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Eight
Asena
But death isn’t in the cards for me. Not yet anyway.
Layered under the odor of disinfectants is the alluring scent I could only dream of for the last four years. Hark. Beneath my ear, I hear the steady beat of his heart and the rhythm matches that on the monitor.
“Your father loves you. He would never harm you. You were safe. That’s all that mattered to me. You have to understand.”
I bristle at the mention of the man who fathered me. Pretended to love me. And then turned on me. I push out of Hark’s arms, my hair a tangled red mess around us.
“Love? Right,” I deadpan. I’m out of his arms and find myself sinking into a new circle of hell. One where greed, violence, treachery, and anger thrive.
“Wait, Asena.” He flinches when he tries to grab for me, but I’m faster.
“No, you wait.” I take the long ends of my hair and pull them back from the right side of my face. “I’m usually pretty good at hiding this.” I flick on the overhead Doc used to stitch Hark up and step under the intense light.
Dark eyes go wide, the silence between us so damn clogging and thick I have to force myself to breathe.
He reaches a hand out to stroke the pad of his thumb over the scar running down the side of my face and part of my neck. It was a miracle my father missed my jugular. Up until I stood in front of him and admitted my love for Hark he thought my affair was fleeting. A childish distraction.
And then he discovered the depths of my emotions and I learned firsthand how far my father would go when he felt betrayed by his flesh and blood.
“What happened?” The barely controlled rage in his tone causes me to shiver. “And don’t you fucking lie to me or tell me it was nothing, Asena Titan.”
His stiff words might as well be a calling card to the stubbornness in me.
I clench my teeth and move out of his reach. “Save your breath and your threats, Hark.”
He struggles to sit up but I place a hand on his good shoulder. “As I said, the night you died I should have followed you. You didn’t leave me in the hands of a caring family. I’ve lived with monsters thirsting for my blood. Only the ability to produce heirs has kept me alive.” I hold a hand up for him to stay silent when he tries to speak. “I don’t need your sympathy or whatever it is you think I want to hear. I gave you my virginity and my love. I got this in return. A lesson hard learned.”
Hark struggles against the drugs in his system as more pumps through his veins. Clumsy fingers reach for the IV and it’s a battle of wills to keep him from ripping it out of his arm. I place my hand over his and refuse to release his gaze until his hand falls back to his side.
“Rest, Hark. There’s no need for your anger now. It’s done and over. Now that you scared away the heat, I’ll find my way. There’s nothing you can do anyway. Too little too late. My father is dead.”
He absorbs my words in silence.
“That’s why the Druid feels he can do what he wants.”
I nod. It’s not so much the words he speaks that have me shuddering but the cold tone of revenge weaving through them. Like death entered the room and is ready to collect a few souls.
“What are you going to do?”
Undeniable truth sinks into my bones, heavy and unforgiving. Dread steals my soul. There’s only one way I have a chance at surviving. And it’s not with Hark. He was right about me being his curse. The two times we were at each other’s sides he ended up shot. I don’t need to be a rocket scientist to follow the pattern. How long before he catches a final bullet that ends it all? Yeah, no thank you. I don’t need that level of guilt.
I mentally curse myself for the kiss I let happen. And the hope it stirs inside me. I don’t get a happily ever after.
“What the hell do you care?”
Remorse shines in his eyes. He grabs my hand, but he’s not after linking our fingers. He grips the new ring locking me into a future of torment and fear. Remnants of soap make it easy for him to pull it off with little resistance. The five-hundred-thousand-dollar princess cut sails across the room to bounce off a wall like an exclamation point to the end of a really shitty night. And the day after isn’t shaping up to be any better.
All I do is stand there, unflinching. What does that say about me? Nothing good. Let whoever discovers the literal blood diamond have better luck with it than I did. To me, it might as well have come with a pretty silk noose. Because the Druid won’t stop until he has me suffocating and begging for my life all for daring to defy him.
“I’ll never be free of my crown, Hark. Taking the ring off is like taking a bandage off a wound. It’s still there whether it’s on or off. I know how to play the game. And I know what’s coming next.”
“You do not know the depths of the Druid’s depravity. I do. You need me.”
This time I can’t stop him from removing the IV. He grabs a gauze and closes his elbow to hold it in place before too much blood seeps from the needle hole. He’s done this before.
