“Why am I here?” I ask the question that has been nagging at me.
“Because this time next month.” Nate’s eyes go up to Hector. “It’ll be Hector in that cage, and I want you there for it. I need you to recognize the setting right now. Remember who is sitting where.” I look to my left, goosebumps breaking over my skin. I see the younger generation already watching me.
“When do they initiate?” I ask, nodding my head to them.
Nate chuckles. “After Christmas and New Year’s. Though we have a dilemma because Abel is here, Nix isn’t going to be too happy about being kicked off the throne and tossed down to second.”
My head hurts. There are so many complexities to this world that my brain cannot catch up.
“But why am I here, Nate?”
He takes the book from me and I hesitate to give it to him. He flips through the pages and I notice how the atmosphere has fallen deathly silent.
“Have you finished it?”
I nod. “Yes, though it doesn’t make much sense. I mean, I see that Daemon knew me when I was younger, and I remember him vividly. But—”
“—Why?” Nate asks, slamming the book closed and turning to me. “Do you know why or how he knew you then?”
He’s searching my eyes for something. Anything. Maybe for me to finally catch on to whatever the fuck is going on, but I’ve got nothing because none of this makes sense to me.
I sag. “I’m still trying to figure it out.”
Does he know and he’s waiting for me to know or does he not know and that’s why they need me to figure it out.
“Wait.” My hand comes to his arm and I ignore the zap of electricity that passes between us—like usual. “You don’t know, do you?”
Nate shakes his head. “No. We’re trying to figure out what fucking game he’s playing.”
I snort out a laugh. “Daemon is playing the game and you guys don’t like it. God, I love him.” Jaw and fists clench. “Why don’t you just ask him?”
Nate’s eyes close as he shakes his head. He angrily shoots up from his spot and disappears behind the fire. I look to Brantley. “What’d I say?”
“Oh, you know, the usual. Confessing your love for another man and all that.”
I roll my eyes.
Hector stands, a cigar in his hand and a fedora hat secured on the top of his head. He’s everything evil, I’ve always known that, but to—I pause my thoughts.
“Commandment one—” he says, and The Kings all answer in unison. “Drink from the blood of your enemies and spit on the grave of your loved ones.”
What? My eyes go around all of them slowly.
“Commandment two—”
“A brother in a king, open up, and share him in…”
“Commandment three—”
“Silver Swans, clipped wings, drown deep, in their sins…”
Fear grasps my heart with an iron fist, refusing to let go. I can feel myself start to hyperventilate and my eyes involuntarily seek Nate. When they land on him, I see him already watching me.
“Commandment four—”
“Betrayal is a sin, slit the throat and drain him clean…”
“Commandment number five—”
“Kill those that cross you, bury your sins with their corpse…”
Silence.
Holy shit.
My breathing is loud and thick.
“Stuprum?” Hector announces, and my eyes snap to his. I know I need to compose myself or I’ll get eaten alive, but I just witnessed some creepy ritual thing that has obviously been passed down since the beginning of time. “Stand.”
Oh shit. I stand, squaring my shoulders and exuding confidence that I know deep down, I do not have.
“Wear that dress and own your crown.” Scarlet’s words come back to me, echoing inside my head.
Hector points to me. “You’re all probably wondering why Stuprum is here. She is the newest line since Katsia, and is taking her rightful place in Perdita.”
No, the fuck I’m not.
I quirk an eyebrow.
Nate coughs from behind the flame, and my eyes once again fly to him. The orange flecks lick every defined feature on his beautiful face. He shakes his head.
I deflate a little, knowing I can’t correct Hector.
“She needs to see how things work as her mother did not teach her the way we do things. She has a lot to learn.” Hector’s eyes come to mine. The fire blazes through his dark orbits. “And we need her full attention.”
I freeze.
Nate flinches.
Brantley’s head whips up to Hector.
He just confirmed it. He, without knowing it, confirmed to us that he—Tears well in my eyes, my brain fuzzing. Hector yaps on about other shit but I can’t hear anything because all I hear is my blood pulsing through my veins, threatening to spill through my eyes. My ears bleed with a high-pitched screeching sound and everything cloaks in red.
Without even knowing it, I take a step forward.
And another.
And ano—
A thick arm wraps around my waist, crushing me into a hard chest.