He would have no idea where I went. He would have no idea what happened.
But I had no choice. I had to stay alive. That was all I had to focus on.
Adonis laughed and wiped his face clean. “You want to play dirty?” he asked. He wrapped his arms around me and jumped into the sky without waiting another second. I sucked in a sharp breath. “What?” he asked. “Afraid I’ll drop you?”
Once we were just above the tree line, Adonis did just that. I couldn’t stop the scream of terror that escaped me as I left his arms, plummeting to the ground.
Except Lucien caught me before I could hit the ground, flying me back up into the sky with a wicked, satisfied laughter.
Fury, terror, and hatred were swarming my mind. I couldn’t think straight. Not when my heart was racing so quickly. Not when I could die at any moment.
These brothers didn't care if I lived or died. All they cared about was hating Malachi. And I was a perfect accessory.
I didn’t cry. I wasn’t going to give them that satisfaction. I spent the next few minutes thinking about every single way Malachi was going to torture these idiots as we flew.
And kept flying. And kept flying.
CHAPTER 30
Jade
They didn’t take me back to the compound.
After what felt like hours of lying in Lucien’s arms, we eventually landed in what appeared to be some sort of ancient ruins. I had no idea how far we were from Malachi, and no idea how he would find me.
But I couldn’t think about that right now. I had to focus on surviving. Keep myself alive, and the rest would come later.
If there was a later.
“Here we are, princess,” Lucien said as he dropped me onto the concrete ground. The structure wasn’t complete, and four partially crumbling walls surrounded us.
I ignored the pain from the wounds on my back and scrambled to my feet. Dread filled my stomach. “Where are we? What are we doing here?”
The twins whispered something to each other before they turned around and left, leaving Lucien, Adonis and I in the abandoned structure. “So many questions, princess. All you need to do is sit tight and look pretty. We’ll handle the rest,” Adonis said.
“What does your father want with Malachi?” I asked. My voice shook but I didn’t look away.
“He wants what we all want, princess. He wants Malachi to step in line.”
I scoffed. “You’re all just jealous of him. You’ll never be a better leader than Malachi. It’s not possible.”
“Watch what you say. Wouldn’t want you getting hurt before your big bad husband has time to come watch,” Lucien snarled.
My stomach dropped. Adonis grabbed my arm and roughly dragged me to the corner of the abandoned building, shoving me onto the ground. “Sit here and don’t move a muscle. If you try anything stupid, Lucien here will kill you. And he’ll enjoy doing it.”
One look at Lucien, who was lounging against the crumbling wall across the structure, told me Adonis was telling the truth.
“You’re the ones that tried to kill me the night of the wedding, aren’t you?” I asked.
Adonis laughed. “Come on, princess. Who else would want Malachi’s wives dead?”
I couldn’t say I was surprised. “You would do that to your own brother? Why?”
Lucien and Adonis exchanged a glance. “Malachi is no brother of ours.”
“But why? What has he ever done to you?”
Lucien pushed himself off the wall and stalked over to me. I tried not to cower away from his fast approach.
“Malachi has been the golden boy of Rewyth for as long as we can remember. It all started with those damned black wings. He’s always thought to be better than us. He was always our father’s favorite. Our father sent him on every mission, every political tour. He was feared by everyone. And for good reason.”
I straightened, trying not to look surprised. “But what does that have to do with you?”
Adonis huffed. “You really don’t get it, do you? You humans are so stupid. It’s no wonder you can hardly feed yourselves.”
I bit my tongue.
“Malachi has it all,” Lucien continued. “Yet he thinks our father is cruel and unfair. What’s unfair is how spoiled he’s been. He’s the oldest. The strongest. His power is so rare, he’s known across kingdoms. It isn’t fair, Jade. We’re done with it.”
“And your father just allows this to happen?”
“Our father would never publicly denounce Malachi. He knows Malachi could kill him if he really wanted to. It’s a balance of power. Make Malachi strong enough to be useful, but keep him weak enough to stay submissive.”