33. Chapter 33
33
Chapter 33
Violet
I sat up, waiting for Calum to come. I didn’t know how long it would take before he would have the chance, but I didn’t care. I needed to talk to him. I needed to know how he’d react.
And what he would do.
It was well into the night before he made it to my room.
“We need to talk about something that happened before I came to the Night Realm,” I said, taking a step back from him as he approached me.
No matter how much I may have wanted him to hold me, to comfort me, I hadn’t forgotten what he did with Nathara.
He looked at me, confused, and I started from the beginning, making sure I included every detail as it was still so fresh in my mind.
The torture, the visits with Astrid, the things his mother said to me, Astrid’s death, all the way down to the witch wiping my memories.
He stood there for a moment, stunned by everything I had said.
“If your memories were taken away, how did you learn of this?” he asked. Everything I had told him, and this was his response.
“Sebastian. He saw the glamour on my back that was hiding the scars. So he went into my mind and removed the spell that was hiding the memories.”
“You . . . you let him into your mind?” he asked with a look of astonishment on his face.
“I had to know what happened,” I said. I knew he thought I shouldn’t have let my guard down, but nothing mattered in that moment except discovering the truth.
“Do you not realize how stupid that is? He could be lying! He could’ve placed false memories in there!”
I undid the button at the top of my dress and let it fall to the ground before turning around to show him my back.
“Is this real enough for you? Those are scars. Scars from something that happened months ago. Do you not understand how bad it was for me to not heal properly?”
Calum gently laid his hand on my back, causing me to jump. Even if they were months old, they were so fresh to me. I knelt down and grabbed my dress, pulling it on my shoulders.
“Your mother did this, Calum. Letting Sebastian in to show me the truth? It doesn’t matter. You should be thanking the gods that he can see glamours and he told me. The only thing that matters is that you finally realize how cruel your mother is and what you plan to do with her now that you know this.
“So tell me Calum, what are you going to do about what happened to me?”
He looked at me as he ran his fingers through his hair, contemplating his next words. Considering his options.
But there was only one option that I would be okay with: pain.
“I am going to send her away,” he said.
I raised my eyebrow in confusion. “Away to where?” I asked.
“To Sartova.”
My eyes widened at his response. “To her vacation home ?” Was he fucking kidding me right now?
“Yes. She will not be allowed back at the castle. You’ll never have to see her again.”
“So her punishment is to live eternity in her favorite place with an entire staff of servants?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“What do you expect me to do, Violet? She’s my mother.”
“And what am I? Your whore?” I wanted her punished. Not sent away.
“Violet.” And in his response—in his choice of “punishment” for his mother—I had my answer.
“I’m done,” I said the words before I could stop myself, but I meant them.
“What?” He looked at me confused.
“I can’t do this anymore. Us anymore.” I motioned between the two of us.
“So that’s it? All this time and it’s just over?”
“All of this time, and you still can’t choose me over her. You can’t put me first. You’ll never be able to put me first,” I paused. “I deserve better. Better than the life I’m destined to live by being with you.”
“Dammit, Violet!” Calum yelled. “It was going to be me and you forever. Remember? What happened to me being the love of your life?”
“You were the love of my life, Calum, but the Violet you loved died when she watched the life leave Astrid. Your mother killed her. She killed the closest thing I ever had to a mother. I will never be the same.”
“So what are you going to do? You have nowhere to go. Your home is with me. Your father is bound to me. You have no family besides him. You have nothing to your name.”
Nothing. That’s truly what I was to him.
Nothing but convenience. A convenience locked away in his castle for him and him only. Nothing but an object. An object to screw whenever he pleased. Nothing but a female.
“I am going to stay in the Night Realm,” I said as I fought back the tears.
His eyes widened. “So this is about Sebastian?”
I shook my head. “This has nothing to do with Sebastian.”
“Oh, really?” he said as he stalked towards me. I didn’t realize I was backing away until I hit the wall. He leaned in so we were only inches apart and said, “Violet, look me in my eyes and tell me Sebastian has nothing to do with your decision.”
I stared back at him, unsure what to say because I didn’t know the answer. If it wasn’t for Sebastian, I wouldn’t have been put in a position where I was questioning Calum and our relationship. I wouldn’t have known what Celine did to me.
But that’s not what he meant.
I glanced down, and I felt Calum’s fist hit the wall inches from my head, breaking the stone wall. He had never acted like that towards me.
Before I could process what he just did, Sebastian was in my room; he grabbed Calum by the neck and slammed him into the wall opposite where I was standing.
“Are you looking to die, Mountain boy?” Sebastian said as he walked over to him.
“Sebastian!” I screamed, but he ignored me as he grabbed Calum by the throat and pushed him up against the wall.
I knew what was coming. When Sebastian sensed danger, nothing could stop him. He embodied the shadow king, and it was like he became a different being. But he couldn’t hurt Calum. I could never forgive him for that.
“Sebastian, please!” I whispered, barely audible as the tears fell down my face.
In an instant, he let him go but before Calum could react, Sebastian’s shadows wrapped around him. He stood there for a moment, staring at Calum as he clenched his fists.
I feared what I was about to see, but before I could say anything else, Sebastian walked over to me and placed his hand on my face, wiping my tears away.
“Are you okay?” he asked with a strained look on his face. It was as if he was fighting to push down every natural instinct he had in order to not scare me.
I nodded and said, “Don’t hurt him, please.”
He studied my face for a second before he walked back to Calum and said, “Leave her room and don’t come near her again. Got it?”
Calum glared at him as Sebastian’s shadows released him.
“And there’s my answer,” Calum said as he stared back at Sebastian. I knew in that moment that his anger, and punching the wall, something I’d never experienced from him, was all a test to see if Sebastian would come.
And he did.
Calum glanced back at me with nothing but hurt in his eyes before he said, “I’m not giving up on us that easily.” He transferred out.
Sebastian walked back to me and said something, but I didn’t hear him.
I couldn’t look at Sebastian. I kept my gaze on the hole in the wall where Calum once was.
“I just want to be alone.”