Chapter 13

I wroteeverything down in one of the empty notebooks in Grey's office. I felt at ease sitting in his chair and writing with his pencil, going over his drawings every now and again. I wrote it all down—Quinn and the lake and Sedelis and Genevieve.

In the end, it was clear to me what I needed to do, even if I hated it with all my being. I had to tell Romin.

There was no proof. All I had was Mama Si's warning, and that talk with Genevieve where she'd basically admitted to my face that she was planning something—but Romin needed to know. If he put aside his obsession with having me, he'd want to know this. He was still the ruler, and he'd want to know what was going on in his very castle.

More importantly, he was possibly the only one who could stop Genevieve if things got out of hand, even though…what was it that she'd said to me the first time I went to her?

I could kill all five of them easily if I wished.

But again, Romin was the ruler. He would know what to do if he wasn't caught by surprise. And unfortunately for me, I was the only one who could warn him.

It took me a good couple of hours to decide to go see him. I consulted Grey's portrait in the closet about it, too, as insane as that made me feel, and I had the feeling that Grey would really approve of this decision. He'd have wanted Romin to know, too, if something was off, no matter that Romin had banished him.

So, in the end, logic won over the feelings in my chest, and I forced myself to come out of the tower for the second time that day and go searching for Romin in his.

My skin was crawling as I turned corners, eyes open and ears sharp as I listened to that slow sound of wings beating, coming from behind me. I no longer even turned to look because I knew that I wouldn't see him at all. Shadow didn't want to be seen, even if he knew I knew he was there, following me.

But then another sound caught my ears just as I was about to cross the hall to the first tower, and it was coming from around the corner of the hallway that led to the second.

I stopped.

Laughter. Someone was laughing, not crying like I first thought. It was a woman, and she was giggling her heart out.

I couldn't help myself. Before I knew it, I found myself tiptoeing toward the corner, slowly, all my being focused on not making a single sound.

And then I saw.

Both my hands came up to my mouth just to make sure I wouldn't let out even a sigh. Emil was there in front of the doors to his tower, and none other than Amita was in his arms, back pressed against the wall, legs spread wide open, and Emil's hand was under her dress.

She was laughing as he bit her neck and played with her, shaking her, slamming her against the wall while he no doubt thrust his fingers inside her. A moan came out of her after a second, and she thought to bite on his shoulder to keep quiet, but it was too late. I heard it.

And I was forever scarred.

Now I wished they saw me. I wished they knew I was there so they could stop what they were doing and just disappear behind closed doors. Get a fucking room!

Then Emil let go of her neck and turned his head toward me.

Our eyes locked. I froze in place completely for a good moment, and Emil was surprised to see me there at first, like he really hadn't heard me approaching at all. Like he really didn't know I was there, spying on them. But he recovered quickly, and then a wide grin spread on his lips. Though Amita had no clue I was watching, he began to move his hand under her dress faster, harder, until she cried out at the top of her voice.

Move! a voice shouted in my head, and I did.

I moved back and I tried to blink away the image of Emil smiling at me like that, and I practically slammed my fists on the doors of the first tower as fast as I could, hoping he didn't come after me. Hoping he didn't come to make me watch what he was doing to Amita.

Amita—Grey's bride. Fucking Grey's bride being finger-fucked by Emil in the middle of the hallway.

I saw red when the guards pulled the doors of the tower open from the inside, and they let me through. They didn't stop me, didn't ask me questions, didn't tell me if Romin was even there. They just let me through to his office, and I didn't even look in their direction or wait for instructions when I stopped in front of the doors and knocked with all my strength.

The doors opened before I'd slammed my fist on the wood the second time. Romin was sitting at the head of his round table with a bunch of papers in front of him, a pen in his hand, and a glass of red wine near a full bottle close by.

When he saw me, he leaned back in his chair and smiled, shaking his head. "I didn't even want to believe it when I heard you coming."

Putting the pen down, he waved his hand and the doors behind me closed on their own as the heat of his magic passed by me.

"At last, you've changed your mind. Come in, come in!"

I flinched hard and I didn't try to hide it. "I haven't changed my mind, Romin. I'm here to talk." But I went closer to him anyway, reminding myself of all the reasons why I'd decided to do this. Reminding myself that I'd thought it all through and this was my best option because the alternative was doing nothing and then regretting it when the shit hit the fan.

No, I refused to stand by and let Genevieve do whatever she was planning. If I had to swallow my pride to be here and talk to this man, then I would.

I just didn't think I'd be so pissed off when I came in here.

"Talk about what? Please, have a seat," he said, and a new glass had already appeared in front of the chair next to his, and he poured wine in it while he held my eyes.

"Emil was making out with Amita right outside," I said through gritted teeth, despite my better judgment. It wasn't any of my damn business, but wasn't that just wrong? Wasn't it wrong in every way possible?

It had only been twelve days since Grey was banished—twelve.

"Yes, and?" said Romin, taking his seat, so I had no choice but to join him. I even took a small sip of the wine he'd served me, hoping to calm my racing nerves.

"What do you mean, and, Romin? She's Grey's bride." Not that I liked that, or would have ever accepted it, but she was. And I was well aware that I shouldn't have cared, but damn it, I did.

Just whydidn't anyone care that Grey was gone?!

"And Grey is not here, and Grey is not coming back," said Romin, an easy smile on his handsome face as his eyes searched mine. "You look beautiful today, Fall. Did I ever tell you that I love how you never call me Master?"

Goose bumps on my forearms. "Isn't that against the rules?" I continued, pretending I hadn't even heard those last words he said. "Isn't it wrong for the bride of one brother to be with another?"

"Of course not. Amita and Cynthia are all alone. They deserve to be taken care of, and they are letting us take care of them, as they should," he said, leaning closer to put his elbows on the table. "As should you, Fall. As I'm sure you will soon when you understand that you don't have to be alone. You never have to be lonely." And he reached out his hand to touch my face.

I moved back, shivering in disgust. "Thanks, but I'd rather pull out my own eyes."

Romin laughed like he thought I was fucking joking.

I wasn't, though. I was most definitely not joking.

"I don't understand," he said, falling back on his seat as he drank his wine and looked at me like I was indeed that fascinating. "I don't understand you—why? Why are you loyal to a dead man? Why wouldn't you look ahead to your future? Are we that repulsive?" This time, he moved fast, and I was too shocked to stop him. He grabbed my chin in his hand and he didn't let go as he came closer and closer. "Are you not attracted to me at all? Because I'm dying for a taste of you, Fall. I imagine you every time I touch any of them." Oh, God… "I always imagine your Blood Call—how vulnerable you were, how you begged, and those whimpers…" He closed his eyes and his jaws tightened for a second. "I can't get you out of my head," he ended in a whisper.

Every alarm in my head had gone off. I stood up from the chair, nearly spilling the wine all over whatever he was working on. But Romin didn't care. He just laughed and put his glass down and stood up, his hands in his pockets.

"Stop it," I said, shaking at that point. "I will never be yours or anybody else's, Romin. I'm only here to warn you about Genevieve."

That stopped him within the second. His smile dropped and his brows shot up. "What about Genevieve?"

"I don't know, but she's planning something. I received a letter last night warning me about her, and I went to see her this morning, and she practically confirmed it to my face. She's up to something, and you are not going to like it."

Romin sighed and closed his eyes.

When he looked at me again, he was disappointed. "Don't be ridiculous, Fall. Genevieve was my father's bride. She loved him dearly. She's an innocent old woman waiting for her death without bothering anyone. It's rude to make such comments about her."

"Oh, I assure you, she did not love your father dearly." But I didn't tell her that Grey had suspected Genevieve had convinced their father to challenge him. That was his truth, not mine. "And she isn't innocent at all." Moving a bit closer, I held his eyes and said, "She tried to kill me once, Romin. She and Valentine together. She gave me a ring and told me that it made me undetectable, that even the curse wouldn't be able to find me if I was wearing it, and Valentine himself took me through the mirror to Faeries' Aerie. He took me there and said that I'd be free to go, even knowing that I would have died probably in a couple of weeks if I left the Isles. I swear it—he did!"

"Fall, Fall, Fall," said Romin, coming closer and shaking his head. "Please, stop with that story."

"It's not a story—it's the truth! Talk to Valentine and he'll tell you. You'll know if he's lying, just talk to him." I knew Romin wouldn't believe me. I expected it, but he could still force the truth out of Valentine, couldn't he?

"I already did," Romin said. "And he told me what I already knew—it's just a story. It never happened."

"But it did!" I said, so frustrated I could cry. "It did happen. I was in Faeries' Aerie, I swear it! Find Emerald—she has a stand in the Bazaar called Emerald Stories. Just find her, okay?"

Romin sighed. "If your story is true, then why are you here?"

I blinked. "What?"

"If what you're saying is true, if you really were in Faeries' Aerie somehow, and you thought a ring was going to make you invisible, and you didn't know that you would die in the human world—why are you here? Why did you come back?"

Oh, fuck. My mouth opened and closed a dozen times… "Because I found out Valentine would get banished. I thought he'd die because of me and…and I came back."

His brows shot up. "You came back when you had the chance to leave the Whispering Woods the way you wanted to do since the day you came here—for Valentine."

I swallowed hard. "Yes, Romin. For Valentine." Because I was stupid enough to have cared about him.

Shaking his head again, Romin reached out to touch my cheek, even knowing that I'd move away. "Stop this, Fall. I know you're grieving. I know you're not well right now, but let me take care of you. Let me make you feel better."

I closed my eyes, getting my teeth. "I am not crazy," I spit. "I was there. I was there and I came back."

Why in the fuck couldn't he just believe me?!

"Hush, my beautiful Fall. Let it go. You don't have to live like this," he whispered. "I swear it, I won't let go of you at all until you say so. I will be next to you every second of every day for as long as you want, and I won't stop until I've taken all your pain away," he insisted, and he was close.

So fucking close his lips were right there, barely an inch away from mine.

Alarms rang in my head. I opened my eyes to find Romin's face in front of me, his hands on my cheeks, his bloodshot eyes on my lips as he came in to kiss me.

No.

I couldn't control myself and I didn't want to. Just like last time, I pulled up my leg with all my strength and slammed my knee right in his dick.

This time, though, I didn't move on instinct—I intended tohurthim. This time, I must have gotten much stronger, too, because Romin's eyes opened wide, and he let out a moan as he slowly doubled over and let go of me, the veins in his neck protruding. He was in more pain than I'd hoped to cause him, but I couldn't even enjoy the look on his face as I moved back toward the doors, thinking, now's the time he kills me. Now's the time it ends for me for real.

Except Romin didn't sprout wings on his back and didn't come to suck me dry. "Fall," he whispered instead, muscles still strained, but I was already at the doors.

I pulled them open and I stepped outside, shaking from head to toe. "They're lying to you, and they're planning something, Romin. Someone is going to march into the Woods any time now, and it will be too late to stop them. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Pulling the doors closed with all my strength, I turned around and I ran out of the first tower like my tail was on fire.