House of Kings(54)

Elle shakes her head as moisture swells in her eyes. “Where is my brother, Alivia?” she asks in an emotional whisper. “He left four weeks ago and I haven’t seen him since.”

Four weeks. One month. Four weeks ago, I took a pill because the time had come for me to embrace my new life. One month ago, the King was going to kill me to see if I was his Resurrected wife.

Four weeks ago, Ian showed up in my room, begging me to run away with him.

Four weeks ago, I began to die, my vision gone, and a set of fangs sank into my neck, ending my life as a human.

“He came to see me that night,” I say quietly. “He asked me to leave. But it was too late. I was already dead. And the King…Cameron…Lillian. They all told me he took off. That he went to get you and that you all left town.”

Fear consumed me just before I died. Raheem had warned me that Cyrus would not respond well to a lover in the way of finding his queen. And he walked in that night to find Ian. With me. We’d kissed that night. There’s no way Cyrus wouldn’t have heard it all, just in the next room.

A gasp works its way up my throat. I take a step back.

“No,” I whisper as the tears pool in my own eyes. I shake my head. “No.”

“Where is my brother, Alivia?” Elle asks again.

I squeeze my eyes closed, forcing two tears to run down my cheek.

I thought he had finally left me for good. That he had abandoned me. That he had finally realized that I was what I was, that he had finally accepted what I was born to, and he just couldn’t move past that.

But Cyrus lied. He made Lillian lie. He made Cameron lie.

Ian hadn’t left.

Not of his own free will.

“I don’t know where he is,” I answer honestly. “But I know who has the answers.”

That eerily calm expression she is known for comes over Elle’s face. Her eyes empty. Her shoulders relax back and she seems focused once more. “Then you have to go find him.”

I swallow once. Because it’s the truth. “I will.”





I STARE AT THE GATES of the House of Conrath from the outside. The ornate curving of iron. The giant Raven woven into the beautiful work. The great stone pillars they’re attached to.

I remember the first time I saw this gate. Before I knew anything. Just two days before I arrived at this very same spot, I was working in a bakery. I’d had my hands coated in flour. I’d made a batch of cinnamon rolls. I’d clocked in at four thirty in the morning and clocked out at two. I’d driven my broken and battered car. I’d packed up the few remaining things in my tiny apartment that would fit into my bedroom here in Mississippi.

My arrival at these gates was the start of so much.

And the end of everything I’d ever known.

In one giant leap, I sail over the gates. Once again, I travel up the driveway, up to the House, not knowing what to expect. I walk up to the porch, but instead of Rath, waiting to greet me and ease me into my new life, it’s Cyrus who steps out onto the porch.

“I’m ready,” I say. “But not before you make me a deal and let me address my House members.”

He studies me, his face once more an unreadable mask. Finally, he nods once. He stands aside, letting me through the front door.

The Court members stand in the foyer, dressed and ready for departure. They’re calm. Composed. As if they were just waiting for me to return to the House. Except for Raheem. He stands at the end, his eyes dark and ready for death. His hand rests on the hilt of his sword.

Just beyond them stand all fourteen of my House members.

I walk forward until I’m standing at the center of them all. I drop my bag to the marble floor.

“I know you don’t know what to think right now,” I say as I turn and look around at my House members. The old. The new. The uncertain and the remaining loyal. “Things seem really bad, and whoever has done this has been very careful.”

I turn, my eyes trailing over the Court members. It’s obvious every one of them believes me guilty. And why wouldn’t they, when none of my House members have been killed, but so many other Royals have?

“But you all know me,” I say as I turn back to those that matter. I find Lillian’s eyes. “You stood with me when I had to bury my mother again. You comforted me and lifted my spirits when my heart was shattered.” I look at Cameron. “And you became my family when I had none.” Nial.

I take a step toward them. I let my hands hang at my sides. Open. Accepting of them and their judgment. “You know I didn’t do this. That I would never do something to hurt you. Please, look deep down. And find that truth. I don’t know much of anything anymore. But I do know that you are my family, and I beg you not to forget that.”