Chapter 20
Truth Serum
Raven
Present Day - Grypheem
Stubby fingers tugged me closer into cushioned flesh.
“You looked so familiar.” The voice was a hot breath in my ear and caused a shiver of disgust to percolate through me. “But you were a beast in the games. My money was on you.”
What terrified me the most was now that I knew those from here were in Violencia, there was a very high chance we had crossed paths.
And if all it took for another man to have a claim on me was to have fucked them, then that would mean anyone I met in my Shadow era could press for that.
I had already decided to remain silent. To not give anything else away. This man clearly had asserted his princely powers for this dance, and I wouldn’t do anything to make it enjoyable.
I hadn’t expressed to Griffin yet my concerns, but I hadn’t exactly had the opportunity either.
I had spent the minimal amount of free time once arriving here to find Levi and the others.
They were tucked away in rooms on the same floor as Griffin’s but on the complete opposite side of the castle.
Levi had advised that he wouldn’t be present tonight, neither would Maverick or Enzo.
After we ate food, I was whisked away and wrapped in this gown.
It was heavy against my skin, pressing me down into the ground, and I hated it.
I despised this country. Everyone I had met. And especially this man before me.
A prince.
His fingers attempted to find my bare skin as they trailed along the back of my gown, and it took everything in me not to stomp on his foot as he spun us.
“The silent type.” The song ended, and I met his eyes.
They were familiar—the same shade of green as Griffin’s, but it was more than that.
He released me, but then his hand came up, pinching my chin under the mask. His bare fingers scratchy against my skin. “My favorite.” He bent forward as if to kiss me, and I froze.
But not out of terror, something was wrong, my insides scrambling uncomfortably as my nerves short-circuited.
We both wore masks that covered our entire face. We wouldn’t be touching, but surely this went against some sort of ethics or law they had.
I need to unfreeze.
Thankfully, I was saved from it by the familiar scent of acrid poison.
And then I was tugged away from the prince’s hold and pulled through the crowd.
I expected Oleks to lead us to Griffin, but instead he kept moving us until we were outside of the great hall, further and further on the ground floor to parts I hadn’t yet explored until we were outside in a garden.
And then he kept going, leading us towards overgrown hedges, our shoes crunching in the snow.
But I wasn’t cold, in fact I was surprisingly hot.
It wasn’t until we were lost in the labyrinth of the garden that he stopped.
He ripped his mask off, panting. His chestnut eyes swirling in rage as he pulled a cloth from his pants and then he was ripping my mask off and rubbing my chin viciously.
I didn’t fight him, frozen in shock from the assault.
When Oleks was satisfied with whatever he was doing, he brought the cloth to his nose.
“It’s nearly scentless,” Oleks muttered, licking the cloth. He grimaced. “Rotten eggs. That isn’t good.”
I wobbled, my knees buckling as I stumbled back into an icy hedge before me. Oleks jumped forward, securing me in his hold.
“What’s going on?” I asked, my tongue thickening in my mouth.
“He drugged you,” Oleks advised, his attention flashing in all directions. But we were alone, the stars twinkling brightly in the sky.
They were the same ones I looked at back home, yet they appeared different now. “Why?” I asked, blinking blearily. A numb was building in my face, stretching out and leading a path directly to my chest, causing my heart to beat longer and slower.
“That is what they do here,” Oleks growled, he gently lowered us to the ground, readjusting until he leaned against the hedge, and my head was in his lap.
“Just like they drugged us in the game. For their preaching of Cherished and their archaic means, they are surprisingly advanced in the chemicals they utilize.”
“I’m not pregnant.” I don’t know why that was what I thought to say. “I was put on birth-control during my days in the Faction.”
“It was for your protection, but it will also put a target on you.” Oleks’s eyes whipped around the space. “You aren’t safe here, Raven. And Ivan is nearby. I don’t sense him now, but I have. He is in the castle, it’s as if he is hidden in the walls just out of sight. And there are other eyes.”
The numbness in my chest squeezed tightly, causing me to gasp.
“It shouldn’t last much longer, it didn’t make contact for an extensive period,” Oleks explained, his hands finding their way into my hair, unclipping it and letting it fall out all over him. He brushed through it gently.
“Thank you,” I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut and allowing myself to just enjoy this moment of solace, even as terror threatened to consume me.
Oleks paused. “Raven, my existence is nothing. I am nothing. I have nothing. No one. And if I ceased to exist, not a single soul would notice or care. Your life is precious, and I will do anything I can to keep you safe. But even that I have failed, you have been poisoned.”
My hand reached up blindly, finding Oleks’s sharp jaw, tracing up it. “I would miss you,” I promised. “You are important. Your value is not equated to what you are doing. It is okay to simply exist. But I imagine this would be much worse if not for you.”
Oleks hummed, but it was clear he didn’t agree with the sentiment.
My stomach bubbled uneasily as it sloshed around. “I miss Sparrow.” The words fell freely on their own, without any cognitive choice.
Her face had been buried behind my eyelids since I had seen her. Since I had held her.
It was an ache that I contended with each day, that I forced out of my mind for the sake of existing.
“I know.” Oleks stroked my cheeks. “You’re freezing.”
“I don’t feel it.” My hand cupped his jaw, my thumb swiping across his bottom lip. “I slept with Julian.” This confession came without any thought.
Oleks flinched, but then he continued to rub my cheek, offering soft comforting circles. “You can’t help but speak, can you? As if the thoughts are propelled directly into the air?”
I hummed my agreement. “A truth serum?” I laughed, my free hand finding the snow, burying into it. “I hate the cold, I’m almost thankful not to feel it right now.”
“I guess, more so the synapses from your brain are misfiring due to a neurological—” He exhaled, cutting himself off. “I hate the cold too.” Oleks’s voice shifted to the point it caused my eyes to flash open.
“You look sad.”
He stared down at me, examining my face. “Pain and suffering are parts of my origin. Until I was saved.”
“I was saved by Julian first. But then I had to save myself. And then save myself from myself. Isn’t that silly?”
“No. It’s proof of your strength. Existing for the sake of survival is harder than any realize. You need something to fuel you. To propel you forward.”
“Sparrow. Jayce. You. Griffin. Enzo. Maverick. Levi. Julian. There are so many reasons now, when before it was only me. But so many more to lose now too.” Kicking my feet out, I stretched on the ground, getting comfier.
There was a thick wall of exhaustion that was hitting me hard and fast. “You are the sweetest, Oleks. Even if you don’t want the world to see it. ”
Oleks laughed, but crunching in the snow drew my attention, except Oleks didn’t appear perturbed.
“Enzo, I need your help.” Oleks looked up in the direction of the sound.
Enzo appeared above me, his eyes narrowing in concern. “What happened?”
“I was drugged by a prince,” I explained easily. “And now my insides feel goopy and warm. You look angry again. What happened to you being the easy-going brother?”
The familiar wrinkle between Enzo’s brow formed.
“Can you go get Levi? I need help getting her back to Griffin’s room. I would have a hard time doing it alone,” Oleks requested.
Enzo continued staring down, before bending over and scooping me off of Oleks.
“I weigh more than you are letting on,” I voiced out loud as my insides sloshed uncomfortably.
“You’re freezing,” Enzo muttered. “I’ve got her. I can get her up there, I’m sure you have a secret mission that Griffin sent you on. You’re his assassin after all.”
My fist hit Enzo in the jaw, hard. Well, I think it did.
I couldn’t feel it at all and he didn’t react.
“Don’t be mean to him. You are such an insufferable asshole to everyone else.
Deal with your own shit and stop projecting.
” I lifted my head up looking at Oleks who was getting to his feet, wiping the snow off the backs of his legs.
“I’m safe enough with Enzo. I’ll come find you tomorrow,” I promised.
Oleks didn’t appear convinced, but after a beat, he accepted it. “Don’t drink any tea that is offered to you.” And then he was disappearing further into the maze of hedges.
Enzo stared down at me. “Insufferable asshole? What if I just dump you into the snow to die? Then my problem would be solved and I could leave this place.” His hand moved to my neck, his longer fingers wrapping around it, offering the slightest pressure.
I can feel that.
It was clear he didn’t expect me to moan.
“Fuck!” He released my neck, squeezing me tightly to him, and wrapping his large coat around me as best he could. He marched us through the hedges and back towards the castle without another word. I turned in his embrace, looking behind him.
I opened my mouth to speak, the shadowed man placed a finger to his lips and, for some reason, that was enough to keep my voice contained.
Enzo’s warmth, his scent, his heartbeat all worked together to soothe me, and I fell deep into unconsciousness before we made it back to Griffin’s quarters.