AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My head spins with the possibilities of them knowing the most intimate details of my life. I didn’t expect my secret to come out like this, but now that it so clearly has, I’m not sure how to react.
“I haven’t told anyone her secrets, yet,” Marco says as he sneers at me, making my body quake with the thought of everyone on this island knowing I’m broken.
“And you won’t be telling anyone,” Valen says before he steps up to the side of the chair. His eyes are on me.
Now I know why they were so angry, it wasn’t that I was out late, it wasn’t because I didn’t call them to ask for a ride home, it’s because they know.
“It’s time for you to earn your place, princess,” Judah tells me as he hands me a blade far larger than the ones I’ve been training with.
He wants me to hurt Marco. No, not just hurt him. Judah wants me to torture, possibly kill, the man in front of me.
I snap my gaze to Judah’s, and I open my mouth to speak, but I can’t find the words I need. My throat closes as panic takes over. I’ve never hurt someone for the sake of it, but when Judah looks at me, I realise this is more about keeping secrets than it is about anything else.
“There’s no choice in this life,” he tells me, as if he can read my mind.
I have no doubt he probably can read my mind. That’s one thing about Judah Venier, he’s perceptive. Kai steps up behind me, his hands landing on my hips as he holds me steady. I’m swaying, dizziness hitting me full force now, and I wish I could run away. I don’t want to do this, but when I look back at Marco, I know he’s not someone who can be trusted to keep a secret.
I can’t risk it. There’s too much at stake to allow Marco to live. I know it, the Princes know it, and Marco does as well. He looks at me as if he knows I’m weak, but the smirk on his face only adds fuel to the fire that’s slowly burning inside me.
“If you don’t do it—” Judah warns, but he doesn’t complete his sentence.
If I don’t, they’ll have no choice. I step forward, my hand gripping the handle of the knife so tightly I’m pretty sure my knuckles are white. Valen grips Marco’s hair, and pulling his head back, he exposes the condemned man’s fragile neck. The moment I succumb to this, I’ll have blood on my hands, which is exactly what they want. I know their secret, and now they’ll own mine.
“Are you going to fall into the darkness, princess?” Judah speaks, but it sounds so far away. As if I’m in a tunnel, and they’re watching me from the outside. I feel like I’m in a nightmare, and there’s no way I can turn back.
“Do it,” Marco goads me. “I don’t think a little girl who’s as broken as you can ever become their queen,” he throws the insult out, and my mind goes blank.
I don’t think about it as my hand moves of its own accord, and I feel the sharp steel slice through the soft flesh of Marco’s neck. The sound is surreal, like nothing I’ve heard before. I’ve never been around death, yet here I am meting it out.
Blood spurts from the wound. The way Marco’s head droops, makes my stomach turn. I drop the knife before racing to the nearest wall, and bending over, I puke up my lunch. As I continue to retch, the acidic burn causes tears to sting my eyes. I never considered myself capable of violence, but I’m in their world now.
There’s no going back.
I feel hands on my hips, holding me steady. It has to be Val. I can’t stop coughing. The metallic scent of blood fills my nostrils, and I can’t escape it. I’ll never be free of it now. I’m stained, just like every other student on this island.
Just like my father.
When I finally straighten, I turn to find Kai holding out a bottle of water towards me. Val is still gripping my hips in his strong hands while Judah watches from the other side of the room, his eyes giving nothing away.
Disappointment flows through me. I’m not sure I can explain it, but perhaps I want Judah to show me an expression of pride now I’ve taken this irrevocable step into their world. It’s stupid to want that, and I don’t know why I do. I’ve obeyed him. Surely, I should get a reward.
“Drink,” Kai says, gesturing to the bottle, and I accept it with a small smile and a shaky hand.
I don’t want them to know what I’m thinking, so I try to calm my breathing before taking a long sip. The refreshing liquid soothes the burn in my throat, and I close my eyes, not wanting to see my blood-stained hands.
“Take her to her room. I’ll be up in a minute,” Judah commands in a low baritone that sends my heart into a wildly thrumming beat.
I’m led in silence back through the house to my bedroom that’s become a safe haven for me. I want to wash my hands, but I don’t dare move. I stand in the middle of the room with Kai on one side of me and Valen the other. I’m cocooned in warmth from both sides.
This wasn’t supposed to happen like this. I wanted to sit them down and tell them everything when I was sure I could trust them. Even though they’ve given me no reason to doubt them, I never wanted my health to become an issue.
SUFFOCATE ME
BRIELLE
Standingbetween both men makes me shiver with the anticipation of what they’re going to do to me. I’m still caked in blood, but they either don’t notice, or they aren’t perturbed. I’m going with the latter. They’re probably used to being drenched in the blood of their enemies, so this is nothing new.
“It had to be done,” Kai tells me, being the first to speak and capture my attention.
