We both knew Ace would never want to be king. He would rather die than ever be crowned king. Even if he didn't have to have any other responsibility than to marry this female vampire, they had in store for me, he wouldn't do it. He couldn't. He was simply too broken. He never let anyone close, and I knew he would never want to drag anyone into the darkness where he lived.
"No," I finally said. "But I never wanted to be king either."
"But you were always more suited."
"I was just older," I said darkly, and then watched as he pulled an ace out of the thin air.
I raised an eyebrow as I turned from the card to him, and then he did a flip with his hand, making it disappear.
"Trying to tell me something?" I asked.
"Don't underestimate the council."
"I am not, but I am not going to let them rule me either. They wanted a queen for me, and I chose someone."
"No, they were the ones who wanted to choose. They were never going to let you do it," he said.
I was well aware of that, but just the thought of letting go of Lara felt like someone was trying to rip my heart out, which surprised me because I thought that thing had died a long time ago.
"She will run."
"She will," I said.
"Is she really worth all the trouble?" he asked.
Was she?
It was for some reason a very easy answer. I didn't think it would be, but it was.
"Yes."
Chapter 15
-Lara-
"Wake up, little wolf."
The next day when the sun was barely up, I heard a voice speaking so gently to me. I had almost forgotten voices could be like that. I couldn't remember the last time someone had woken me up or even in a gentle way.
I slowly blinked my eyes open but saw no one in front of me. I slowly turned on the bed, and there he was. The hybrid king, sitting on the edge of the bed and watching me with those dark eyes, but while others often described their eyes as terrifying, I didn't see anything terrifying about his. The way he was looking at me was anything but.
"Have you woken me up in the middle of the night?" I asked as I saw it was still dark outside.
"No, we are just getting up early so we can eat, get your things, and then catch the plane," he told me.
"Would think the plane would wait for someone like you," I gave back.
Normally I didn't wake up with an attitude. Waking up with an attitude with someone like my stepfather was just ... a death sentence pretty much. I liked to just stay clear of him and talk as little as I could with him.
"I want to get home as fast as I can," he said.
"Afraid someone won't like you have chosen a half-blood as your mate and won't let you leave?" I asked.
The way he slightly narrowed his eyes just gave me my answer. It was not hard to figure out. No one would accept us together, but what did it matter anyway? He just needed to bring me to the other side of the water.
"Come on, let us eat something," he said.
"What am I to wear going back to my place?" I asked him.