Page 16 of The Shattered Kingdom (The Cursed Kingdom #2)

ABBY

OF ALL THE times for Mason to abandon me, I didn’t expect it to be in the face of actual danger. I stare at the five guards I’ve been left with, then shift my gaze toward the front door Mason practically broke on his way out of here.

“The queen is dead?” I ask. I already know the answer.

The guard closest to me nods.

My heart lurches. “Is Kie okay?” I clear my throat. “His Highness, I mean. The prince. Kieran. Whatever the fuck you call him.”

The guards exchange glances. What does that mean? Is that a no? Did Lill hurt Kie? Was that part of her plan? And she killed the queen? Are they sure? Did anybody actually see it happen?

“Well?” My voice cracks. “Is Kie okay?”

The door bursts open, and Mason comes barreling inside. “Fuck!” He storms through the guards, grabs my arm, and pulls me into his side. “Lillian can open fucking portals, so you need to stay with me. Can’t have her hurting you.”

It seems he’s changed his mind on abandoning me with the stone-faced guards, but I don’t think Lill would ever hurt me. She’s been lying about some things, I’m willing to admit that, but I believe our friendship is genuine. We’ve been through too much together for it not to be.

“Is Kie okay?” I ask Mason.

He nods. “Yes. Come on.”

Mason drags me out of the house, his pace nearly impossible to keep up with. Long gone is the man who was on his knees begging me to take control. He’s been replaced by the angry Mason I’m most familiar with—the one who was raised as a prince and is prepared to be king.

The coronation is tomorrow. The coronation is tomorrow. Mason’s going to be a king. I’m his mate. What the fuck does that mean for me? Where the fuck is Kie? Where the fuck is Lill?

We pass by several faeries, but none appear alert.

They look at Mason and me with their usual level of caution and general disapproval, but nothing more.

They don’t yet know about the attack. The news hasn’t spread, but I doubt that will be the case for much longer. Things like this are hard to hide.

“Stay close,” Mason orders. “Now isn’t the time to be rebellious.”

I wasn’t planning on it. The faeries and shifters may think little about humans, but we aren’t idiots.

The queen was just murdered, and it’s in my best interest to remain close to Mason.

He’s the scariest motherfucker here, and he has an vested interest in keeping me alive.

I’m going to be this man’s shadow until told otherwise.

Do I need to be a shadow if the threat is Lill? I don’t know, and that isn’t a position I ever thought I’d be in. Just a few weeks ago, I was fully prepared to die in the faerie realm in the name of securing her delysum and saving her life, and now people are afraid of her hurting me.

Does she know what Mason and I did? That I touched him? That I exposed the bond between her, Mason, and Kie as false? I should’ve been careful. I should’ve been patient. I should’ve been a lot of things I wasn’t.

“Are you sure she killed the queen?” I ask Mason.

“Yes. She asked a guard to bring her to the queen, slit her throat, and vanished through a portal.”

Why would she do that? Lill’s always had a violent side to her, and it’s been used to my benefit several times, but it’s never gotten out of hand.

I didn’t think she had that in her. This is the woman who cooks me elaborate dinners and yells at me for placing a glass on the coffee table without a coaster.

She listens to Billy Joel, cries during movies, and has an unhealthy obsession with mint ice cream. She doesn’t murder.

Mason leads us to the building where Kie works. The faerie stands outside with two guards and an older man wearing elegant robes. I’m not prepared for the relief I feel at seeing Kie. He appears uninjured and significantly more composed than I would be if my mother had just been murdered.

“Lock down the grounds.” Kie’s rough order has even me standing up straight. “I don’t want anybody coming in or out.”

The two guards beside Kie take off, but the man in robes remains.

Kie looks over as we approach, his gaze lingering on where Mason’s holding my arm.

The shifter isn’t wearing gloves. He must have forgotten to put them back on, or perhaps it was a deliberate decision.

Either way, he’s openly touching me. He just dragged me across the property with his bare hand on my arm.

“Yes,” is all Mason says.

Kie blinks.

Mason continues. “If you tell her not to touch you, she’ll make it a personal mission to do the opposite. Abby doesn’t listen.”

“Does Lillian know?” Kie asks.

“I don’t know. ”

“How don’t you know?” Kie turns toward me. “Did you tell her?”

“This only just happened.” Mason jumps in to answer for me. “It was a surprise to us both, and we got carried away in the bathroom. Lill was out of the house, but she may have overheard. I don’t know. The guards were at the door when we finished.”

The robed man beside Kie groans and walks away, beginning to pace. I’ve seen him before, but we’ve never interacted. I assume he’s important if he’s allowed to eavesdrop on this private conversation.

“What do you know?” Mason asks, changing the subject.

He’s yet to remove his hand from my arm, and I’m getting the impression he has no intention to do so.

I highly doubt Lill will appear and snatch me out of thin air.

At least, I like to believe so. She’s probably too weak to open two portals back-to-back.

She was on the verge of death just a few days ago, and I’m certain she wasn’t faking it.

Kie frowns. “Nothing of use. We’re sweeping the property, but I highly doubt she’s here. She’s long gone, probably with the shifters.”

Mason scoffs. “She’s with Callie.”

Callie’s dead. Instinct tells me to say it, but logic keeps me quiet. I was told that Callie was dead, but I never saw the body. I can’t confirm it.

The man in the robes returns, his crooked finger pointed in my direction. “Take the human somewhere safe,” he tells Kie. “We don’t need to top this day off with your mate’s death.” His gaze shifts toward Mason. “Come with me.”

Mason tightens his grip on my arm. “Abby stays with me.”

“No.” The man shakes his head. “Abby stays with Kie. She has two mates, and you are busy. Hand her over. We don’t have time to waste. ”

The man doesn’t wait for an answer before spinning on his heel and vanishing into the building. He flings open the door with more force than necessary, and he doesn’t look back. Who is he?

There’s a moment of awkward silence before Kie gestures to Mason’s unmoving grip on my arm.

“He’s right. With the queen’s death, you’re now our acting king.

You need to be the face of this. I’ll bring Abby to our home.

Lillian’s never been inside, so it won’t be easy for her to open a portal there. Abby will be safe with me.”

Mason’s thumb brushes over the inside of my bicep, and he worries his lips together before finally releasing me. I’d prefer to stay with him, but I won’t make a fuss.

“I won’t be long,” Mason promises me.

I nod, and he follows after the robed man.

Kie places a hand on the small of my back and begins guiding me away, back in the direction Mason and I came from.

Unlike Mason, he keeps a casual pace. I’m willing to bet it’s to send the impression of control.

It wouldn’t look good for the faeries to see him running around in a panic.

“Why does Mason have to handle this himself?” I ask. “Shouldn’t you two do it together?”

“In theory, yes,” Kie says. “But you complicate things. The mate bond is fresh, and Mason won’t be able to think clearly with you around. It’s best you two are separated, and I’m the only person he’ll trust you to be left with.”

Should I mention the five guards he briefly left me with immediately upon hearing the news? His first instinct was to leave me with them, even if it only lasted approximately forty-five seconds.

“Do the faeries know about your agreement with Zaha?”

“Yes. They aren’t pleased.”

The private paths leading to the royal houses are swarming with guards. They part to let Kie through, several bowing their heads as they do so.

The house Lill and I have been staying in taunts me, and I can’t help but stare at it as Kie leads me to the one he shares with Mason. I was just here, and I immediately walk through the open entryway and sit on the oversized black couch.

Kie silently shuts the door behind him, then lights the fireplace. It provides some background noise, but not enough to drown out the awkwardness. I haven’t seen much of Kie these past few days. He’s been busy preparing for Mason’s coronation, and my few interactions with him have been brief.

“I’m not going to touch you,” I say. “If that’s what you’re concerned about. I’ve learned my lesson.”

Kie paces the length of the room, his long legs carrying him from wall to wall in fourteen easy strides. I’ve always found Mason to be the more frightening of the two, but as I take in the dead, empty look in Kie’s eye, I can’t help but wonder if my assumption was off.

Five minutes pass. My anxiety grows.

I clear my throat. “Are you okay?”

Kie doesn’t answer.

Of course he’s not all right. He’s been forced to give away the title many would argue was his birthright, and the woman he believed to be his mate just murdered his mother. He’s been cast aside, forced to hide away in his home as humans do with women and children.

Kie continues to pace, his strides quickening and quickening. I’m not sure what to do other than stare, my hands tucked under my thighs and my feet tapping against the ground. Should I continue trying to speak with him?

Another ten minutes pass, and every one is spent in complete silence .