Page 262 of The Throne Seeker

Panic overrode her as the guards came to seize Roman and Xavier.

“Tristan, no, wait,” she pleaded, gripping the cell’s cold, slick bars. “Please wait! You have to believe me. We’re telling the truth.”

Tristan’s powerful eyes capsized her hopes with one cannon blast. “Restrain Rose and Evelyn and escort them back to their chambers,” Tristan said to the guards waiting just outside the iron gate. “They don’t need to see what happens next.” He returned to her cell, lowering his voice. “I’ll keep guards posted outside your door. You’re welcome to stay in my room if it makes you feel safer.”

The bloody snake.

“To keep me safe or to keep me in your bed?” she whispered, her siren switching sides as its claws poised, ready to slash him to bits now Roman’s life was threatened.

Tristan had no intention of answering her question. He strutted for the iron doors with Lord Barron and Lord Martin following dutifully behind him.

Rose’s frame shook with fear. She couldn’t let him do this. He wouldn’t. He was bluffing.

“Tristan, if you do this, I’ll never forgive you,” she called after him in warning. “There will be no redemption for you.”

Disregarding her warning, Tristan strode out of the dungeons, taking his dark aura with him.

The guards arrived to open her cell, swiftly placing chains around her wrists, but before they could lead her anywhere, she spun around, breaking free from the guard’s hold. She went straight for Roman, taking his face in her hands, the bulky shackles on her wrists clanking.

“What do I do?” she whispered, her voice trembling.

“Leave,” Roman commanded. She knew his voice was meant to be strong, but it came out hoarse. “Get out of here. Go with your mother and don’t look back. Take Onyx and go to Moretti. He’ll help hide you. He’s the only one who knows about these men.”

Rose shook her head in denial. She wouldn’t accept this. She couldn’t. Her siren’s rage wouldn’t allow it.

“No. I won’t run. I’ll fight them off. I’ll kill every last one if I have to.”

She meant it. She’d kill them all and deal with the consequences later.

“No,” he said at once. “Even with your abilities, they’ll kill you before you reach the gates. Even Tristan will not be able to save you.”

Rose’s eyes pricked as the guards came closer, preparing to drag him to his fate.

She flung her arms around his neck, slamming her body into his. She clutched his tunic in fistfuls, inhaling a greedy amountof the musky scent of cedar that had become her personal drug. She had just found him. She was supposed to have years with him. He was supposed to take her to Eristan. He’d promised.

“I love you… Gods, Roe, I love you,” Roman murmured into her ear.

She squeezed her eyes shut, not just to keep the tears back, but to memorize the fluctuation of his voice, letting the rough groves engrave her heart.

“In whatever realm or life is next for me, I will wait for you, and I will find you.”

She pulled away just enough to look him in the eye. Gods, those beautiful honey-golden eyes she’d let herself be glazed in. The desert she’d been scorched by. The flames in which she had been consumed.

Her eyes were swimming. She wasn’t strong enough for this. She wouldn’t survive. He was her air supply. She would suffocate without him. She’d go mad. She’d…

“I won’t let you go on that adventure without me.”

“Yes, you will,” Roman stated. “Dammit, you will. Just…” His voice weakened as he strained to speak. “Just remember me, please.”

He said it as though it was a real possibility that this was the end.

The guards grew impatient as they tried to tug Roman to the door, but Rose wouldn’t budge, pressing her lips to Roman’s, running her hands through his hair.

“I am yours,” she whispered, hoping he gathered what she meant—that she was sorry for going to Tristan’s room, sorry she wasn’t able to make it right.

She was sorry.

So, so sorry.