Page 11 of Claim Me

I pace outside Fallon’s door, counting my steps as the seconds continue to pass.

In twenty-seven—I glance at my watch—nope, make thattwenty-sixminutes, I’ll need to knock and request entry into her suite. She’ll say yes because she unfortunately has no other choice, and then I’ll turn on the broadcast for us to watch.

I swallow, uneasy about what that broadcast will announce.

Kaspian has spent the better part of two months trying to determine how to proceed. Executing Klas will destroy Fallon’s spirit.

Alas, Klas’s crimes can’t be ignored.

He tried to kill the former King of Gold and Garnet. It didn’t matter that King Vesperus willingly left this world shortly after it happened; he was still the House King for several decades and a renowned master vampire who was well respected throughout the world.

Allowing Klas to live after attempting to assassinate a monarch—former or not—isn’t an option. Least of all because he poses an imminent threat to our current king, Kaspian.

Fallon claimed someone else placed the obedience spell upon her, but she doesn’t know the warlock or witch’s name.

What if that powerful being returns and ignites the spell again?

What if Klas himself can do it?

The results would be cata—

“Issy!” Fallon screams, her anguish a palpable punch to my chest.

My ghostly form overtakes my body without a second thought, allowing me to cross through the walls into her rooms.

My hand is on one of my vials, ready to throw a stunning potion at whoever is hurting Fallon. But all I find is her crumpled on the floor with her knees to her chest as she cries out in obvious pain.

“Fallon?” I ask as I turn back into my corporeal state.

She doesn’t react to my sudden appearance. Nor does she seem to notice me at all.

“Tell me what’s happening,” she demands. “Talk to me!”

I frown. “What do you mean? I heard you scream and ghosted in here to—”

“Issy!” she screams again, her agony rippling through the air.

I kneel beside her, trying to determine what’s happening. She’s so tightly curled into a ball that I can’t see where she’s injured or how. “What doesIssymean?” I ask her.

“Who? What are you talking about?” She sounds so bewildered as she speaks. “Issy…”

She’s having another episode,I realize, somewhat familiar with these now.

As if to confirm my thought, Fallon begins to convulse.

I reach for her shoulders, trying to keep her on the floor, to ensure she doesn’t hurt herself. “Fallon,” I say softly against her ear. “You’re safe. It’s okay. I have you.”

Not that I have a damn clue how to help her. Each time, I just talk to her and hold her, and she eventually calms down.

While I don’t know the full extent of what Klas did to her, I have gathered that it involved a hell of a lot of abuse.

The first time this happened, I heard her begging him not to drown her again. I found her on her knees on her bed, her eyes wild with tears, with her hands clasped tightly behind her back as though bound with an invisible rope.

It took several minutes for her to realize it wasn’t real, that she was awake and no longer dreaming.

Another time, she was choking on invisible dirt while clawing at her sheets like a rabid animal.

And the worst was when I found her screaming in the shower, apologizing over and over again to a figment in her mind.