Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
AUDREY
The Yates’ Estate
The next day, I was still furious. My arms and legs felt like they had just gone through an all-body stretch.
Pain still pulsed whenever I tried to lift anything over a few pounds or if I attempted to bend my knees, even minutely.
I knew Trial Three would be the worst I’d faced but the aftereffects had truly wreaked havoc on me.
It had been the first time I questioned if I was truly going to survive, if the deceit I was weaving around my friends and me would actually be worth it in the end.
The Ludi wanted to strike the fear of God into me, but all it succeeded in was truly infuriating the monster I kept hidden so carefully underneath.
They had not banked on certain identities being revealed to me, ones I had suspected but never dared confirm.
Ones that had bitten me in the arse and mockingly stared back at me.
Muttering to myself, I stomped up the stairs, still in a rage over the secrets Aleks, Cameron, and Kellan had all kept from me.
The truth of everything that had been happening hit me hard last night as Worth and I were getting everyone home safe.
Well, as safe as one was after being poisoned and stolen from home.
I hoped they would not have lasting effects from being sedated, overdosed on a medication that could pose serious health concerns.
Worth wasn’t speaking to me, still lost in his mind over what the breaking of his dominant wrist would mean and upset that we had been wrong in our assumption that his loyalty would be tested with his brother…
and not me. The others were all out for the count, confused and tired after being put through unknown terror on the way to the arena.
The mental state between the five of us had hit an all-time low, dangerous at this point in The Ludi since the intensity of the trials had ramped up towards the extreme.
I was still angered though, about whose identity I had learned last night, and I planned to stew in my distaste of being kept in the dark a while…
Flinging my door open, I came to an abrupt halt, finding a six-foot-six, dark-haired man on my bed.
A man I had refused to talk to since pieces clicked into place last night.
I hated him for lying by omission. The clues I honed in on towards the end of the trial had shown me how little he truly trusted me.
If he felt like he needed to keep such damning truths from me then all his bullshit promises of love and honesty…
I. Hate. Him.
Meeting his dark eyes, I allowed myself to spiral. Just long enough that worry filled his stare as he waited to see what I would do, how I would greet him for breaking and entering…much like I had done a few weeks ago.
Even though I love him.
I hated him when he acted like a bastard, but especially because I knew I would still claim him as mine, no matter the reasons why.
Liar, you would have done what he did given the choice.
And that was what made this situation worse, the undeniable pull that I would kill to keep, the things I would do to preserve the way his eyes softened as he looked at me.
The way he was able to love me so easily…
I still hated him though for making me feel like an imbecile in the midst of a trial already keen on harming my mental sanity.
“How did you get in here?” I demanded, storming over to Aleks, where he was casually lying across my bed. The bastard was grinning now, revelling in the emotions I was allowing to pour from me, the rarity of it would be comical if I wasn’t tempted to murder him.
Even while my wrath was at an all-time high, it was impossible not to notice how sinful he looked, sprawled out across my black silk sheets in low-riding grey sweats and a ripped tee.
Sitting on my desk, I crossed my arms and glared, demanding his answer before he could try to swindle his way between my legs, or banter with me.
Jerking his head, he nodded toward the balcony where my glass door was wide open, and the cold night breeze was blowing through with ease. Gritting my teeth, I shot him another pointed stare, hoping he’d realised how thin the ice he was treading on was. Sexy, ignorant fool…
“I knew you’d have questions. I also needed to make sure you were still that fiery princess I first met all those years ago.
” His tone set off warning bells in my head.
He was distant today, regarding me with walls in his eyes, like he was unsure of himself.
Like he had questioned if the truth of what I learned at the end of Trial Three might signify the end of us.
Vulnerable. A look I so rarely saw on the face of the man who had stolen my heart from me.
“Well, as you can see…” I threw my arms out, knocking off the glasses that had been left empty earlier in the week. “I’m splendid, King.” He eyed me like he could see the rage seeping out from me in waves.
“Liar. I know you’re dying to rage at me. To hurt me, like I hurt you.”
The weight of everything bore down on me suddenly.
The events of the past few weeks compounded with the pain of watching Worth potentially give up his shot at a lifelong dream.
An overwhelming sadness overcame me as all my fury bled out, leaving me empty and depleted as I accepted that he might never fully be honest with me…
“Why, Aleks? Why did you not trust me?” My voice wavered, that icy facade I wore so easily cracking as my words came out as more of a plea than a demand.
I thought you loved me. I felt like an injured animal baring my softer underside, painfully aware that all my vulnerability was on display as my walls crashed down between us.
Horrified when I felt tears welling in my eyes.
No. I would not cry, not in front of him.
Aleks snapped his face to me, sensing the swift change in mood.
His arms flexed, sending the loose collar of his tank lower across his chest, showcasing the intricate ink of the Volkovitch family crest, blended seamlessly with the insignia of the Ellsworth call to arms. The symbol of his undying love for me.
His eyes searched my face, peeling back my shields and picking at my soul underneath.
His face softened as he continued to gaze at me, filled with emotions that no one else would ever see.
“Lenochka…” Sitting up, he reached his arms out, offering comfort for something he saw, but causing more harm to me than The Guilda ever could.
I slowly made my way to his open arms, falling into their familiar comfort and strength.
For only a moment, I allowed myself to just exist.
“I trust you more than life. Death could not even pry the trust I have in you from me.”
“Then…why?”
His face dropped as his arms encircled me, dragging me onto his lap and curling me into his chest as if he were the one seeking comfort.
“It’s hard to remember sometimes, with how young I was when The Guilda inducted me.
That not everyone is aware of the roles I play when I’m required to abide by their games.
I traced the ink along his chest, trailing my fingers down his arms and curling into him while I waited for his answer.
“The Guilda sees betrayal as the cardinal sin. I didn’t want to force another impossible choice on you again. Didn’t want you to hate me for the man that role has made me become…”
It dawned on me then—the reason he never mentioned his induction ceremony, why he never brought it into conversation.
Another impossible choice. Another reason I both despised and loved the world my bloodline had me born into.
Sighing, I thought back to all the hints Aleks had freely given to me, all the while toeing an impossible line of betrayal and deceit.
The Guilda Sanguis Venenati would not look favourably upon him if they knew all the secrets he shared with me.
And with that, I realised I was never planning to let this go.
Not if he wanted my full faith in him again.
Not if he would eventually ask what I knew he ached to—something would have to give.
Not if he wanted me to say ‘yes’ after twelve times of telling him ‘no’ while he got down on one knee…
“I forgive you. just please don’t keep the truth from me again.” Unless you’re prepared to lose me once and for all.
He curled his arms tighter around me, falling back and cocooning us in the warmth of the sheets.
“Da, Printsessa. You continue to amaze me.” His rough whisper fanned across my hair as his hands idly traced down my sides, playing with the dip at my waist before trailing along the single scar I had always tried to hide.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but you know you’ll always be it for me. My woman, my Printsessa.”
His words stayed on a loop in my mind as I drifted off to sleep, feeling him drag the blanket at the foot of the bed up and over me.
I relaxed into the hold of the only man who ever truly saw me.
Knowing Aleks only put his wishes into the universe when he saw it as reality, I wondered why they didn’t send me running away from him in fear.
“One day soon, I’ll even call you my wife.”