Chapter Landon
Landon
I’d relived the Knights’ Quorum over and over again after it ended.
Her reaction.
Her strength.
Her fury.
It had haunted me. It still haunted me. But now, with the threat of losing her behind me, I saw how it had changed things.
Changed her.
If I could go back and do it all differently, I would…and yet, sometimes, I wasn’t sure I should.
By all accounts, she was stronger for it.
She trusted herself, owned her voice, and it fueled her to fight where there’d been little fight left in her after her father’s death.
To me, she’d always been light and free.
That day, she’d been steel forged by fire.
And now, in the face of Max Dread’s engagement, she was the fire itself.
He brought that out in her. In everyone, really. Even me.
But where I fought to smother that flare of heat that sparked my anger, Quinn was fueled by it.
It was why she needed him, too.
Together, they could be…
Incendiary.
I hadn’t wanted to admit it.
So hellbent on hating him for too many reasons to name.
Because he hated me for failing to save Desi, not realizing he thought I’d never even tried until too late.
Because he raged against the cage we’d all been trapped in but never tried to leave. Maybe I didn’t want to admit that, deep down, I believed he was right and hated that I stood by in silence. That I didn’t say anything.
And when I almost lost her because of it, I finally had to admit the truth. I couldn’t keep the words trapped in my chest any longer. I couldn’t stand it.
Because I loved her.
I chose her.
But I’d been pulled to choose Kingston inexplicably. I couldn’t understand why—couldn’t stand that, either. Why I’d chosen him the way I’d always done.
That was another reason I’d hated Max Dread.
Because he hated Kingston for reasons I couldn’t understand either. Maybe because he’d seen what I hadn’t remembered.
Choosing Kingston meant losing the person he loved.
Hadn’t it been the same for me?
And yet, for some reason, I’d always done it. Trusted it. Chosen him.
He was my best friend. I’d always been by his side. And I thought he’d always been at mine.
Except as his father announced that the vote had gone in favor of removing the Ultimate Female Virtue statute from the by-laws, I watched Kingston stand beside him. Without a shred of tension. Without a hint of fear.
My memory from twelve years ago came back in pieces. He had stood stoically beside his father as I knelt on the grass, lifting my hands toward him.
Pleading with him. You’re my best friend, Kingston. Can’t you see this is killing me?
Sir Lancelot, that’s enough!
No!
The word rang out sharply in my head, my voice from the past overlapping with my voice during the Knights’ Quorum until only the past remained.
Kingston’s father spoke, sneering down at me as he kept his distance. Yield, Sir Lancelot. Let this go.
Not wanting the stain of what I’d done on his pristine shoes, he’d stepped back as I crawled forward.
My eyes had remained on Kingston’s. Kingston…
Landon, my father has given you an order.
No. I shook my head. Holding my palms out, all I saw was red. No, I will not yield!
Drake looked to Kingston and lifted his chin.
Kingston nodded, without hesitation, without any sign of remorse. Then you will be seen as a traitor to the King.
I lunged to my feet, rushing at him, charging them both. Drake stepped back.
Kingston didn’t flinch.
At the last second, I stopped in front of him, breathing heavily, gasping for air that wouldn’t come.
I couldn’t breathe.
Yield, Sir Lancelot, Kingston said as Merle and my father came up behind me. You have to let this go.
I won’t, I spat as they seized my arms. Not now. Not ever.
Kingston’s blue-gray eyes met mine, but I couldn’t read the emotion in them, and I couldn’t stand it.
My parting words echoed between us as he let his father’s men drag me away.
I will not yield.