Page 137
Story: The Crown's Shadow
Kallie nodded before taking a deep breath. When she exhaled, she said, “He’s been here for a few days.”
“A fewdays?” Myra shrieked. Casting a wary glance at the door, she cleared her throat, speaking quieter this time. “So, this was not the first time you saw him since . . .” Myra’s words fell off.
Kallie looked away, and that was answer enough.
“When?” Myra asked.
Kallie watched the rain splatter against the window, the sky a murky gray. “I saw him the first time in the hallway after the Last Dance.”
“In thecastle?” Myra hissed.
Kallie nodded again. “He must be working with someone. How else could he have gotten in the castle?”
Myra gnawed on her lip. “What did he want?”
Kallie shrugged. “Me, I guess.”
“Why?”
Graeson’s words echoed in her mind:He’s manipulating you.
She trusted Myra, but Kallie didn’t know if she could trust her with those words. Yet if they were false, why couldn’t she bring herself to speak them out loud?
“I—I don’t know, Mys.”
Myra ran her finger across the edge of her sleeve. “Do you think he’s alone? Or . . .”
Kallie swallowed. She didn’t want to know if anyone had joined him, for she still hadn’t seen Terin or Dani. Graeson was already more than enough to shake her. She couldn’t face them, too.
“It would only make sense if the other two were with him.”
Myra nodded. “But I still don’t understand why. Do you think . . . Do you think they’ve come for you again?”
Kallie scoffed, shaking her head. She didn’t care what Graeson had said. There was only one logical option here. After what she did, she wasn’t worth saving. “If they did, it’s to kill me.”
“Why would they want to kill you?”
Kallie laughed and stood from the couch. “Why? Because to them,Iam to blame for Fynn’s death.” Kallie’s nails bit into her palms, but the burn didn’t make the pain of her brother’s death disappear. “Even if I could explain to them that he was not supposed to die, it wouldn’t matter. It doesn’t matter that I mourn his death, too.”
“But you’re . . .” Myra fell silent.
Kallie scoffed. “I’m what, Myra? Their daughter, their sister? It doesn’t matter! Fynn isdeadbecause of me.” Kallie gripped the back of the chair, her knuckles blanching. “The fact that I share blood with him does not matter.”
Myra shook her head. “If that was truly the case, why wouldn’t Graeson have killed you last night? From what you told me, he had the opportunity. He could have taken it.”
“I don’t know, Myra!” Kallie threw her hands in the air and turned away. She scraped a hand over her face as if to wash away the rising emotion, but nothing she did settled the turning in her stomach. The blood in her veins vibrated, the anger pushing at her gift. Kallie slammed it back down.
Myra crossed her arms over her chest. “But you let him go.”
It was not a question but rather a statement—an accusation.
Why had Kallie said anything? If anyone overheard their conversation, if word got to her father . . .
Myra was loyal to Kallie, though. Kallie had seen the way she eluded his attention. She would not willingly seek it out.
Kallie sighed and nodded. When Myra quirked a brow, Kallie already knew the question ofwhywas on the tip of Myra’s tongue, so Kallie saved her the breath. “His life is of no consequence to me.”
“But is hispresenceof no consequence?”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137 (Reading here)
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165