Page 232 of The Throne Seeker

“He was born a leader… just like his older brother,” she said.

Xavier’s eyes clamped onto hers. His anger dissipated as he asked, “Would you have been my queen?”

“What do you think? My teenage heart was half out of its mind in love with you,” she replied before thinking.

Xavier’s jaw locked. His eyes fell to the floor, then he nodded as if accepting his fate. “I hate that word…was.”

She softened with empathy. “Can you do me a favor? Just promise me when the next girl comes along that shatters your world, you won’t let her slip through your fingers.”

Xavier’s icy eyes sliced through her like a winter storm. “You shattered my world when I was only ten. The pieces have long since been lost and will never be put back together… Not so long as you exist in it.”

Her jaw slackened, caught off guard. She had no clue what to say. But before she could utter a word, he left.

Despite the growing distance, pain poured from his retreating figure in such powerful waves it paralyzed her.

After a moment of recovery, Rose let out an exhausted breath, running her fingers roughly through her hair. What a mess tonight was turning out to be.

She turned to find warm, golden sands waiting for her—a scorching desert she happily welcomed, until she saw the hard expression Roman wore. He approached her with controlled steps.

His voice was short and crisp as he said, “I’m going to help the head guard with the interrogations.”

“I’ll come with you,” she said, knowing her siren would be able to pick up things they couldn’t.

“No. Stay with your mother.”

Her heart fell. “But I could help?—”

“Please, Rose. Just do as I ask,” Roman snapped with a glare.

The quicksand she was teetering on swallowed her whole. She was so surprised by the hostility in his eyes, she did as commanded. “Okay.”

Without so much as a backward glance, he left.

It felt like he had just shoved her from the astronomy tower, leaving her to fall until her body and soul splattered on the cobblestones.

She deserved it.

A taste of her own medicine.

Her lungs refused to function as her eyes watered. She tried to steady her trembling breaths, grateful for the dim glow of the ballroom candles to cast a shadow over her face. She shifted her weight, her feet aching to be freed of these ridiculous heels.

Without another word, she left.

She didn’t care if someone lurked in the corridors with an arrow aimed at her heart.

In fact, she quite hoped for it.

CHAPTER 82

Rose fled the ballroom on the hunt for untainted air, the sound of her heels clicking on the stone echoing through the barren corridors. Each step made her feet protest, but she pushed through the pain. It was trivial compared to the throbbing ache in her chest.

She was forced to succumb to the fact that her siren was becoming more uncontrollable. There was darkness within her—pure, undeniable darkness. And to her horror, it was growing stronger by the hour, taking hold of her thoughts, her words, her feelings. If she had looked at Tristan for even a split second longer… what she might’ve done…

She’d expected her siren to have power over others—what she hadn’t expected was for that same power to extend to herself.

She made her way toward the corridor that led to the torch-lit terrace, not paying attention to where her feet took her.

Her quick steps nearly caused her to stumble into a couple in the middle of a passionate kiss. She skidded to a stop, going to turn back the other way until she recognized who the man was.