Drayton
Even with The Unavowed carving into my chest, I couldn’t take my eyes off Marian.
She wielded her knife, drawing blood against those who hurt her, and this crazy forsaken king was making his mark in the most permanent way he could.
Did I care? I should have. I didn’t. I couldn’t as I tried studying my wife’s expressions.
She wasn’t crying anymore—she was focused.
Maybe even determined as she slammed a hatchet over the middle of one of the man’s hands.
It was the younger guard with freckles sprinkled over his nose and cheeks.
I knew she was absorbed as she kept hacking to separate the top, but that wasn’t all she was.
Anger was starting to leak into her focus. Her swings were getting wilder. Harder.
Wincing, I tried to push back the fire on my chest, but it kept pulling me out of the awe I wanted to slip into.
Wife.
My wife.
Confusion mingled with… lust. It was the last thing I should have felt, but seeing Marian splattered with blood, watching the red color stain more of her wedding gown as she tortured her rapists—I wanted to kiss her.
I wanted to finish massacring these pieces of shit and fuck her right on their mutilated corpses.
That wasn’t all I wanted. My own rage over my past was still there, feeding and morphing the sensations.
I wanted to hurt her. Not like they did, but I wanted her to feel my pain.
Truth was, I may have lost my title, my standing, my family, but I’d never feel the devastation she’d gone through here and at her mother’s hand.
My shit was superficial when compared with hers, and I knew it in my very soul.
“What. A. Woman.” The Unavowed bit his bottom lip, shaking his head in just as much amazement as I felt.
“I almost had her.” He turned to me. “Her mother almost took my offer. Almost. I thought it was best to start over new. A founding member was what I thought I needed. Then, Melissa pushed Marian towards Bastian Allard. I was pissed; I won’t lie.
” A smile began to surface as he took in Marian.
“I watched her for years. Not that I saw much. But then more digging and research brought me to Penelope.” A pause as his smile grew.
“She was perfect. She was it. The universe gave her to me… for a little while. When I discovered that she went to Marian after her escape, I genuinely laughed. It was a sign that Marian was supposed to play a part in this. I couldn’t ignore the synchronicity.
I needed her blood. I thought that blood would be mixed with Bastian Allard’s…
but no. I got something better. Another founding member… One who’s line was much older.”
The Unavowed stepped in, and I braced myself as he brought the knife back up, pushing the tip of the blade in deep as he eased his hand down.
I bit down hard, trying my best to hold in the yells, but it was impossible with the amount of fire and pain that took over from the wound.
And it kept going, curving. Angling. When he finished the letter, I sucked in deep breaths, but he had one more to go before I got a break.
“That other member was you. Do you have any idea how perfect this is? How defining the signs are? Drayton… we’re starting a new royal line.
Rejoice in this moment. Own it. This is the beginning.
Let us make it a memory worth telling stories over. ”
For a long moment I couldn’t speak as we held stares. “You’re either right…or you’re fucking insane.”
He laughed, lifting the knife towards me. “I’m both.”
His head tilted and seconds passed as I tried to bear down through the new round of cutting.
My fists were clenched as hard as they could, but it wasn’t helping.
My yells filled the halls and when my eyes opened, I met Elec’s stare from a few feet away.
His face was mostly devoid of emotion. His lids were narrowed.
He wasn’t scowling, but he wasn’t relaxed either.
I could see a mix of something I wasn’t sure of. Anger? Betrayal? Intrigue?
“Fuck. Could you not find a sharper knife?”
I could barely ask the question. A deep sound left me, and I put all my strength against the restraints to somehow focus on anything but the carving that split my skin.
“If this were easy, it wouldn’t be worth it. You’ll feel this death.” His gaze went up to mine. “You mentioned family. As soon as I finish this, you are reborn. You are…” he waved across my chest,
You are me. I am you. Now, with this and the brand, we are one. Family, just like you said, but more than that. You’re mine, Drayton. They can pretend all we share is a betrothal, but deep down, they know my plans. They even want them.”
The Unavowed brought the knife lower, and I closed my lids, squeezing them through the excruciating tug of metal tearing open my abdomen. It only ignited the cuts over my chest. Just as I was about to roar through the pain, he finished.
Deep breaths left me. More sweat raced down my face and dripped from my hair.
The guard across the room waved to Marian, and despite wanting to watch her next move, Elec’s pacing stole my focus.
If there was intrigue before, it was gone.
Anger. It was all fury as he took me in and whispered to Bram.
They went back and forth. Whatever they were speaking over, Elec appeared the one to be fuming while Bram’s demeanor stayed passive.
“Look at your Main Master. He’s working so hard on improving your circle’s bloodlines.
He’s pissed I’m getting your heir. That I’m defiling you.
Claiming you.” The Unavowed leaned in. “I bet he thinks of you as such a prize. Then, I swept in and stole you away from him. I stole your rights. I made you part of The Order. It’s better than The Gardens, Drayton.
We cater to more. He knows that. But… I think it’s more than this place or our roles.
Your heir is going to marry mine. I do believe Elec Wexler was hoping to have dibs.
Perhaps he should focus on a wife and not what might come of it. ”
A grimace left me as sweat made its way into my wounds. The stinging was almost worse than the cutting. It had more sounds leaving me as I tried shifting against the wood. The restraints were tight, and I’d never felt more trapped or at a loss of control.
“It’s done. I don’t care. I want…” A sound tore itself from me as the unbearable fire lingered. “I want this finished. I want Marian. I want... my wife.”
“Feels good, doesn’t it? Saying that? I want to say that someday, too. Unfortunately, Penelope is not ready for marriage. She’s—” His face hardened, and his mouth twisted. “She’s proving to be difficult. Her blood is right; her attitude is not. That damn defiance.”
“You killed her parents, not to mention, you didn’t give her a choice. You took her against her will.”
The Unavowed twisted the knife in a circle with his thumb. “Her father abused her. He deserved to die. Were you not in the process of kidnapping your own wife when I took Marian?”
“I had reason to make her pay. I lost everything. How the hell am I supposed to—”
“Don’t.”
I narrowed my lids. “What do you mean, don’t? Don’t hurt her like she hurt me?”
“You don’t think her mother hurt her enough?
” My eyes cut over to Marian while The Unavowed continued.
“Melissa LaRoe had the ability to completely wipe the memory of men I knew, of me, without any of us even knowing. Had I not had video and proof—” He stopped, fury infiltrating only a moment before he managed to get control.
“She was dangerous, Drayton. Why do you think I asked Marian if she could remember what her mother did to the two of you? Marian could, which means her pain is greater than yours. Betrayal outweighs abandonment. She had no one to believe her, nor did she have a safe person to confide in. How much do you want to bet your wife has never had anyone truly love her but you?”
He was right. I knew that as I looked between her and The Unavowed, not able to speak. Not able to do anything but process his words as I went back to watching her stab a knife into the gut of the older guard who I knew had raped her.
“What I did was a gift, Drayton. This,” he said, stepping closer, “although horrible, is a gift. You won’t see it now—she never will, but someday when you look back, you’ll understand why it had to be this way.”
“I’ll never forgive you for this. For hurting her like you have.
“You don’t have to forgive me. You only have to do what you’re supposed to. I’ve taken care of the rest. I’m the bad guy. Every great story has one.”
My gaze finally went to him. “I could have been the villain in my own story, and I would have been fine with that. What if I didn’t want to forgive or understand her side?”
“Then you’re a bigger fool than I thought.
She’s innocent, and you know it. What if I don’t want to tie my line to a couple with someone as unforgiving as you?
Perhaps I let my knife slip and find Marian a new husband.
He stepped in closer, his eyes so low in slits, I could feel his threats were truth.
“Maybe I kill you and take the next best thing in your circle? I hate him, but he’d fucking give me what I want.
He’d follow his duties, and he has more reason to hate her than you. After all… he killed her mother.”
I jerked against the cuffs, watching a smile tug at his lips.
“Elec won’t marry her. He’d kill her. He already said as much.”
“What a man says and does are two different things. He’d do what he must. He’d marry Marian.
He’d be a very cold but respectful husband.
They’d have children. Their marriage would turn out exactly how he wants one anyway.
I know all about Mr. Wexler. He lost the only woman he’ll ever love.
He’s not looking for another. Besides, why shouldn’t I want a direct connection to The Gardens?
Do you know how convenient that would be for me?
How easy it would make my return? Two Main Masters with connections to The Council?
” I braced and gritted my teeth as the blade pushed into the skin on my side.
I could feel a trickle of blood begin to leave the small puncture wound.
“Me and my damn romantic gestures. How could I think you’d be like me?
Guarded but hopeful? Hard but bending? You’re nothing like me. You don’t deserve her.”
“Maybe I don’t.” A sound pushed free from me as he eased the knife in a little more. “Maybe she doesn’t deserve me. I’ll never know because no one let me get to the truth like I wanted. On my own. By myself.”
“While you hurt her—”
“As is my right. I own her. That was given to me. That was meant to give me time. To… process. To accept. To kill her, if that’s what I chose.
She’s innocent. Fine. I know that. Do you think that makes any of this okay?
It makes it worse. It’s one more thing I have to try to accept.
What if I can’t? Where’s my closure? Everyone is so focused on her being the victim.
What about me? It was me who was accused.
Me who lost everything. It was me who was shamed and had to move.
It was my parents—it was—” I stopped. “Yes, that all happened to her too. I know that. I just…I fucking need to process. Dammit.”
The Unavowed looked over to her as she pulled the knife free of the younger guard.
“Process this.” He lifted, displaying his weapon and turning it back and forth.
“If Marian so much as hints to Penelope that you’re hurting her, harming her, are being mean to her, resentful to her…
I’ll come for you. What we’re doing here will be nothing.
I will heat up this blade until it glows, and with every burning tear I make, I’ll drag out your death so painfully, your voice will be gone from the amount of times you begged for mercy.
I will give you none. You get one chance, Drayton Pennington.
One. You better think of this as a blessing and process like you need, because if you don’t, I will bring you back.
If I have to do that, you will regret it.