KILLIAN Rafael nodded, a tender look in his eyes. "Rue has always been smaller than her age. I made Arabella tell me the truth."My angel's eyes welled up with tears, and she moved to my side, burying her face against my chest as she let out a sob."Yes. She's not his. She's yours, Killian. When Arabella planted that seed..." she sobbed."You doubted."She nodded, and I wrapped my arms around her, stroking her hair as relief flooded my heart.Rue was mine. I knew it. I had felt it. In every part of me."I don't care about the lies," I whispered, pressing a kiss to Sera's forehead. "I care about you. And her. My family."Matteo was sobbing quietly now, his shoulders shaking.Rafael finally stepped closer to him."I loved you, Mat," he said. "You were my big brother. My hero. But you let your pride blind you. You hurt the one person who would've taken a bullet for you.""I—I didn't know what I was doing—""You do now," Rafael cut in. "And you'll spend the rest of your life trying
KILLIAN Her eyes widened, but she didn't speak. I could tell that she was drowning under her doubts. Arabella had done what she always does. She'd sown poison and watched it bloom. But it wasn't her venom that I cared about.It's what I saw on Sera's face.Guilt. Fear. And doubt."Come with me," I told her softly.She hesitated, and I saw the war flash in her eyes. I didn't wait for her to decide. I walked to the closet, grabbed a shirt, and pulled it over my head with hands that were still stiff and aching. My body screamed with every movement, still healing from the drugs, the beatings, and the restraints that Arabella and Matteo used.But this pain was nothing compared to the one roaring in my chest.Sera followed me without a word, her face pale.Roman was already waiting outside the door, straightening when he saw me fully dressed."She's still in the East Wing chamber. Matteo's in Interrogation Three," he reported. "Guard rotation's been doubled."I nodded once.Rafael was
SERA “Look at me," I whispered, Arabella’s head lolling slightly. She ignored me, and I grabbed her chin, forcing her eyes to mine."I said, look at me, you rotting piece of filth."She blinked, dazed. Her lips curled with amusement."Still playing the devoted wife?" She rasped, her voice cracked and slurred. "You came all this way... just for me?"I smiled sweetly, then I slapped her across the face hard enough that blood sprayed across the floor."Keep testing me," I said softly. "Please. Give me an excuse to start with your teeth."Her lips trembled, but the smugness returned quickly."You're shaking," she breathed. "Is it fear or rage, Sera?"I stepped away and reached for the tray that had been prepared. My fingers brushed cold metal. Scalpels, clamps, and a syringe I'd filled myself. One of them was already laced with a slow-acting toxin, one that paralyzed the vocal cords last.Arabella flinched when she saw it. She should be afraid.The door creaked open behind me, and I tu
SERA The fever finally broke last night. After five days of restless, sweat-soaked nights and half-conscious mumbling... after the tremors, the hallucinations, the fever dreams that left him clawing at his sheets...He was finally deeply asleep.I sat curled in the corner of the room, my arms wrapped tight around my knees as I stared at his face in the dim golden morning light. His breathing was steady. There were no more shudders or flinches.But I didn't feel relief just yet.Because last night... just before the fever broke... he'd said something I couldn't unhear."She was on top of me...""I couldn't stop her.""I didn't want it...please—"The sound of his voice had gutted me.I pressed a fist to my mouth now, the memory replaying itself in my head. Tears blurred my vision, my body curling tighter into itself.I told myself I'd misheard, but those words hadn't been vague. Rage had sunk into me then. And I'd fantasized about finding Arabella, cutting her apart slowly until all
SERAEarlier, The bastard met me in the hallway with a fake smile. He looked like he hadn't slept in years, but that didn't matter. I didn't know how bad my husband's condition was, and I desperately needed to get him out safely. Lord knows he's been through a lot already."Sera." Matteo said. "You look beautiful. The years have been... unkind to some of us. But you're like an undying rose."I stared at him. He must be joking. What did he expect me to do? Smile and accept his compliment? I'd rather not. He wasn't the same man he used to be. The one I used to respect and admire. He'd become twisted, blinded by his own selfish desires.And worse, he'd been in charge of my torture. He'd separated my child from me. His reckoning was coming, but for tonight, all that mattered was Killian."You disgust me," I said to Matteo.His smile faltered. "That's no way to speak to someone who spared your life."I stepped closer. "Spared me?""You'd be nothing without us. Without me, you would've
KILLIAN Arabella’s screams were muffled beneath the pillow, her limbs flailing as I pressed down with all the strength I had left. My body trembled, the fever clawing through my muscles and bones.I wanted her dead.I needed her gone.But my arms were too weak. My chest heaved, my heart jackhammering behind my ribs. The fever was winning. Therefore, I collapsed beside her, barely breathing.My hands shook violently as I clawed the blanket from the bed and wrapped it around myself. My skin was soaked, clammy, and hot. I couldn't stop shivering, and I couldn't see straight either.But I had to move. I needed to stay alive long enough to make it out.The table of weapons loomed just within reach, but my double vision wasn’t helping. My bare feet dragged across the floor, my knees buckling. I gripped the table just in time to hold myself up, my eyes landing on the sledgehammer.I wrapped my fingers around the handle with my good hand even as my body swayed. Panting, I leaned against