Page 30 of Born Free

He’s looking down, as if reviewing documents or even looking at a phone.

But even doing something so mundane, the power radiates off of him.

He has dark hair, every strand perfectly placed. Even from here, I can see his intense, dark green eyes. His lips are pursed, focused, the top slightly fuller than the bottom.

He’s beautiful, in the deadliest way.

And with the aura of peril that radiates off the man, I know exactly who this is.

King Cyrus.

In just a span of two seconds, the man drives by, unaware of three, wait… two, non-Royals here in his sinister town, literally named Red Heaven. The vehicle continues down the road, headed into the town, the three of us utterly frozen and silent.

The king.

The king of vampires.

The creator.

“Holy shit,” the words slip out of my lips in a terrified, reverent whisper.

Now it’s Roman’s turn to let out a curse. Almost without thought, he grabs me, enveloping me in his embrace, protecting me, as we watch that vehicle bearing the King roll up the road and then disappear behind the gates of the castle.

“Think you’ve ever met him?” I ask.

Roman simply shakes his head in unknowing, still staring at the castle.

“Seems everyone who ends up in Chicago is good at keeping secrets,” Sebastian says. “Who would have known our very own Roman De Luca was actually Andres Badillo, a true-blue Royal.”

“You caught him up on the details then?” I ask as Roman and I release each other.

“He needed to understand the weight of the situation,” Roman says.

“So, now that we’ve seen the King, there are two bodies on the floor, and there’s enough tension in the air to choke us all, what’s the plan?” I ask because I can’t help but revert to my natural ways. “Are we letting Sebastian just walk after everything that happened?”

“I’m coming back to Chicago with you two,” Sebastian answers without giving Roman a second to respond.

I arch an eyebrow at him. “You realize the entire population of the city hates you now, right? You don’t poison the masses over one woman and just expect everyone to forgive you.”

“I don’t give a damn what they all think of me,” he says. I feel his eyes on me, but I refuse to look at him. “But you were just kidnapped by someone from a Royal house. You’ve got the most powerful gift a gifted can have and a curse to enhance it. There’s a Royal with unclear intentions in the city you’re about to return to. I’m not letting you go back to Chicago with this indecisive asshole as your only protection.”

“Hell no,” I grind out, taking a step toward him to put an end to this, but Roman catches my wrist, holding me back. “After all the bullshit you put me through? You’re not coming anywhere near me again after we’re out of this country.”

We look at each other for several heated seconds. I’m breathing so hard. My adrenaline is kicking in. I’m ready to fight and punch and kick and scream. Sebastian has always looked like he’s two seconds away from erupting into a storm of wrath, and right now is no different.

“Do you know that the Superintendent of Police investigated me for weeks?” I ask, my voice shaking with rage. “She thought I murdered you. Roman spent days in prison when they found your blood in his apartment. You’ve wrecked way too much, Sebastian.”

“And I will find a way to atone for my sins,” he says, his voice quieter and lower than I expected with how he’s trembling. “I swear, somehow, I will make it right.”

“You will never win me back,” I say, the absolute confidence of finality in my tone. “There is nothing you could do to make me want you back. You broke…” my voice falters, fracturing just a little, and something stings the back of my eyes. “You broke me, Sebastian. You broke us. And there is no putting us back together.”

I watch Sebastian swallow, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “I know. I know you will never forgive what I did. I know there is something broken in me, because I don’t know what I would have done differently if I could go back. But somehow, I have to make it right, Juliet.”

I let out a hard breath. And I feel the energy leaking from me. I deflate. I lean back without meaning to, but Roman wraps a hand around my waist, pulling me against him with physical support.

It feels like there should be a million more things to say. What happened was enormous. Surely, we could still argue over all that’s happened for ages. But I’m too tired. I’m drained. My nerves and emotions are shot.

“Can we just not talk anymore?” I say out loud, though I don’t mean to. “I just… I can’t anymore. We have a few hours until the sun comes up. I think we all need to give ourselves an emotional timeout until then.”

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