Fate of a Royal (Lords of Rathe, #1)(62)

“Hey.” I open my mouth to talk, but nothing comes out. I don’t want to be here. What if I’m here and that same shadow visits me? Does things to me? Things I don’t want…

I try to run, lifting my leg from the ground to direct off to a sprint, when rain touches the tip of my nose and the snow that’s pinched between my toes turns to sand…and I’m falling.

Quicksand.

I open my mouth to call for help when granules fill it up and the little light where I came from turns black.

So black…



My eyes feel leaden, but I slowly open, blinking away the obscurity. The rotten egg smell of sulfur is strong, and I twist my body to the side, swinging my legs over the bed to climb out. What happened last night? What…everything flashes back through my mind at one hundred miles an hour. I killed Knight, or I didn’t?

Scrubbing my hands over my eyes, I shake my head, curling my toes into the plush carpet beneath.

Wait.

I blink, noticing the black rug made of the softest texture I’ve ever felt in my life…nothing like the cheap carpet in my dorm bedroom.

Where the fuck am I?

The air is humid and sticky. So hot that sweat bubbles on my flesh. I tiptoe around the four-post bed, bringing my hand to a post and squeezing. The walls are licked with deep purple and white trimmings, yet everything feels outdated. As though I’ve stepped right through a time portal and into another century, maybe one that doesn’t exist yet.

This could be possible, after everything that I’ve witnessed lately. I move across the room and to the windows, shifting the curtains out of the way while bringing my hand to rest on my belly. Silk meets my palm and I look down to see a little camisole dress, the same color as the walls. I release my hand from the curtain as I spin around to find a mirror. Blinking through the shock, I take everything in.

A small sofa is tucked in the corner of the room, the two small doors to the left, and a stairwell that leads down, instead of up. I move toward it and see the curl go around and around as it falls right to the bottom of the room below. A single light flickers on and I lean farther over to see what it is down there when a loud crash sounds from outside. I shuffle back toward the window, moving the curtain out of the way and my stomach drops to the ground.

The sky is dark, the color of midnight on a full moon, and the planets that orbit around the moon don’t look like anything I’ve ever seen. The fact that I can fucking see the galaxy around us as if it is within literal reach is about as terrifying as it is mind-blowing.

I blink back the shock and try not to lose myself on the astral side of things, when I notice movement down below, where a large stretch of grass spreads out. What the fuck have I been forced into, and why do I get the feeling it has only just begun?

The door opens from behind me and I jump, spinning around to see who it is. A tall woman stares back at me through oval eyes. She has long black hair, a tight, lean body, and nails that look sharp enough to kill.

Her eyes flash the color of crystal and she throws her hand out.

A sharp ache starts in my throat and works its way down. She closes her fists and my lungs squeeze, the pain crippling and sending me to my knees.

I fight for air, but nothing.

Panic sets in and I grip at my throat, climbing to my feet as water pricks at my eyes.

The woman cocks her head, and the moment her hand falls to her side, I collapse, gasping and choking in place.

“What—” She pauses when she scans over my body. “—has he done.”

My mouth opens and then closes. Fear drags its talons down every nerve in my body when she takes another step closer to me. My fight-or-flight kicks in and I stumble backward slightly.

“Who are you?” I rush. “Where am I?”

Her eyes narrow, and while it’s clear she’s hostile and confused, there’s also something else about her. Her aura is strong. The woman reads almost…haunted, but what or whom, I don’t know.

Where the fuck am I?

“Hmmm.” She shimmies farther into the room, lowering herself down onto the single sofa tucked in the corner. She pins me with her stare. “I’m the mother, and I’m guessing you’re the Giftless toy my son has taken a liking to.”

“The what?” I bat my lashes so hard they fan out over my cheeks.

She stares back at me as if she’s not going to bother repeating herself. She doesn’t look like the type of person to repeat herself. “Interesting…”

I step backward farther until my back crashes with the curtain. “What is?”

“You.” Her eyes swirl as she slowly lifts herself up from the sofa. I should run. I know I should run. Everything inside of my body is screaming at me to do one thing. “You should not be in this room.”

Run.

The door bursts open again, and he stands on the threshold. “Get out, Mother.”

The two of them hold eye contact for a tense moment before she slowly sashays out of the room, not a second glance over her shoulder, and then the door is closed.



“What am I doing here, Knight?” I stare up at him and he slowly leans back against the door.

“Not leaving.”

Unease scrapes across my spine, and I clench my teeth a moment so I don’t lose my shit.

“What are you?” I ask the question that has been sitting on my mind since the day he and his brother exposed themselves.