Epilogue One
ASTORIA
“Do you have that one, Tori?” Acelynn’s voice rang over the rowdy crowd.
I turned toward where she pointed to a young redhead lingering at the end of the bar.
Her eyes were wide as she drank in the sight of the Queen’s Table on a Saturday night.
Poor thing looked like a lamb wandering into the lion’s den.
“Yeah, I got her,” I called back, though Acelynn was already halfway down the bar, taking an order from another patron. Typical, never waiting to see if I could handle things because it was just expected of me.
I rolled my eyes and made my way to the redhead. “What are you doing here, Penelope?”
“I am old enough to drink, you know.” She shot me a glare.
Her hair seemed to glow under the neon lights.
I laughed under my breath. Sure, she was technically old enough, but there was no way this was about legality.
This was rebellion—sweet, trembling rebellion against her father, the sheriff of Lovelen.
If he even sniffed out that his precious daughter had stepped foot into the Knights’ bar, let alone ordered something, he’d have her locked in her bedroom until she turned forty.
“Okay.” I leaned into the bar, giving her a crooked smile. “What can I get you?”
Penelope’s shoulders sagged, lips pulling into a pout as she realized I might have been right in my question. “A water is fine.”
I sighed softly. Poor girl. She wanted to be wild, wanted to rebel, but fear still gripped her too tightly.
She couldn’t even commit to one harmless drink, too scared of her father’s wrath.
Leaning closer, I lowered my voice to something conspiratorial.
“How about I make you a Shirley Temple and you can just say it has vodka in it? No one will ever know.”
Her eyes lit up, wide and hopeful. “Really?”
I nodded and went to work, stirring the grenadine and soda together. Setting the glass down in front of her, I caught her fumbling for her card. I shook my head. “It’s on the house. Go have some fun tonight, Pen. You deserve it.”
“Thanks, Astoria.” Penelope smiled at me like I’d just handed her a ticket to freedom before slipping back into the crowd.
I straightened, only to catch sight of one of the prospects returning from taking out the trash.
I snagged him by the collar before he could disappear again.
His eyes widened like I was about to string him up in the alley.
“Did you see that little redhead who was just at the bar?”
He nodded quickly. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Ew. Don’t call me that.” I wrinkled my nose. “Just make sure all the Knights know that no one in this bar is to mess with her tonight.”
“You got it.” He was practically trembling under my grip. I shoved him back, and he scurried away like a terrified child. I snorted. It was rare I got to pull rank on any of them, but when I did? Damn if it didn’t stroke my ego.
I turned, picking up a wineglass to clean. My eyes lifted, just scanning the crowd until they landed on a sight that turned my stomach to ice. Nolan Bedivere, leaning down over some petite blonde at the doorway of the pool room.
I froze. My pulse thundered in my throat. He reached up, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear like it was the most natural thing in the world. She giggled, high and fake, but it didn’t matter. The sight alone was enough to shatter something raw inside me.
The stem of the wineglass shattered in my hand before I realized how hard I was gripping it.
The sharp crack silenced those nearest as glass rained onto the counter in glittering shards.
A few drops of blood welled across my palm.
Nolan’s head snapped toward me, eyes meeting mine across the bar.
His face drained of color, knowing I had caught him flirting with that bimbo.
“Hey, I got this.” Josie appeared at my side with a broom, glaring daggers at Nolan before turning to me. “Go clean up.”
I set the base of the broken glass down behind the bar and stalked off. My hands slammed against my dorm room door, the blood coming from the tiny cuts on my hand smearing against its white surface. The door didn’t even slam fully shut as Nolan slipped through the crack.
I ignored him as he called out to me, determined not to give him any attention as I stormed into the bathroom. Dipping down, I opened the cabinet and shuffled through the products until I came upon an old first aid kit.
“Astoria,” Nolan called out to me again.
Slamming the first aid kit down on the counter, the latch broke, and the contents exploded onto the bathroom floor. “What, Nolan? What could you possibly want from me right now?”
“What is your problem?” he growled, taking one step toward me until my back was pinned against the counter.
A bitter laugh clawed its way up my throat. “Really? Are you trying to intimidate me into talking? Because that’s not going to work on me.”
His hands braced the counter on either side of me, caging me in. “I’m not trying to intimidate you, Tor. I’m trying to get you to talk to me instead of throwing a tantrum and breaking glass.”
“A tantrum?” I scoffed at him. “That’s what you think this is?”
“I didn’t think I’d have to spell it out for you, but yeah. You’re acting like a brat right now.”
The word sliced deep. Deeper than I wanted to admit. Because maybe he was right. Maybe I was nothing but the spoiled princess of the Knights, throwing fits, betraying the only people who had ever trusted me, and still I dared to demand more.
I shoved my palms against his chest. “Get out.”
“Not until you tell me what’s wrong.” Nolan held his ground.
“You. That’s what’s wrong!” My voice broke into a scream.
“I almost died, and you confess your love for me at my hospital bedside, and then just ignore me. It’s been three months!
Three months, and this is the only conversation we have had alone.
Then you flirt with a knock-off clone of me in my bar! ”
His head bowed, shame flickering across his features. “Tor…”
The nickname ignited every bitter wound inside me.
My hand snapped against his cheek with a crack that echoed off the tile.
Tears burned behind my eyes, but I forced them back.
“You don’t get to call me that anymore, Nolan.
You lost that privilege the second you decided I wasn’t worth chasing anymore. ”
I shoved past him, shoulder colliding with his chest. This time, he let me go. But his voice followed, raw and low, jagged enough to slice straight through me. “I can’t trust you, Astoria. Not after what you did.”
The words tore me open more than any rejection could.
Because they were true. I had betrayed him.
Betrayed the Knights. Betrayed myself. I raced out of the room, turning right and stumbling out the emergency exit.
The heavy door clanged shut behind me. Cool night air hit my face, but it did nothing to calm the storm inside.
My back slid down the rough brick until I hit the pavement, knees buckling beneath me.
Sobs racked through me, violent and unrelenting.
I pressed a shaking hand to my face, the sting of the tiny glass cuts reminding me of the chaos I couldn’t seem to escape.
Where had I gone wrong? Where had I lost him?
Nolan, the boy I had loved since I was five years old.
The boy who once swore he’d always choose me.
Now I was nothing but the girl who had betrayed him, and the woman he no longer trusted.