Page 156 of Lethal King

I stay by Babcia’s side.

“Tell your brother I’m fine,” she croaks, waving a weak hand in his direction. “… But you should also tell him about your feelings. He might not understand, but that doesn’t mean you can’t.”

“I… I don’t understand,” I tell her.

What I don’t explain, though, is how much I want to understand.

It feels like I’m on the cusp of something. Something that I can’t quite grasp. Babcia shows me the way. Pointing towards my chest, she takes a creaky breath.

“Listen to your heart, dear, and everything will follow.”

Her words echo around in my head as the doctors rush to her bedside. I’m pushed away, and. I’m too lost in my thoughts to fight back.

Listen to your heart, dear, and everything will follow.

It’s only when Kaja hisses that I snap back awake. The kitten jolts from the commotion, sprinting through my feet towards the door.

No. I won’t let her run off. I won’t lose another one.

But I don’t need to worry. When I turn around, Tytus is there, and he effortlessly swoops Kaja up.

“Let’s leave the doctors to it,” he says, gesturing for me to join him in the hallway. “I want you to tell me what’s really going on.”

“No…” I mutter.

Even with everything Babcia just said, I don’t feel like explaining anything to Tytus—not until I actually know what’s going on.

And there’s only one way to find out.

“Hey, where are you going?” Tytus asks, calling after me as I brush by him and storm out into the hallway.

“Home,” I whisper, not knowing exactly what that means.

Still, through all the confusion, one thing has become clear—and it’s so clear that I find myself blushing as I run down the hospital stairs and burst out into the cool summer night.

Fuck. All I can see are those ocean blue eyes. The blood-red lips. The shallow dimples.

All I can think about is him.

Whatever Babcia was getting at, it’s made one thing painfully obvious.

I need to see Rian again.

Fuck.

I want to see him again.

20

Rian

“I’ve made sure everyone’s on high alert. All we can do now is trust that our spies pick up the specifics before it’s too late.”

Maksim’s focused gaze stays fixed ahead as we march down the hallway. The man’s been through it all before, and a simple threat like this isn’t going to ruffle his feathers. Not too much.

I’m not so sure I can say the same about myself.

“I don’t trust our spies,” I grunt, leading the way to the basement. “They didn’t know about the plans for my coronation. They didn’t know about Leander. They didn’t know about Drago. How sure are we they aren’t missing something now?”