Chapter 28
Twenty-Eight
SOPHIE
It took a lot of convincing to get Igor to leave. He’s worried about me, and I feel bad, but not bad enough to allow him to spend the night on my couch. I need time alone to process everything that happened to me tonight.
“Are you okay, Soph?” Tish asks. “I mean, besides your broken nose.”
I sit on the couch, curling my legs under me and holding a pillow against my lap. Now that I’m alone with Tish, I can drop the walls protecting me. “So much has happened. I don’t know where to begin.”
“You look so sad.”
I avoid her gaze, choosing to focus on the pattern of my pillow. “It’s not sadness. I’m bloody angry.”
“Who made you angry? Surely not Mr. Cutie Pie. You two looked pretty into each other.”
Her mentioning Vaughn brings a smile to my lips. “He was the only bright spot in the evening.”
“Good. But tell me who I need to cut.”
“How are you going to cut anyone? You don’t have opposable thumbs.” I smirk. Bantering with Tish always makes me feel better.
“I don’t need fingers. I have my claws.”
“Unfortunately, the person you’d want to turn into shreds is already dead.”
She cocks her head. “Are you talking about Boone?”
A shiver runs down my spine. I close my eyes, trying to forget the memory of that vicious attack. “Yes. He’s the one who hurt me before I went into hibernation.”
“No…”
I look at her. “I finally remembered everything. He beat me to an inch of my life, and he—” I get choked up and can’t finish the sentence.
“That fucking bastard!” Tish’s eyes spark with fury. I don’t need to spell it out that Boone raped me for her to know. “Hell. Now I kind of hate Lucca a little bit for killing that worthless piece of shit before I had the chance.”
I shake my head. “I don’t. I’m glad he’s no longer around to hurt anyone else.”
“Are you going to tell your father?”
“I don’t see the point. The asshole is dead.”
“Yes, but at least knowing the truth might stop your father from killing Lucca out of misguided revenge.”
“I don’t think he’d abandon his plan. The revenge part is only an excuse.”
“Why do you say that?”
“He hasn’t contacted Enya in months. She had no idea I was out of hibernation.”
“Whoa. That’s strange for sure. He used to be the queen’s right hand.”
I nod. “He told me he had been denied access to Queen Tatiana.”
Tish begins to pace. “And he wants you to take her place. It sounds to me like he’s planning a coup.”
My stomach clenches, and I hug the pillow tighter. “I think so too. The truce between Queen Tatiana and King Raphael was real, and it still stands.”
“King?” Tish stops pacing suddenly. “Since when do you consider him to be the king?”
I sigh. “After what I learned tonight, I can’t call him ‘usurper king’ any longer.”
“Wow.” She looks at me, startled.
“And there’s more. Did you know Queen Tatiana was engaged to King Raphael and the reason for the war was because he called the wedding off?”
“I’ve heard rumors of that nature, but has she confirmed that to you?”
I nod. “She did. All the suffering the war caused, all the deaths, it was because she’d been jilted by King Raphael.”
“Man. That’s taking retribution to a whole new level.”
“I think being sick made her regret everything she’s done. But the Accords couldn’t change the way each side felt about the other. Hundreds of years of hate can’t be forgotten that easily.”
“No, it cannot. It’s like trying to stop a wave with your bare hands.”
“She wants me to end the war.”
Tish snorts. “Isn’t that rich? ‘Hey, I fucked up royally and that’s my legacy to you. Why don’t you be a pretty lass and fix my mess for me?’ How does she expect you to do that?”
“I have no idea. She never elaborated on the subject. She started to say something about Vaughn, and that’s when the switch happened.”
“The switch?”
“She’s not herself. The absence of Nightingale magic has affected her mental faculties. She forgets who she is and turns aggressive in an instant without warning. We were fine in one moment, but the next, she sent me flying across the room.”
“Yikes. That’s how you got a broken nose. I’m sorry, Soph.”
“I’m not. It was worth it. Meeting her gave me closure. Since my father told me she was my mother, I’ve been depressed about it. Why didn’t she want me? Now I know she was protecting me from Boone.”
“That fucking stain on the earth. He’s not even good enough to be worm food. Now I wish he’d been burned at the stake so he’d suffer more.”
“Me too. Getting his heart ripped from his chest was too quick of a death.”
“Now… let’s talk about more pleasurable things. You and Vaughn… what’s going on there?”
My face heats. I want to tell Tish that I’ve become completely obsessed with him, but I refrain. “I don’t know yet, but I want to see where it leads.”