Chapter Twenty-One
Rona
I should feel something. Rage. Regret. Grief. Something.
But I don’t. I’m totally numb.
I’m so hollow now that Darhg is gone from my life that I don’t really feel anything. I’m not even afraid. I don’t really care what happens to me anymore. Or what happens to my mother’s career.
I stand against the window seam, my forehead pressed against the cool glass, staring without really seeing into the winter dusk. My reflection blurs in the darkening pane. I look like a ghost of myself, pale and insubstantial. Which is fitting because that’s how I feel.
Like I have no substance at all.
I keep repeating to myself that I did the right thing. That pushing Darhg away to shield him from my mother’s wrath was the best way to protect him. That he’s going to move on with his life and forget me.
I know the last part is a lie. Darhg is an ogre. They mate for life. He won’t forget me. I won’t forget him, either.
Maybe when this is all over, I can go back to Saltford Bay and beg for his forgiveness.
Behind me, the muted television freezes on that damning photograph of Darhg and me kissing, while Caroline's tablet bathes the table in cold light, displaying a split screen of comment sections and trending hashtags. I used to worry about such things. Not anymore.
The only thing I care about is Darhg. And Darhg is gone.
The air tastes stale with old coffee and cold takeout, and despite being surrounded by people, I feel more alone than I ever have in my life.
My mother moved us all to a conference suite on the top floor of the hotel minutes after Darhg left.
It feels like a prison cell, overlooking the freeway and the frozen landscape.
Beige carpet, cream walls, blackout drapes that can't quite hide the circus of black security vehicles dotting the parking lot below.
A long oval table dominates the center of the room, cluttered with open laptops, charging cables, and sheets of paper.
From the hallway outside, the occasional distant ding of the elevator reaches through, but I know it doesn’t stop on our floor. My mother’s security team took it over, preventing anyone from coming anywhere close.
Something attracts my attention, and I turn away from the window to see my mom walking toward me, her movements sharp and decisive as she removes her suit jacket.
She pushes up the sleeves of her ivory silk blouse with the kind of energy that means someone is about to get steamrolled. That someone is me.
"You need to make a statement immediately," she announces, her voice clipped and low. I know that voice. It’s the senator voice, not the mother voice. “It can’t be avoided anymore.”
I sigh as the world closes in around me.
I knew this was coming sooner or later. I just fooled myself into believing I could get away from it all.
I glance away from Mom to Caroline, hovering with her tablet like an anxious fairy godmother.
I’m surrounded by people who claim to care about me, yet I feel profoundly isolated from all of them.
"What kind of statement?" I ask, though I already know the answer.
“First thing is to apologize for your lack of judgment and admit you partied too hard. You need to own your mistakes and say that you learned from them. You’re a college girl, people will understand.”
Mom crosses her arms and pinches her lips as I stare blankly at her. She knows the video is a fake and that I’ll never be able to walk that line if I publicly admit to that. She knows my reputation will forever be tainted. She simply doesn’t care. Or she doesn’t care enough.
“But that’s not all, is it?” I hear the hollowness in my voice, and I hate it. I sound weak and defeated. I guess it’s who I am in the end. Weak little Rona.
“Then you need to tell everyone that you were taken advantage of by Darhg and that he used his position of power as your bodyguard to get his way with you.”
My jaw drops at this, and I blink a few times while my brain processes what Mom said.
“What? You can’t be serious. Darhg didn’t take advantage of me.”
Mom rolls her shoulders and lifts her chin.
This is a stance I’ve seen her take with countless people over the years, usually with people she intends to strong-arm into doing her bidding.
She’s ruthless and merciless when it comes to her power games.
But I also see signs that tell me she knows how wrong this is.
The tendons in her slim neck are tight, and there’s a tick agitating her left eyelid.
She knows it’s wrong. That doesn’t mean she will back down.
“It’s gone far enough,” she says in the same even, hollow tone of voice. “Darhg crossed the line when he turned his professional relationship into a romantic one. That’s the whole story. All you have to do is read it.”
Caroline slides a printed draft across the table, not glancing up at me.
I pull the page closer with the tip of my finger, like picking it up might burn me.
When I glance at it, I see highlighted phrases that make my stomach turn.
Words designed to destroy Darhg's reputation while salvaging mine. Or more like salvaging my mother’s.
No. Not this. Never this.
Anger and grief boil up in my chest as I read the carefully crafted lies. They want me to throw the man I love under the bus to save face for Mom's political career. They want me to destroy the only person who's ever seen me for who I really am.
I push the paper back across the table with more force than necessary, and it slides, then falls down to the floor in a slow, dramatic arc.
"No." My voice cracks slightly, but the word comes out clear and final. "I won’t do this to him. Not for you, not for anyone."
Mom’s eyes flare at my defiance, and the familiar tug toward old compliance patterns wars with my newfound determination to protect the man I love. For once in my life, love wins.
"Rona, darling—" Caroline starts, her voice taking on that bright, patronizing tone that means she thinks I'm being unreasonable.
"No," I repeat, louder this time. "I will not agree to any public statement that demeans his character or professionalism. I’ll apologize for the deepfake if you want, but you leave Darhg out of this."
Mom's expression hardens into something that could cut glass. "This isn't about your feelings, Rona. It's about salvaging what we can from this disaster. You will do it."
The dismissal of my feelings as irrelevant shouldn't surprise me anymore, but it still stings. My voice steadies with each word as I meet her gaze directly.
"If you make me choose between protecting him and protecting your optics, I will choose him." I steady myself for what comes next. “I love him.”
The words hang in the air like a declaration of war. Mom's jaw tightens, her politician's mask slipping for just a moment to reveal something raw and angry underneath.
"You don't understand what you're risking," she says, her voice shaking just a little.
"I do." I stand straighter, drawing strength from somewhere deep inside that I didn't know existed. "But I won't lie about the man I love, and I won't let you destroy him."
Mom faces me with an expression of blank shock. I understand. I never stood up to her. Sure, I rebelled a few times, but when push came to shove, I always caved in. Not this time.
Her lower lip trembles, and the tick continues to agitate the corner of her left eyelid. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she looks afraid. Or hurt. Maybe both. But I do know better and I cross my arms over my chest, refusing to be the first to look away.
"Then you accept the consequences," she says, her tone suggesting those consequences will be severe. "Without my protection, without my resources, without my name opening doors for you."
The threat is clear. She wants to cut me off. I’m surprised that it doesn’t scare me in the slightest. Instead, I feel something like relief flooding through my veins. It should feel like betrayal, but instead, it feels like freedom.
"I accept," I tell her simply. “I don’t need your money, Mom, or your connections. I’ll make my own way.”
“You can’t be serious.” Her tone rises, and her eyes are wide. She never considered I would be strong enough to tell her that I don’t need her.
A knock at the door interrupts the standoff, and Caroline goes to answer it. I can see her whisper with the security guard at the door, but I don’t dare take my eyes off Mom. Caroline bursts back in, breathless and wide-eyed.
"It's a circus out there," she gasps, her wings fluttering with agitation. "Someone alerted the media and the lobby is packed."
Mom turns back to me, her expression constrained but implacable. I watch her put the pieces of her countenance back bit by bit until she’s the senator again.
"Last chance, Rona. Accept the prepared plan or accept the consequences without my protection."
I look at her, really look at her, and see not just the powerful senator, but the mother who raised me to be strong. Who taught me to stand up for what's right, even when it's hard. Even when it costs everything.
"Then I guess I'll have to learn to protect myself," I say quietly.
For the second time, a fissure appears in Mom's composure. Her mouth hangs open, and she holds her breath for a beat too long. For just a moment, I see something vulnerable and unarmored flicker across her features before her neutral mask resets.
“Very well.” She inhales deeply, still looking me.
Another knock echoes at the door, followed by a voice I recognize instantly. My heart stops, then starts racing so fast I feel dizzy.
"Don't open it," Mom shouts, but I'm already moving.
I reach for the handle before anyone can stop me, and I pull the door open to reveal Darhg filling the doorway. He looks calm and immovable despite everything that's happened, his amber eyes finding mine immediately. Behind him stands a tall, thin troll I don't recognize, clutching a laptop bag.
"You shouldn't be here," I whisper, even as my heart soars at the sight of him.
His lips lift in a grin and he shakes his head slowly.
"I'm never leaving you again."
Without hesitation, I launch myself into his arms. When our lips meet, the rest of the world disappears.