glancing between he and Wesley. I feared his answer as badly as I wanted it.
He cleared his throat and readjusted his grip on my hand. “Duvessa Vasiel’s head was just left on the king’s throne.”
My brows slammed together. For a moment I could only blink up at him. “Duvessa’s…is this a joke?”
Wesley stepped in with a sympathetic frown marring his features, “It is no joke, my queen. You simply aren’t who you were led to believe.”
More riddles? I scoffed and shook my head. “So the woman I have been for the past twenty-four years isn’t me? Do you realize how absurd that sounds?”
I tried to pull my hand away free of Dylan’s but he would have none of that so I settled for glaring.
“If I am not Duvessa Vasiel, then who am I?”
“You’re someone who shouldn’t exist. You’re the queen we’ve all been waiting for.”
With that he turned and began to all but drag me and my confusion down the hall behind him.
That feeling of déjà vu lingered on, but tonight it wasn’t my castle that went up in flames. It was me.