88. Twisted Memories!

Author's POV 

Rafael had been too calm-too smug-when he asked her, "Are you ready to meet the real you?"

There was something hidden behind that tone... something sharp, something calculated. Emerald should have protested. She should have pushed back. But at that moment, she was willing to walk into fire if it meant finding out who she really was.

Rafael placed a naked sword on the table.

A heavy, gleaming blade with a history soaked into its metal.

"Seen one of these before?" he asked, eyes gleaming with mischief. "Wanna touch?"

Emerald's brows pulled together. She knew that question wasn't innocent. Nothing Rafael did was ever innocent. But the curiosity inside her was louder than the warning bells. She stepped forward and traced a finger along the blade-slowly, thoughtfully.

She couldn't imagine the things Rafael had used this sword for.

She wasn't sure she wanted to imagine.

"Ohh... who do we have here?"

The voice behind her made her turn sharply.

Another man stood there. Strikingly handsome. Charming in a way that could disarm kingdoms. Dangerous, yes-but unlike Rafael's devilish aura, this man had a smooth, charismatic kind of danger.

Damon Delgado!

He leaned casually against the wall, a mischievous smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Don't mind me," he said lazily. "Continue."

"Too kind to women, Damon," the man beside him snarled. This one was unfamiliar-hard eyes, bitter expression. Hatred radiated off him like heat.

"We shouldn't be gentle with this bitch. She killed my family. Destroyed everything."

Emerald's frown sharpened. She didn't know this man. She didn't recall harming anyone like him.

Her voice dropped, low and cold.

"Who the fuck are you?"

Rafael and Damon didn't interfere. They watched. Waiting. Measuring.

The man stepped closer, venom dripping from his words.

"You'll know who I am when I'm done with you."

He sneered. "You'll learn your place under men. Learn how to obey. Learn-"

He leaned in closer, breath foul with rage.

"When I fuck you into-"

That was his last sentence.

Emerald didn't consciously move.

She didn't think.

She didn't breathe.

One moment he was standing. The next moment the sword was in her hand and his head was on the floor. The sound of it hitting stone echoed through the room-sharp, final.

Warm blood splashed across her face.

Hot. Metallic. Familiar.

A low growl ripped from her throat.

"I am a Queen. Nobody touches me."

The words came out before she knew she remembered them.

Before she understood why they fit her so perfectly.

A vivid memory pierced her mind like lightning-her slicing down a man with the exact same blade. Clean. Merciless. Regal. The memory was so sharp it felt like watching herself in a high-definition film... but she was the one holding the sword, the one drenched in blood.

Her knees buckled.

The sword slipped from her grasp and clattered to the floor. A wave of memories crashed into her all at once-sharp, painful, overwhelming. Her head spun violently; the room tilted. She stumbled backward onto the sofa, gripping the cushions to stay upright.

She didn't pass out.

She didn't lose control.

But it felt like her mind was being rewired in real time.

"Don't worry," Damon said casually, stepping over the head.

"He was here to die anyway. Consider it charity."

"Breathe, Queen," Rafael said, barely glancing at the corpse. "You'll feel dizzy for a while. Comes with the upgrade."

Emerald blinked up at him, vision blurry.

"You- you psychotic fucker. At least... let me stabilize first."

Rafael smirked. "Stabilize? Why? So your sword can drink my blood next?"

He scoffed. "Emerald is easy to handle. Queen? Not so much. I'm tired of dealing with wild women."

She tried to glare but her focus was slipping.

"You want me out? Fine. I need your guards... and your private jet. And Damon. I don't trust anyone else here."

Damon groaned. "Why am I always the safe option? Mira is going to kill me if I touch you, Queen."

Rafael raised a brow. "Then don't touch her. Easy."

Damon shot him a look. "Yeah? Want to tell her that yourself? Last time she thought I glanced at a woman too long, she threw a knife at me."

"Good luck," Rafael shrugged dismissively.

Damon dragged a hand down his face. "I swear, the reputation I have with women is going to be the death of me."

Rafael waved him off. "You'll live. Probably."

Emerald felt Damon settle a jacket around her shoulders. He didn't touch her skin-not even by accident. His movements were careful, respectful, almost gentle.

Even half-conscious, she felt that difference.

Damon was dangerous, but he had principles.

She respected that.

He lifted her easily, holding her like she was fragile glass while ensuring not even a fingertip brushed her bare skin.

The private jet was quiet.

The hum of its engines felt like the hum of her own mind as memories stitched themselves back into her consciousness-one by one, piece by piece.

By the time she stepped out at the destination, she wasn't Emerald the amnesiac.

She was Emerald the Queen.

The risen one.

The one she had forgotten.

She wanted to run into Egon's arms the second she saw him.

Every instinct screamed to hold him, to feel him, to confirm he was real.

But she had questions.

Questions that had waited too long.

Questions that had teeth.

She handled the reunion the way a queen handles war.

By controlling her emotions and demanding truth.

Only after that-after the confrontation, the anger, the tears-only then did she allow herself the luxury of falling into him.

Into her king.

Into her home.

Back on the beach, Emerald nestled closer to Egon's chest. His arms tightened around her as though he knew exactly what scene she had just replayed in her head.

"You okay?" he murmured.

"Yeah," she whispered. "Just... remembering."

His lips brushed her temple.

"You came back," he said quietly. "That's all that matters."

She tilted her face slightly. "You would've dragged me back even if I tried to run."

"Oh, definitely," he agreed without shame. "I would've hunted you across continents."

She snorted. "Possessive much?"

"Of you?" He kissed her shoulder. "Always."