Page 15 of A War of Three Kings

A third foolish guard approaches, and I lift my bound legs and kick him in the gut, hearing ribs crack as he is thrown backward.

“Everyone GET BACK!” Edmund roars.

He wraps tendrils of magic around me until I am encased in a writhing cocoon, then he lifts me by all those strands, carrying me down the hallway. Sweat drips down his face from this small feat.

I hiss and spit curses at him. I call him weak and ignorant, because he has so much power and doesn’t know how to use it.

I am dumped onto the stone floor of my cell and fall into a heaving mess. I can’t function. Not when I know what they are doing to Hawthorne.

That boy is already damaged enough.

My brain shuts down every time I think of the pain he must be enduring. If his body is not broken from this, his mind will be. The generous, shy man I know and love will no longer open his heart so freely.

Hot tears run down my face as I shake uncontrollably with rage, shock and intense fear. I stare at the wall as day turns into night. I spend the starlit hours in a sleepless nightmare, plagued by everything my imagination can conjure up—and my imagination is vast.

My entire body is numb. I cannot find the will to move from a huddle on the floor, hugging my legs close to my chest, not even when the door opens. It will be another trial of torment that they have thought up for me.

“Aldrin?”

I don’t believe it at first. It must be an illusion conjured up by my heartsick brain.Or maybe my mind has finally broken. But I hear my name called by that soft, feminine voice that has always been music to my ears.

The one that I have craved all these days I have been locked in this cell.

“Aldrin.”

My eyes flick to the door, glancing up through the thick strands of hair that hang over my face.

Keira stands there, the image of perfection, of salvation, her doe eyes wide as they take me in.

Chapter 4

Aldrin

We stare at each other, dumbfounded. It is like there is a knife in my heart and it twists again and again. I want to hide. To refuse to allow her to see me like this, beaten and broken.

I have no choice.

Keira’s eyes roam over me, taking in the crumpled clothes, the deep lines beneath my eyes and the gauntness of my face from all that weight I lost so swiftly.

I must look like a tormented mess.

Tears form at the corners of her eyes, but they don’t fall. Her hands shake, and she balls them into fists to hide it.

She takes another step toward me, then stops herself, like she too isn’t sure if I am a monster here to hunt her. It shatters my fucking heart to see that hint of fear on her face when her eyes meet mine.

I would do anything,anything, to gain back that trust we once had.

Then her features crumple, lips twisting downward. “What have they done to you, Aldrin?” Her voice breaks.

Keira still cares for me. I want to grab her and tuck her into my arms, wrapping them around her body until she feels safe enough to cry into my chest. Hurt and anger lies between us, but it will never change the fact that I love her.Maybe I am a fool for that.

My gaze falls over her hungrily, like that of a man dying of thirst presented with an oasis. It trips over her beautiful rosebud lips, down her cream-colored neck and to her generous bosom, where a hint of cleavage is visible. My eyes soak in the curve of her hips.Up and down they glide, committing every detail of her to memory. I cannot help myself.

For months I longed to touch her, hold her, to even just look at her, and when I finally did, she was ripped away from me almost immediately.

It was the wrong thing to do. I am sure they have told Keira that I am a predator, here to tear her away from her life, despite everything that passed between us.That I tricked and manipulated her, and only wanted her for sex and childbearing.

Keira recoils from me, taking a step back. Her eyes narrow with simmering fury. My heart hammers painfully. I am too scared to breathe, to say a damned thing, in case she runs away from me. Her gaze flicks away, taking in the basic room.

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