Chapter Sixteen
S lade
I was going to murder her. If she fucking survived this, I was going to slice her throat open myself.
What the fuck was she thinking? Who in their right mind would do something like this? How could she do this to our daughter? Panic seized my chest. There was so much happening, I needed her here. She couldn’t leave us, not yet. Not until the King got what he deserved.
Raven wasn’t in her right mind. There was something gnawing at her, tearing her apart from the inside out.
She’s fucking insane.
At some point she had fallen against the counter, her head resting on the sink. I grabbed the nearest rag and placed it over her wound briefly, as I picked her up and took her to the bed. Once there, I dropped her on it, not caring how she was placed and put my hand over the rag to contain the bleeding. Her arm dangled over the side and blood trailed down her fingers.
I stood there like a goddamned idiot for what seemed like hours before I finally made the decision to call someone. As I kept one hand on the rag, I reached in my pocket and grabbed my phone to call Lewis.
He picked up on the first ring.
“I need you to come to Raven’s room now. Alone .”
A gruff reply, “On my way.”
Everything was fine. She was falling into my trap. I could tell she was surprised to see me here. My mission was to break into her room, pick her brain and then punish her. I wanted her to suffer for what she did to me. While I loved her at one point, the bitch had really done a number on me. Sending me to prison and keeping me away from my daughter was the final straw.
I didn’t expect her to do this. I knew her Father had fucked her up when she was younger, but I wondered what he did to her currently. She easily lost her shit and just sliced her arm wide open like it was no fucking deal. The only people who did shit like that were the ones who were tormented on a daily basis. Whether it was from abuse, bullying, or addiction.
The door burst open and Lewis came in like someone had set the place on fire. A lady with frantic blue eyes came running in behind him and basically shoved me out of the way to get to Raven. Must be the estate’s doctor. Lars refused to have any medical care off site. He and the royal family never went to the hospital. They always had a doctor onsite and if it was a more serious issue, he would fly people in. He refused to be normal. Where if it were up to Raven, she would’ve been treated in the hospital like a “commoner”. That was one thing I did admire about her.
“I thought I told you to come alone,” I said through gritted teeth. I didn’t need her spilling information that I was on the grounds. Lars couldn’t know. It would ruin everything.
Lewis shut the door, came to stand beside me and rolled his eyes. “This is the Queen you’re talking about. The next ruler of this kingdom. I don’t trust you enough to come alone.”
Smart thinking on his part. If I didn’t respect him, I could’ve easily killed him as soon as he entered and just let Raven slowly bleed out until she was no longer my problem. That’s what I should’ve done.
“What happened? And more importantly, why are you here?” Concern laced his voice, and a part of me felt guilty for even letting this happen. Lewis cared for Raven as if she were his daughter. She would’ve been better off with him as a father than her real one. Half the King’s staff wondered why the Queen stuck with him as long as she did. Maybe she really did love him. I guess the heart wants what it wants.
I raised a brow, challenging him. “That’s none of your business, remember?”
“When it comes to Raven and her daughter, they are my business. I could care less about the King and what happens to him, but I swear Slade, if you hurt that woman or her daughter, I’ll kill you.”
Where have I heard that before?
I raised my hands, “You have my word.” For now.
The doctor tended to Raven’s wounds, and I tried to figure out what my next point of attack was. I was already in the building, but getting past the King’s guards would be difficult. Doable, but difficult.
“Oh, dearest bride, where are you?” a voice called out from the other side of the door. My brows scrunched inward. Who the fuck is that? The guy sounded like an absolute prick. Someone who wanted everyone to be at his beck and call.
Lewis’s eyes went wide. He looked at the door and then back at me. “You need to hide,” he whispered.
I scoffed and crossed my arms over my chest. I wouldn’t be hiding from anyone, much less the asshole who thinks he can ruin my plan. I was the farthest thing from a coward; I had run into worse in prison. He didn’t scare me.
“If you want your plan to work, then you can’t let him know you’re here. He sees one red flag, and he’ll harm both of them. For their safety, you need to fucking hide!” No one harms my daughter and gets away with it.
Clenching my fists, I moved from my position and went towards the long drapes and hid behind that and her desk. He wouldn’t be able to see me, and if the fucker knew what was good for him, he wouldn’t try looking for anything out of the ordinary.
I kept my breathing steady as I hid behind the curtain like a coward. Lewis is going to pay for making me do this.
I was able to see between the crack and watched as that smirking jackass walked in. My hands clenched at my sides and my jaw ticked. I didn’t like this guy. I normally didn’t like any guy that tried to move in on Raven, but this one gave me a bad feeling. Like he was plotting something...something evil.
His cocky tone quickly disappeared when he saw Raven being tended to by the doctor. “What happened?” Concern laced his voice, but it was fake. His whole facade was fake. He was trying to prove that he cared about the Queen so he would gain bonus points from everyone around. I wasn’t the only one who didn’t buy it though.
Lewis’s face was set in stone. He clearly didn’t care for the dick. either. He cleared his throat, “Nothing you need to worry about.”
The future “King '' was standing in a relaxed position, but became ramrod straight after Lewis’s comment. “She is to become my wife, I would think that gives me every right to know what’s going on.”
It was the first time I’d seen Lewis laugh in a while. “When she walks down the aisle and says I do, then you have the right. For now, she is under my supervision and neither you nor the King will get in the way of that. So, I would suggest you vacate this room if you know what’s good for you. I’ll send her to come find you when she’s well.”
His face grew to be the color of a tomato. The guy was pissed, and I was surprised Lewis went off on him like that. Maybe he was tired of putting up with all the bullshit.
“You don’t have any right to talk to me like that. If you don’t watch your tongue, I’ll fire your ass.”
Lewis shook his head, “I’d like to see you try.”
It had been a long time since I’d seen a man get so worked up over nonsense. This fucker thrived on control and if he didn’t have it, he’d lose his fucking mind. He glanced at Raven and then stormed out of the room like he had somewhere to be. My guess, he was going to tell the King everything Lewis said, which meant that Lewis wasn’t out of the woods.
I stepped out from behind the curtain. The doctor was almost done patching up Raven, and she was still out of it. My heart clenched and I couldn’t figure out why. Seeing Raven utterly defenseless gave me every right to make a move, but there was a part of me, a small part that couldn’t bear her being in pain. I tried to close the doors and shut that part down. I didn’t need to feel a connection with her again. That would fuck up everything.
I came to stand by Lewis, who still had a scowl on his face when the doctor turned towards us. “Raven will be fine. She’ll probably come to shortly. I’m assuming she passed out because of exhaustion, not the wound. The cut isn’t deep enough to cause severe damage, but she needs to be kept an eye on. There are previous marks on her arm along the vein, and if something like this happens again, it will cause severe damage. Make sure she is keeping up with her fluids and make sure she gets rest.”
Previous marks on her arms? I never noticed that before. How often was she hurting herself? Did she get off on pain? Was she punishing herself for something?
“Thanks Jenn,” Lewis whispered and escorted her out of the room.
I stood still, eyes roaming over Raven, looking for more injuries that could be lingering. Her arm was wrapped up in bandages and gauze, and it was elevated on a pillow. Her breathing was steady, her eyes closed and lips parted. If I hadn’t witnessed what I did earlier, it would’ve looked like she was sound asleep.
“We should probably let her get some rest. What way did you sneak in here?” He came to stand beside me again, and his eyes were looking around the room to make sure nothing was out of place.
“The window, and I’m not leaving.”
“Yes, you are.”
“No, I’m not.” I wasn’t going anywhere and while I respected the old man, he wouldn’t force me. I would remain out of sight, but I wasn’t leaving. I needed to be here to get my plan to work.
Lewis groaned, “Fine. But if you get caught, I’m not helping you. I’ll go check on Julianna and make sure she leaves Raven alone for now.”
I nodded as he left the room. I turned to lock her bedroom door, went to her desk chair and sat down. There was a black journal resting on top of her desk, with a blue pen sitting on top. The journal didn’t appear to have a lock on it and the urge to open and read it was strong. Why would she leave a journal out in the open like that? If it had any dark secrets she didn’t want getting out, it wasn’t smart on her part to leave it lying around. Especially with that dick staying in the estate.
I snuck a peek at Raven and she was still fast asleep. The sun was slowly setting, and it was starting to get dark out. I had no urge to go anywhere soon, so I sat back, picked up the journal and opened to the first page.
Page one...Training. Otherwise known as Hell on Earth.
My brows came together as my face turned into a scowl. What did the King put her through? She never shared this time with me when we were younger. I often asked about it since we met at the end of her training, but she refused.
“Will you tell me something?” My heart raced waiting for her answer. I’d been wondering this for a long while, but never had the courage to ask her. Raven was a closed book most of the time, and I knew there was a lot of pain in her past. But I had to know. I had to know what we were dealing with.
Her father put on a great display in front of people, but he was a cold hearted man. I could tell he didn’t love Raven. He wasn’t attached to her like a father should be.
“What’s that?” She grabbed a fry and dipped it in the vanilla milkshake, then put it between her red lips. Her eyes rolled in pleasure and it made my downstairs stir.
“What happened during training? I feel like I need to know. You’ve never told me.”
She stiffened. “No, you don’t.”
“Why not? We’re together. I’m in love with you; you’re in love with me. No secrets, remember?”
She shook her head vehemently and stood up. “This is the one secret I won’t tell you. You can’t make me, Slade. It’s too much. Too painful. And I don’t know what you’ll do when you find out the truth.”
A lone tear fell down her cheek, and I felt bad for even bringing it up. Whatever happened during the process traumatized her.
“Please don’t bring it up again.” With that, she walked away, leaving me alone in the kitchen with her unfinished shake and fries. A cold feeling enveloped my body when she left, erasing any trace of warmth when she was here.
One day I would find out. And the people who hurt her would pay dearly for their mistakes.
My fingers tightened on the book. I glanced up and looked at her one more time. Why was she so stubborn? Why would she hide this from me? Back then I wanted to know everything about her past. I wanted to be her knight and shining armor and take her away from the misery of this life. It reminded me of the night I first kissed her, and how being the stubborn ass she was, tried to push me away. Suddenly, the book faded away, and I was locked inside another memory.