Page 115 of Royal Deception

I look her in the eyes, my grip on her tightening, desperate for her to hear this. “I love you, Clary. I love you in a way I didn’t think I was capable of. And I want to be with you. In every way. Not as some fucking game. Not as this twisted D/S dynamic I used to think was all we needed.” I let out a bitter laugh, shakingmy head again. “That was just my own way of hiding from what I was too scared to face. But I’m done with that. I’m done pretending that I don’t want all of you. I want us, Clary. I want to be with you, no walls between us, no distance. Just you and me. Forever.”

I take a deep breath, my hands still holding her, searching her eyes. “But I need to know… can you accept this? Can you accept me? All of me—without the games, without the control? Because I’m offering you everything. All of myself, Clary. No more walls. No more holding back.”

My heart pounds, the silence stretching between us, and I hold my breath, waiting for her answer.

Clary opens her mouth and grimaces, tilting her head like she’s unsure, and my heart squeezes in my chest. “Clary?” My voice breaks on her name.

But then, she winces. It’s sharp and sudden, and I feel the blood drain from my face as I pull back slightly, eyes narrowing in concern.

“Clary? Are you okay?” I ask, voice tight with worry.

She nods quickly, but then her hand moves to her belly, clutching it. Her breath hitches and she winces again, harder this time.

I can feel the shift in the air. Her face pales, her eyes wide with panic.

“Clary?” I say, my tone rising. “What’s happening?”

She swallows hard, her hand still pressed to her stomach, and then her voice shakes as she speaks. “Rory… Something’s wrong. With the baby. We need to go to the hospital. Now.”

But her breathing is quick, shallow, and I can see the fear in her eyes, the way she’s clutching her belly as if trying to hold everything together. I feel it in the pit of my stomach—this isn’t good.

“Please, Rory,” she says, her voice tight with fear. “We need to go. It hurts… I don’t know what’s happening.”

“Okay, okay. I’ve got you,” I say, my voice low and firm, trying to keep my own panic at bay. I don’t give her time to protest as I pull her into my arms, moving quickly toward the door.

By the time we get downstairs, I’m already dialing for an ambulance. But with every second that ticks by, my mind races through a thousand terrible thoughts, each worse than the last.

When the ambulance pulls up, I’m barely aware of anything except the way Clary grips my hand. The pain in her eyes, the way she’s trembling, I can’t stand it.

They load her in quickly, but when they tell me I can’t come with her, the world feels like it’s falling apart. I stand at the back of the ambulance, clutching her hand as they rush her into the back, the door closing between us.

“Clary!” I shout, my voice desperate.

She looks back at me, her face a mix of fear and determination, but the door slams shut before I can hear her reply.

I stand frozen, my heart in my throat, the seconds dragging on. All I can do is wait—and hope that she and the baby are going to be okay.

47

CLARY

The world spins around me as the paramedics rush me into the emergency room. My body is tense, each contraction hitting harder than the last. I try to focus on breathing through it, but the pain is sharp and constant.

I’m lying on a gurney, the cold air of the ER hospital room making my skin crawl as they wheel me through the sterile hallways. The beeping of monitors, the shuffle of footsteps, and the rush of medical staff all blur together as I struggle to keep calm.

But I can’t. Not with the pain intensifying. Not with the fear gnawing at me, because every part of me knows something’s wrong.

I look down at my belly, feeling the cramping, the sensation of my body betraying me. And then I remember.Dmitry Petrov. His face flashes in my mind, the sedative he injected me with.

My heart skips a beat. Could this be a result of that?

“Is it normal?” I hear myself asking the nurse, but my voice is weak and unsteady. “The contractions, I mean?”

The nurse glances at me, her face calm, though I can see the underlying concern. “We’re going to get you checked out, Clary. Don’t worry, we’re on top of it.”

But it’s hard not to worry. I know what this could mean. I’m in labor too soon. I need Rory. I need him here with me.

But he’s not here.