Chapter Max Dread
Max Dread
With Drake’s decree ringing in my ears, I pushed my way out of the parlor. I took the main hall toward the back of the house, needing to get outside. Needing to get away.
Needing air.
Percy called out to me as I reached the patio doors. “If you can’t guarantee your loyalty, we’ll have to move forward.”
Storming out onto the patio, the rush of cool air against my face wasn’t nearly enough to extinguish the fire raging inside me. I paced the area, catching sight of the lake and stepping toward it. I had to put it out.
It burned. I had to stop it.
But my next step flared it with unrivaled intensity.
Quinn appeared in front of me, turning back to head inside and catching sight of me before I could hide. Still, I retreated.
I couldn’t handle this right now. I couldn’t stand—
“Max, please,” she called out as I turned away, and I froze at the sound of her voice. “Don’t leave.”
I wanted to run. Needed to run.
But I couldn’t leave her. Not yet.
When she reached me, her hand brushed my shoulder, tugging me to face her.
I went slowly, schooling my expression as best I could. Trying to hide the way my body was reacting to everything.
Fighting to hide how I burned on the inside.
“What is going on with you?”
Her concerned gaze only made it worse. Each time I looked at her eyes, all I saw was the picture he’d sent. The playing card. The fallen would-be Queen.
I shut my eyes.
“God, Max. Please just talk to me.” She gripped the lapels of my suit jacket and tugged, and when I opened my eyes, hers begged me to hear her. “I don’t understand why you’re shutting me out.”
But I couldn’t explain it.
And I couldn’t hear her. I couldn’t hear past the blood rushing in my ears, or see a way forward. Not past the rage burning everything to the ground.
My future. My chance with her.
My hope.
I’d ruined all of it.
Time to pay the piper, little brother.
“No.”
Her lower lip trembled. “I don’t understand, Max.”
“There’s no point going in circles over this, Quinn.”
“Stop calling me that!”
“That’s the only thing I can call you.” I set my jaw, staring down at her. “Because you need to leave.”
“Why?” she demanded, refusing to listen. She never fucking listened, and she was going to get herself killed for it. “Tell me why, Max!”
“Because it’s not safe here for you anymore!” I shouted, growling my frustration as I yanked at my hair. “God, don’t you get it? How clearly can I say it? You don’t belong here, and the longer you stay, the harder you’re making all of this. You just need to get out of here!”
My body caught fire. Sweat beaded at my temples, my palms grew slick and the urge to heave rose in my throat.
“You don’t mean that!” She released me but she shook her head, refusing to quit. “Is this about what happened with—”
“No. And don’t you speak of that again, do you understand me?” My tone caught her off guard. It surprised us both, but she stepped back. “I’m about two seconds from making sure you have no choice.”
“No choice? What does that even mean, Max?”
“No choice but to leave.”
“That’s not up to you, Max!”
“It is if I vote in favor of the statute. It is if I tell them you can’t compete.”
Her mouth dropped open. She shook her head more adamantly, her eyes wild and hair flying as she fought the urge to rip it out. “You wouldn’t do that! You wouldn’t—”
“Fuck!” I pounded my fist back against the stone. “You’re so fucking stubborn. Why can’t you just—?”
But the familiar click of heels alerted me to my shadow’s presence, and the words died on my tongue.
I snapped my mouth shut.
Red lips curved into a sinister smile. “Am I interrupting?”
At the sound of Victoria’s sickly sweet voice, I almost lost it. Having her so close, having Quinn standing right beside—
“We were just talking,” Quinn said curtly, unable to curtail all her anger at me. “We’re not done, if you don’t mind.”
Victoria’s eyebrows rose, and she arched a brow. “Actually, I’ve been sent to gather Max here for the vote. Time’s up, Sir Mordred.”
I turned my head, enough to snub her attention but not far enough to lose sight of her. She tilted her head, assessing me and then shifting her gaze to Quinn.
“And you?” she asked. “You are…?”
“No one,” I snapped at the same time she answered, “Quinn. Quinn Everly.”
“Ah.” Victoria clicked her tongue against her teeth, as if that was brand new information. “Nice to meet you, Lady Everly. But you need to get back inside.”
Victoria waved Quinn away like she’d done a hundred times to students loitering in the halls of Camelot Academy.
“Go now. With the other Maidens.”
But Quinn wasn’t from our world. She didn’t know what monsters lurked behind the most appealing smiles. She didn’t understand the danger here.
The risk.
So, she bristled at the order to leave, especially since she wasn’t done giving me a piece of her mind. Arms crossed over her chest, she opened her mouth to argue.
“I’ve told you I’m not interested, alright?” I smirked, hoping to sell it. “You took a chance. You failed.”
Her mouth snapped shut, those big, brown eyes flashing with indignation. “You—”
“Wouldn’t slum it if you paid me.” I scoffed. “Which you can’t, by the way.”
Brow furrowing at my sudden rejection and the cruel words she didn’t understand, she frowned.
“Fine.” Then she redirected her steely gaze to Victoria. “He’s all yours.”
She nodded before turning on her heel and walking away. Victoria smiled like she’d received an unexpected gift, and my stomach clenched, rolling with each step Quinn took away from us even as the distance brought relief.
With one last look over her shoulder at me, she shuddered out a breath and shook her head. Then she went back inside Camelot Courtyard. I breathed easier when she did, but I averted my eyes forward as quickly as I could.
Victoria caught it anyway.
She appraised me as she walked closer, her stilettos clicking on the terracotta stones.
Black-clad hips swaying like a rabidly feral cat that needed to be put down, and her long, dark brown hair tied in a twist at the nape of her neck.
But my gaze snagged on another flash of bright red as she traced her finger over her bottom lip.
She ran it slowly, attention shifting to the spot where Quinn had just been, as if she were considering something she hadn’t seen before. Though, we both knew she’d kept that card safely tucked in her back pocket since the minute Vivian ran home with news of The King’s Maiden.
“She’s a pretty girl.” Each word grated on my nerves as she spoke slowly, with an air of seduction that never left the throaty tenor of her voice. “Soft. Delicate. Almost…fragile. Appealing to one with a protective streak. Or a villain.”
Victoria had no idea who Quinn Everly was, and she wouldn’t get the chance to find out. Quinn would be gone before that happened. I’d make sure of it.
“She’s so very…breakable.” She scraped the tip of her fingernail down the side of my face to the side of my neck. “Don’t you think?”
My jaw clenched, eyes flashing to her icy blue gaze as it gleamed wickedly in the moonlight.
“It’s the moment of truth, Max.” With a quick prick of her fingers, she pulled her hand away and smirked. “Are you in, or are you out?”