Page 40 of Lethal King

“Child brides?” Tytus asks, confused.

Through all the haze filling my head, I remember that he never got a good look at the cattle.

“Never mind that. Who the hell is getting married?”

“Rian Kilpatrick,” Tytus says.

“To who?”

“… To you.”

Just like that, the world freezes.

The Sunday afternoon sun goes dark. The soft breeze stops blowing. Birds stop chirping. My lungs stop working.

“What the fuck did you just say?”

“I’m just the messenger,” Tytus insists. “Rian Kilpatrick is the one who wrote the decree. After we left, he made his guests stay behind. Then, he made an announcement. You two are to be wed—by force, if necessary.”

The stillness surrounding me erupts.

“He fucking said that?”

“I have the recording, if you’d like to hear?”

“No. I fucking would not.”

Ripping my knife back out, I plunge the bloody blade into the nearest tree.

“Is he insane?”

“Yes. And that’s why we did what we did. This is the response we wanted, Roz,” Tytus cautiously reminds me. “Now, he’ll have to come collect his bride.”

“I’m nobody’s bride.”

“And you won’t ever have to be. Because before he can force a ring around your finger, we’ll put a bullet between his eyes.”

But imaging Rian’s ocean blue eyes turning white doesn’t calm me down. “A quick death is too good for him.”

Ripping my knife from the tree, I begin to carve an X into the bark.

How the fuck did he know? Nothing else he could have done would have bothered me as much as this.

Long ago, I promised myself I would never become an unwilling pawn in anyone’s quest for power ever again. It’s why I broke away from our adoptive brother, Gabriel. It’s why I forsook my adoptive father, Dragomir. It’s why I’m so desperate to destroy the largest mafia empire in the world and claim its power for my own.

Because the only way to protect yourself in this world is by crushing everyone else beneath your feet.

I’m going to grind Rian Kilpatrick into dust.

“Hey, I agree. A quick death is too good for him,” Tytus says. “That’s why I’ll let you have your fun before we put him in the ground.”

“Before I put him in the ground,” I correct him. “He’s mine.”

“Alright. Fine. I’ll just be your backup. But take this for what it is, Roz. Good news. From what I’ve heard, he’s coming for you himself, just like we wanted.”

The reminder snaps some sense back into me.

“I need to get back to the lair,” I think out loud.