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I could’ve laughed. I almost did, in fact. But instead, I looked. Really looked. At the scar arcing above her brow. At the bruises blooming along her knees. At the steel in her spine. Someone had tried to break her and failed spectacularly. Someone had marked her, carved into her like she was nothing. And yet here she stood. Breathing. Insolent. Beautiful.

He was head of the castle’s servant staff, which felt absurd considering he looked like something from a cursed puppet show.

I stared at my reflection and swore to the Moon that I will find every being responsible. And I shall kill them one by one.

My own tears seemed foolish given the circumstance, but I could not rule my heart, therefore I had to deal with its storms. For it was my heart that whined so loudly in my chest; for it was my heart that broke into dozens of small snowflake-like pieces, making me feel all the pain and grief I wished to bury deep inside of me and never see again. For it was my heart that bled bright crimson.

“Not a chance in hell,” Francis scoffed. “You are not going anywhere where that man is involved. He should be grateful I did not slaughter him at the meeting.”

“You did not raise me at all, Mother.” I leaned back on the chair. “Need I remind you, you only took interest in my life when it suited your future political proposals?”

“I am afraid there is no salvation from me, Your Highness,” Francis winked.

“No one will touch you,” Francis’ voice grew colder, “I swear.”

“And what did I do?” Francis chuckled. When silence fell between us once again he sighed. “I don’t understand you, Cordelia.” He offered me a sad smile. “If you despise me so much, why did you kiss me?”

My Royal upbringing had taught me that lesson a long while ago: everyone kept secrets and would use you for their own gain.

My soul wanted to run and hide, though my mind felt empty. My body did not feel like my own, my eyes studied the wooden door through the glass that covered my vision. This was a dream. A nightmare.

The disturbing urge to set him on fire truly worried me. I’d never wished anyone harm, but it wouldn’t have gone past me if the opportunity arose.

It was hard to believe that this was the same person I had once hated so deeply. Proof that anything can change with time. It was a simple thought, but it echoed through me like a gong. There was still more change to come, but right now, in this moment, I was content to soak it in and let the future, however soon to pass, stay ahead of me.

Jennings seemed to struggle to get the words out, and I realized that, much more than simply realizing that he had overlooked a bug, this situation was forcing him to admit that I had been right, and that he had miscalculated the ethics of his team. It was likely a hard blow to hit the man a second time. The thought made me wonder again about our predecessors.

There were no fireworks, not in the traditional sense, and given the passionate, bickering nature of our relationship, I had half-expected there to be. Instead, the sensation was warm, more like candlelight or a fire in the hearth of home.

“Do you even know what you’re planning to apologize for, or were you just saying that to get me to open the door?” he asked. He lifted his eyebrows expectantly. I brushed a strand of hair out of my face and forced myself to hold his gaze.

Welcome to Washington, the land where friends and foes usually wind up playing for the same team.

“You were right there in front of me after all that time had passed, looking amazing, and you hated my guts. That was a special form of hell, love.”

I had a purpose now where I really didn’t have one before. He made me feel safe and above all, wanted beyond reason.

“You have been, my nymph, my greatest joy and chief tormentor in this life.”

“You lost a father and I lost a father figure. Someone loving and encouraging, who told me I could be anything I wanted, make a difference. Someone who had loved you unconditionally. Someone who lost out to his demons. I had lost you, one of the few people I loved more than anything. You were my friend, my world.”

“If he dies on this table, you might as well kill me too because I can’t face the remainder of life without him.”

Losing Damien would be like losing the sun in the sky. I had forgotten how warm he was and how alive he made me feel. He was one of the few that could ever break me out of the hole I frequently stuck myself in.

He was a man now but he was still reaching back for me, like he had done as a kid

It was hard not to feel comfortable around him. Being around him was like the first warm rays of sun after winter.

Grief is complicated and it spares no one.

If you asked me to guess which of us is technically directly descended from gods, I wouldn’t pick me.

Her lip curls. “What is there to say? Ten thousand years ago, a god of night had seven daughters. Your mother was one of them. I see you hold her same affinity for the night sky,” she says, sparing barely a glance for Callum.

I have his full, undivided attention, and I really feel like this might be as important to him as it is to me. Like it matters, for real, and not just in my mind.

“Because of puts the blame on you. For you… we haven’t even scratched the surface of what I’d do for you yet, Marielle.”