Chapter 144
Chapter 144
EX 35 youchers
Anastasia and my grandmother might as well be best friends now. At some point, I think my grandmother told her what’s going on between her and the King, and the two of them laughed at him, which is making him impatient. I don’t have to be bonded to him to know that he’s pissed. I can feel the frustration coming off him in suffocating waves.
What the hell am I supposed to do about any of this? I know that the moment my grandmother finds out that the Queen is pregnant with someone else’s child, she’s going to be beyond livid. I mean, the moment that woman stepped into her shoes, she’s hated her. She respects the King and his decisions, but this is something else. It’s personal, not just for him, but for her.
saw the pain in her expression the moment he told her that they were expecting. It was the final straw for her. The last of what little she had been holding on to. Giving up on something is kind of final, and even when the truth comes out, I don’t know if she’ll care enough to come home.
You are amazing,” Ana says as the two of them come out of the interrogation room.
Me, you have a collection of monsters in your basement. Do you sleep here?” my grandmother asks. “I could never trust hem. How are you so comfortable with all of them near you?”
Now that my family is growing again, I’m planning to move them somewhere else. I can’t have my brother’s pups running
round here, where they might accidentally stumble across them. But yeah, we live here. Fuckers don’t make a peep. The ecret is the nano device in their necks. If they’re not cleared to leave their cells, boom.”
That is illegal,” the King says, glaring at her. “These are lives you’re talking about.”
See,” my grandmother rolls her eyes. “This is the shit I’m talking about.”
Yeah,” Ana nods and looks away as if she were completely disappointed. I growl at the two of them. My grandmother is caught off guard, but Ana laughs. “Sophie has always struck me as a daddy’s girl.”
Well, she was the only one,” my grandmother nods. “I have what I need. Let’s regroup with the boys. General Axel is here with his mate, and we need to welcome them.”
Have fun. Soph, can I speak with you for a moment?” Ana asks.
I’ll be right over here,” I say.
The two of us walk into the interrogation room. I glance back to see if the King is standing in the doorway to make sure 1 don’t go anywhere. I know he can hear us, but his attention is on my grandmother. The ride back to the castle is definitely going to be very interesting.
Those two are a fucking mess,” Ana says as she picks something up from the floor. For a moment, I think it’s a finger, but for my sanity. I’m going to pretend it was not that.
You have no idea,” I agree. I look down at James and let out a heavy sigh. “All you had to do was talk to me, but you wanted
o draw this out.”
Fuck you,” he chokes out. “My family will make you pay for this.”
‘We didn’t tell him. You seem like a good girl, but there’s a little Lycan in you after all. I just wanted to give you the satisfaction a second time,” he holds out the cloth I didn’t get to use the first time she brought it out for me.
“Thanks,” I say and dip the cloth into the ready water
It’s not hot anymore. It’s warm, so it won’t hurt him too much. She wants him alive, and my guess is to put him in one of those cool glass cages to add to her collection. I never thought about it, and when my grandmother asked how she could
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Chapter 144
sleep knowing that if those things ever got loose, it wouldn’t end well, it’s kind of all I can think about.
“Are you keeping him?” I ask her. She nods.
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“His new home is ready for him. We’re going to heal him up a little before we place him. I don’t want him blooding up his new clothes and sheets. This one comes with some very expensive accessories. Blood is very unpredictable. You don’t know what it’ll choose to cling on to,” she moves a stray strand of hair from his forehead.
I start at his hands and move up to his face. By the time I get to the bruising on his face, I come to terms with the fact that this is my life now. I’m friends with my mate’s mobster cousins, who have a collection of some of the most notorious criminals in the supernatural world. My grandmother is dying to leave this place to get away from the person she unwillingly gave her entire soul to, and he’s going to make sure that he does everything in his power to make sure that neve happens.
“You’re not like them, Sophia, James croaks. “I see a lot of your mother in you.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” I say as I ring out the bloody cloth.
“She was very gentle as well. You don’t belong here. You know that. Santiago went about this the wrong way, and I apologize for-”
“Your family is all dead,” I cut him off. I reach into my pocket to retrieve the water I kept from the attack. and stand beside him. “Alpha Romano died quickly. We know he was bitch, and you all needed to put a face to your operation in Artume City But your beloved daughter didn’t have the luxury.
“I loved her, you know. She meant a lot to me. I had this respect and admiration for her, and honestly, now that she’s gone. I still feel a little of that because she still fucked shit up all her life. She lived her life the way she wanted to. That’s something that should be celebrated. Not very many people are brave enough to do it.
“I’ve been meaning to use this ability for some time now. I didn’t know if it would work because, despite being what I am. I’m still low–ranked as an omega. My talents might lie elsewhere, but this is definitely worth a try. I originally planned to use it on myself, and since this is a very fond memory, I wanted to keep it.”
“You’re not going to kill him, are you?” Ana asks, worried about her new toy.
“No, might fry his brain though.”
“Oh, I’m cool with that,” she motions for me to carry on.
“I have this affinity. Water. I used it to heal Ana,” I look over at her. “And she looks great. This,” I hold the little bottle up and shake it. “Is water that I used to drown your daughter in.”
“What?” His eyes take on a very pretty shine. “No, you’re lying. My daughter would never fall to the likes of you.”
“Well, she did. And she told me about Kaylee. Under what other circumstance do you think she would do that? His nostrils flare as he stares at me. “This technique is called the momento mori. Unlike other reminders of death, this one holds the memories of the deceased’s last moments.”
“Holy shit,” Ana smiles. “Does he need to drink that?”
“He could, but as long as it’s inside of him. It’ll work,” I nod.
Without warning, she jumps to grab his head. James begins to kick and shake his head, trying to fight her. The scent of fear and blood carries in the air around us, permeating every breath I take. My mouth fills with saliva, and my senses all come alive the way they always do when I come across this. I swallow, popping the cork off the small bottle,
“Don’t,” he growls. “Please.”
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Chapter 144
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“You had my entire family killed, I remind him. “Nothing you can say or do will ever make me forgive you for that. All the pain and suffering we felt. Do you think I give two fucks about your pleas or how much you loved your precious little
monster?
My affinity flares when I reach to part his lips. I gather water from inside the bottle and break it apart into droplets. He cries out, startled when I drop them on his face. I force them inside of him. Through his eyes, his nose, his mouth, and his ears. I do exactly as the book instructed. I feel the moment when the memories stick to him.
I can see myself standing in front of him as I panic. No, I’m not the one panicking. It’s her. Luna Romano. There’s a Fondness in the image of me inside of her. There’s a sense of pride I didn’t expect. Fear, but not because she’s dying. Maybe she’s worried about her son and daughter. I don’t know, but she definitely wasn’t afraid for herself. I can feel her consciousness fading, and I have to blink to stay in the present.
You killed her,” he chokes out as if he himself had been drowning. His body lifts from his seat, and he tries to shift for the irst time since I’ve laid eyes on him. “You killed her!” he screams. “I’m going to hurt you! I’m going to make you regret the lay you survived!”
I’ve regretted that from the moment I opened my eyes and every breath after that,” I scoff. “You’re not going anywhere. And hould you, by some miracle, escape. I’ll be waiting.”
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
