Page 77 of Queen of Madness

“He’s alright. He’s just unconscious.”

“You’re a terrible liar, Kane.” She coughs, attempting to sit up, but I tighten my hold. The crunch of feet over the debris signal help is on the way.

“Please don’t move. I can hear people coming. The guards are coming to hel—”

“Well, look how the mighty have fallen.” A deep, husky voice fills the space, spreading to every corner of the room and sludging down my spine.

It’s a voice that makes the white spots still decorating my vision disappear, replaced with red. My fists clench beneath Onyx, my body shaking from the violent tremors ripping through me.

At least a dozen steps crunch over the mess, stepping closer than needed, the metal of their guns clinking as they hold them at the ready.

When a shadow finally covers me, I gaze up, my jaw locked so tight, my molar cracks, sending jolts of muted pain across my mouth.

The man’s robust belly is the first thing I see, his suit jacket barely held in place by the magical button. His round face is pale except for his pink cheeks, mostly hidden under his scruffy facial hair.

He always did look like an evil Santa Claus to me.

“Phineas Murphy.” Onyx sits up, her eyes fixed on only the disgusting creature in front of her.

“That I am. And it is such a pleasure to meet you, Onyx.” His dark eyes flash to me, a sneer curling his lips.

A guard comes behind me, but I’m too busy watching her to move fast enough. The blunt end of his gun hits me in the back of my already tender head, and I go down, the darkness immediately encroaching over my vision

But before the darkness takes me, I hear him. “I see you’ve met my son. He’s such a good boy. I knew he’d come through.”

Then, I see black.

When I was a child, I always wondered how the Queen of Hearts became the way she was. I thought perhaps it was from not getting her way. Maybe a suppressed need for power from the loss of it, or a need to prove herself after being constantly doubted.

An overcompensation.

Perhaps it was a deep loss of the only people that she ever loved, killed—slaughtered in front of her like nothing more than common cattle.

But I know now.

It’s from betrayal. Betrayal from the one you let in, even though youknewit was a bad idea. It’s from the one who made you feel that maybe, just maybe, you were going to be able to live again.

Yes, it’s that type of betrayal that will take away every last piece of light you had. Once that happens, there is only darkness.

That and death.

Antonio stirs, his brows wiggling as sloppy groans fall from his thin lips. The insufferable man is such a dramatic thing, he can’t even muster enough energy to wake quietly.

As if he can hear my thoughts, his eyes peel open to find me, a horrible wheeze escaping his throat.

This coerces a cackle from me, and I blow a long stream of smoke over his frail body. “You act as if anyone else would be here to feed your sick ass.”

He coughs, a slow hand rising to wave off the plum of thick smog wafting over him. “I’d hope someone else would have for once. Maybe the reaper. Or I don’t know. Maybe myniece.”

I laugh harder at this, pointing the end of my hookah stick at him. “You are nothing but a detached weakness to her. A horrible replacement for a loving parent.”

“I taught her everything she fought them to learn,” he retorts.

“A fact. And so, I believe it is also you who taught her to let go of anything that may distract her from the end goal. Ain’t that right?”

He coughs violently, his chest concaving with each stilted breath. I roll my eyes, standing to shove another pillow under his head and tapping the bed remote to elevate it a bit more. “I’m. Her-r-r.” Another fit of coughs sputter out of him. “Uncle.”

I nod, grabbing a glass of water in one hand while steadying the straw to his chapped lips with the other. He takes a few tentative sips, and I use the chance of peace to scold him. “You told her when she was sixteen that you would kill her if you ever found out she lost sight of your plan. If she ever let go of that anger corrupting her insides. You told her to bury it, let it fester, and grow until all she could see was death.”

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