Page 44 of The Shattered Kingdom (The Cursed Kingdom #2)

ABBY

THE NEXT TEN minutes pass in a blur.

Mason pulls me through the crowded outdoor corridors, leading me toward the gardens where this celebration is supposedly being held. He’s pissed. So is Kie.

They want to hide me, keep me far away from the faeries who could make another attempt for my life at any given moment, but Jackie has ruined those plans. I assume the sheer number of faeries walking about the grounds is also her doing.

Maybe she’s trying to murder me. We offered her a position on the council, but perhaps it wasn’t enough. Maybe she’s planning something bigger.

I chew at the inside of my cheek, my nerves getting the better of me. It’s beautiful today, and a light breeze blows my hair into my face as we step out from underneath the trellis leading into the park.

“Wow.”

Hundreds of thousands of small string lights have been strung from the trees.

It’s beautiful, and I can’t imagine how stunning it will be when the sun fully sets in the next hour or so.

They create a trail to a building deep inside the park, just beside a long row of hedges that I know lead to the gardens.

Hundreds of faeries surround the building, most standing on an expansive stone patio. They’ve dressed for the occasion and seem in good spirits as they chat and laugh amongst themselves.

Several servers are rushing around with trays of drinks and snacks.

This is nerve-wracking.

“Give Abby and me a minute,” Mason says, turning toward Kie and my family. “We’ll meet up with you shortly.”

Kie doesn’t look convinced. “Don’t take too long. People are expecting us.”

Mason leads me to the right, away from the hedges. The sun continues to set, hopefully allowing Mason and me to blend in with the shadows. I’m now a queen, and I need a minute of quiet to process that before facing the faeries.

Will they try to question me as they did to Mason? I know practically nothing about the faerie way of life, and there’s no hiding that.

We reach a small building deep inside the park. It’s surrounded by trees, giving a false sense of privacy. I promptly sit on the front cement steps, my legs splayed before me and my shoulders slumped.

Mason sits with me, his thigh pressing against mine. We don’t speak. It’s nice.

Mason’s the first to break the silence. “You did well today.”

I lean against his shoulder. “Do you really think so?”

“Yes.”

We fall silent again. It’s comfortable, and I let my eyes slip shut as I focus on the steady sound of his breathing. I’m beyond exhausted. It’s been easy to ignore, but now that I have a moment to sit and relax, it’s setting in. I need rest—and quiet.

“I don’t want to go to the party,” I admit .

Mason hums. “We can skip it.”

“Jackie might lose her mind.”

“She most definitely will,” Mason admits. “But the faeries only care to see Kie, anyway. This celebration is just an excuse for Jackie to announce and brag about her new position on the council. Nobody will miss us.”

“Kie will be pissed.”

“That’s never stopped you before,” Mason teases. “Why let it stop you now?”

Mason rises. I hesitate, pretty sure this is a horrible idea, before taking his outstretched hand.

Mason knows this world better than I do, and if he says I can skip the party, I’m going to believe him.

He’s an asshole, but he wouldn’t suggest I do something that would genuinely upset the faeries. I trust he wouldn’t.

“Where to?” I ask. “Home?”

Instead of answering, Mason drags me off the patio.

His pace is fast, and I have to practically jog to keep up with his hurried steps.

We eventually reach a row of carefully shaped hedges, and my heart pounds as Mason expertly weaves me through them.

They’re taller than I am, and while the sun hasn’t completely set, it’s dim.

It would be easy to get lost out here, but Mason maintains a tight grip on my hand.

We walk through rows and rows of hedges, eventually reaching the small courtyard where Queen Gitta’s observance was held. I’m relieved to see her body has been removed, and I eye the stone slab where she lay before allowing Mason to pull me away.

Kie hasn’t spoken much about Queen Gitta’s death, and I wonder if he’s affected by seeing me and my mom together. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to watch somebody interact with their mother after I’d just lost mine .

Mason leads me around the party, careful to stay in the shadows.

I catch occasional glimpses of the celebration through the hedges, and what I see is terrifying. There might be more people there now than there were when I first saw it. How many faeries did Jackie invite?

We finally exit the hedges. Mason continues forward. The string lights don’t stretch this far, and I rely on his sense of sight as we weave between trees. Where are we going? No trellises are overhead, so we must still be in the park.

Several minutes pass before we reach what appears to be some sort of abandoned brick tower. There’s a stairwell winding up the side, and Mason urges me to begin climbing.

“What are you doing?” I hiss, stubbing my toe. “It’s too dark.”

Mason’s responding chuckle feels almost threatening. “This building was closed up after a fire about a hundred or so years ago,” he says. “Kie and I used to sneak up here and watch the garden parties back when we were too young to attend. You can see everything from the top.”

I begin climbing, tripping every few seconds.

“Is this safe?”

“Of course.”

I don’t entirely trust that. This building must be at least three stories tall, and it’s rickety as hell. The brick steps feel sturdy enough, but that doesn’t mean they won’t shatter beneath me. I have no interest in plummeting to my death.

At the top of the steps is a small rooftop. There’s a narrow door in the center, but it’s boarded up.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Mason taunts.

I shoot him a dirty look, then near the rooftop edge. Mason wasn’t lying. We’re well above the garden and hedges, and I can see the party .

It’s hard to make out specifics, but I can see general faces and figures.

I search until I find Kie and my parents.

My mom and dad are with Kie, but Aaron has found food.

He scans the long table, occasionally adding a few things to his plate, before being corralled to a small seating area with my parents.

Kie seems to say something to them, his eyebrow furrowed, before hurrying away.

Kie attempts to weave through the crowd, but he’s continually stopped by faeries looking to chat. I’d be annoyed, but he greets every person with a wide smile. He’s well-trained for this, and I admire his patience. Someday, I’ll join him for such things.

Today, though, I’m going to hide away with Mason.

“Do you enjoy sharing a mate with Kie?” I ask the shifter. I’ve always wondered. “I can’t imagine what it would be like to share you. I could never do it.”

Mason takes a second to respond. “I don’t feel like I’m sharing you. I feel like…” He walks up behind me, placing his hands on my hips. “Kie is mine. I may not be sexually involved with him, but he belongs to me. I don’t mind when my things play together.”

That’s not the answer I was expecting.

“I don’t think Kie would be pleased to hear you say he belongs to you.”

Mason shrugs. “I don’t concern myself with how Kie feels.” A beat of silence. “But don’t tell him I said that.”

I won’t. I’m not interested in opening that particular can of worms. Besides, I’m pretty sure if I asked Kie the same question, he’d have an equally offensive answer toward Mason. Their relationship is entertaining. There’s so much love between them, but they’d rather die than ever admit it.

“He found us,” Mason says.

I already know who he’s talking about, and I search through the crowd until spotting Kie. He’s finally reached his destination, a standing table surrounded by Anox, Jackie, and Lady Cassandra. He’s speaking to Anox, but his eyes are on Mason and me. He doesn’t seem pleased.

His hands are clenching and unclenching at his sides, and his jaw is routinely tensing.

“Mason…?” I look over. Mason grins at Kie, clearly pleased with whatever he’s done. “What did you do?”

Mason licks his lips, his gaze heavy when he finally slides it toward me. “I assume Anox just informed Kie what I did with Lord Bishop.”

What? When did he have time to do anything with Lord Bishop? He was with my family all day, wasn’t he?

“What’d you do?”

Mason blinks, his lips curling into a cruel smile. It’s one I haven’t seen since the forest, and it sends shivers down my spine. I’m growing familiar with Mason’s soft side, and I momentarily forgot that’s not all there is to him. He isn’t a good person. Not really.

“Tell me,” I order. “Tell me right now.”

“No.” Mason shakes his head. “He’s mine.”

Mason watches my every move with unnerving intensity, like a predator waiting for the perfect moment to strike. My pulse is thundering through my ears, and I shake the fear out of my limbs.

“What did you do?”