Page 69

Fuck.

An unfamiliar burn stings the back of my nose, reminding me of all the times my father would spank me until I stopped crying if I ever showed him my tears, and the memories only make me angrier.

All of this is his fault. I’m not the same little boy that he was able to beat into submission, but I also won’t shed any tears. They’ve never done me any favors.

So I finish up my tie with jerky movements, and try like hell to think of a plan.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“Draven?”

Miss Maddy wouldn’t bother me right now unless it was important. “Yeah, come in. Everything okay?”

The sheepish expression on her face has me straightening. “They’re waiting for you.”

“Who?”

“Everyone.”

The fuck? “Why?”

“Because the wedding starts in seven minutes.”

My head swings toward the clock, and I realize with a jolt that I had been staring at the ugly plywood that covers this cold room for over an hour.

I didn’t go and find her like I promised I would.

I didn’t do anything at all.

Goddamnit!

I rush through everything as quick as I can and find myself skipping steps on the way down the creaky stairs. I’m not used to being in a damn suit or dress shoes, but I manage to make it outside the bride’s dressing room without falling once.

But no one is there. I’m too late.

“Where the hell have you been?” Father hisses. “You’re supposed to be up there already. Go.”

He shoves me slightly through a side entrance, and what I find waiting for me through the lace curtains is something that has me pausing.

I’d managed to avoid any and all information about this dumb affair, so as I take in the decorations around the church, I find myself wondering if this wedding fits her at all.

Did she pick any of this?

I barely even notice the fact that the whole damn city is in attendance as I approach the altar with its white and pink flowers and gaudy lace. None of them matter. Alex is standing there waiting for me looking ashen and borderline distraught — two things someone about to get married should never be — and he’s already got a Keeper, a Warden, and a Royal by his side.

I force my steps to stay steady as I join him and look to Sully’s side. My eyes widen slightly when I see Morella in her obnoxious pink dress standing where the maid of honor should. Another one of Father’s tricks, I’m sure.

How could we have let this cold-hearted bastard win? What does that make us?

I’ve droned on and on about how I’d never be father’s bitch, and now I’m standing here waiting for my woman to be given to another man.

I’m a coward. We’re all fucking cowards.

“This is bullshit,” I mutter toward my brother. “This your wedding or your mother’s pink fucking parade?”

“I think you know the answer to that,” he snaps quietly. “We were told when and where to show up, that’s it.”

They said where to be and we showed up like show monkeys in fucking suits.