Page 115

And the one on the stand all but cried out a call for action for anyone who was still hiding.

They would be furious after watching their comrades die.They would want revenge. But how many more would we face? How many more did the king have locked in his prisons?

And all the time I had been in the palace, they had been coming for her.And I didn’t know.

The king slowly and quietly plucked them out and destroyed them before I was even made aware of it. It didn’t make me fear for my own safety. At that point, I couldn’t care less about what happened to me. If I even so much as left the palace, I was dead.

Probably if I stay too.Someone had to have spilled something to him for me to getthatlook while he was killing them. Was it a warning? A promise?

I could fight him and the organization off, but not for long. Not alone.

But Aurelia wouldn’t be able to hold her own. One maybe. But two? Three? An army?

We weren’t safe in the palace. Aurelia wasn’t safe.

And there would be no end to this—not until the prophecy came true.

I hated how right Cedar was. Whatever seer knowledge she had was inevitable. There was no changing a prophecy. We could try to run from it. I could try to reject it. Hell, the organization could even try to change it by sending other families in my place.

But we wouldn’t see an end…not until I was the one to end the Castle line for good. Or at least that’s what the world needed to think.

“We’re leaving,” Aurelia said as soon as we got to her room. She ran around faster than my eyes could make out. All I could see was the luggage she threw on the bed and the pieces of clothing she shoved inside it. “I’ll contact Atlas. She will help usin the meantime. The witch is coming too. I don’t give a fuck if she tries to fight this.”

“Aurelia…”

“We pack tonight, leave tomorrow night,” she went on. “Father has another engagement tomorrow. I need to attend that, so they don’t notice I’m gone right away. But after that, I don’t have another for three more days. During that time, we should be able to get?—”

“Aurelia…”

“We’ll use herbs to cover our scent,” she said, her wild eyes flashing to mine. “There’s a stream off to the back of the property. We will go there, cover our scent, then be on our way. No one will?—”

I cut her off by holding onto her arms. I hated how panicked she was. Hated how I was the one who made her like this.

I should have realized what it meant to come back here. Should have realized that even stepping foot into the palace was a mistake.

But I couldn’t help but be grateful for it. I didn’t want her to deal with this alone. Not when she didn’t have to.

But that didn’t make what we needed to do any less painful. I would hate myself for it. She would hate me. There was no way to even guarantee that it would work…but I was running out of options.

“I’m glad I came to the palace,” I said, letting my hand brush across her cheek. “I’m sorry for everything. I know you’ve been put in a difficult spot because of me.”

She gave me a pinched look. “My life has always been hard, Vesper. At least when you came, I had something to look forward to. I don’t care if we have to be on the run for the rest of our lives. I don’t care if we’re constantly looking over our shoulder. We will make it work, I know it.”

She has too much faith in me.

We couldn’t run. Not just yet. There were probably more people just like me in the palace, waiting for their chance to get at the princess. Who’s to say they wouldn’t burst in any moment?

Even then, when would this stop? We could run, but how far could we get before we were ambushed?

We needed a better way out. We needed to finish the prophecy.

“Do you trust me?” I asked, searching her face. “I have a plan.”

I didn’t want to do this. I wanted us to live a life together, even if it meant having to bend to her father’s will. To hide my tattoo forever. I’d even carve it out of me if I needed to. At least then we would be surrounded by guards. She would be comfortable in the place she had always known.

Don’t make me do this,I prayed.

But I didn’t know who I was pleading to anymore. Was it a god? The universe?