Fate of a Royal (Lords of Rathe, #1)(64)

“Thought about kidnapping lots of people, have you?”

“Yes.” He smiles wider. “And I always imagined the way they’d run and scream, cry and beg for mercy. Done it a couple times.” He shrugs. “It’s always pretty entertaining, but your world is boring and illusions are nothing compared to the shit in Rathe.”

“Wait, so it’s normal for you guys to just kidnap girls?”

“We always put them back,” he says as if it’s totally normal and nothing more than a game they play when they’re bored.

But hold up…

“So—”

“No.” He chuckles, cutting me off. “We will not be putting you back. Or honestly, I don’t know what we’ll be doing with you. You’re kind of a freak of nature to us at the moment, but I know my brother enough to know your pretty little ass isn’t going anywhere until he does. You’re his favorite toy right now, his little doll, so where he goes, you’ll go.”

Favorite toy as in he has more than one? Do I care?

The heat in my chest says I do.

What a fucking fool you are, London. Falling for a possible literal monster. Uncle Marcus will be so proud.

I could roll my eyes at myself so hard right now.

“If I tried to walk past you, are you going to stop me?”

“Did Knight erase your door?” He lifts a brow, clearly already knowing the answer.

I ignore the ‘erase’ comment and shake my head. “Obviously not.”

“Then he doesn’t care where you go. It’s not like you can escape. He’ll find you no matter what.”

“I’m a hide-and-seek champ.”

“And he is made of dark magic.”

Not just magic. Dark magic.

Fuck my life.

Swallowing, I move past him and the hall widens, the wall at the end blurring before a door appears. I pause, looking over my shoulder.

The twin winks at me. “Figured I’d save you from the fate of walking down to find Mother having her afternoon drink. No telling what she might do.”

“Thanks, I guess.” I face forward again.

“Sin.”

“What?” I turn once more.

“My name.” He watches me closely. “It’s Sinner.”

I don’t know why, but I find myself fighting a smile. “Well, isn’t that fitting.”

His grin is devilish, and this time a low laugh leaves me.

Just as I reach the door, he shouts, “Careful, London. You can walk our streets, but don’t forget you don’t know our realm. Everyone here, even the Ordinaries, are superior to you in every way. You are the mouse. Everyone else is the snake.”

I don’t turn to face him.

I walk out the door.





Twenty-Three





Knight




My phone vibrates in my pocket the second I slam the front door closed, needing to put distance between London and me. I think. Did I want distance? Fuck knows what I want lately. Only… even as that thought passes through my mind, I know the answer to that question. I don’t want distance. I want her.

Her.

I want her.

I stare down at the news alert on my phone from Rathe Daily. Explosions have been reported from outside of a downtown nightclub. Unconfirmed reports are that it was a Deveraux Club and that there have been multiple fatalities.

“Fuck.” I shove my phone into my pocket as a portal splits the space in front of me and Legend steps out, nudging his head back in.

“Now. We gotta go now.”

I follow him through as we’re transported to city central, right outside Blood and Sugar. The city is crawling with bystanders, all watching the flames burn through the air and up to the dark night sky.

I don’t need to shove people out of the way because they part when they see me walking toward one of the chief officers. Can’t remember his name. Law enforcement are here to make everyone feel safe. They don’t mean shit to us and our family.

“Son, not a good idea. You know we’ll contact you when we find anything.” He shoves his stubby finger into his pocket. Gremlins really are fucking ugly. Even from here. His long nose, large wart, and beady black eyes. As weird as they look on the outside, and oddly dark, they make the best officers.

I stare up at the old castle-like building, before coming back to him. “Fine. But I need answers by tomorrow.” Leaving London at the house was probably the dumbest shit I could have done in regard to my mother prowling through the bedrooms like a fucking starved lioness, but I needed to handle whatever the fuck was going on here. I step backward, reaching into my pocket for my phone and hit dial on my father’s contact . The streets of Rathe are nothing like the human world. The path is paved by marble so black, it almost mirrors the sky, and the buildings are all constructed either by glass or aged brick. The thousand-year-old designs were created and protected by ancient magic.

Each building was constructed with the bones of a primal kind, be it a Stygian monster, Mage, or any other beasts that come knocking at night. Death is to be recycled.

He answers on the third ring. “Son.”

“We have an issue.”

Silence. “I’ve heard. Fill me in.”

Movement catches my eye in the corner. “Explosion. Another one. Don’t know much yet.”