Page 85 of House of Crimson Hearts
“Fine. I’ll tell you and you move in.” She holds out her hand and we shake on it.
There’s a beat as if she’s drawing up the courage and then she says, “Because if I hold the power to this city, they won’t be able to ignore me or leave me out or push me away if I’m queen. If I win, I prove I’m good enough for the city. They’ll have no choice but to accept me for who I am.”
That makes me stop drawing and really look at her.
“You’re lonely?”
“I didn’t say that.” She snatches my sketchbook out of my hand. “Oh, you cheater,” she gasps and then blinks a bit too rapidly as she stares down at a pencilled image of herself.
“You’d already drawn me…”
I grin. Yes, yes I had. “What do you think?”
“That’s… This is…”
“It’s rubbish,” I say and snatch the sketchbook back. “I should have used forgery magic.”
“No,” she says and places her hand on mine. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
And this time, I blush furiously.
Chapter23
RED
As we’re walking out of the club and down to the carriage tunnels, I spot Amelia. My heart seizes.
“Hey,” she says.
Her skin is porcelain, and smooth in a way that reminds me of marble. So unlike the soft, cuddly Amelia I grew up with.
“Hi,” I say, and edge back. I still haven’t gotten over what she did to me. My fingers reflexively reach up to my neck.
Amelia’s eyes drop away from mine. Her hands knead and rub each other, just like she used to when she was little and unsure of what to do. But I can’t be her big sister right now. I can’t tell her what to do anymore, she broke that bond when she chose them.
“We should talk. I need to apologise to you, and…”—she looks over my shoulder at Octavia—“there are things I need to tell you.”
She reaches out, arms open.
Flashes of fangs and being pinned down rush through my mind. I can’t breathe. My whole body is cold. I’m choking on my own blood. Everything is white, and static races across my eyes. My mind is screaming at me to fight back. But I won’t. I can’t. I refuse to hurt my sister, no matter what she’s done.
I step back. Again. Again. My back hits the exit door.
“Not… Not yet,” I say.
Amelia’s eyes well, she bites down, her lips shutting, “Okay. I love you, R?—”
But I’m already out the door running towards the carriage tunnels.
* * *
Octavia catches up to me in the tunnels as I reach the platform. She slides her hand into mine to slow me down as we stand and wait for the next carriage to appear. She wraps her arms around me and pulls me into her body.
“You’re okay, Verity. It’s okay.”
“It’s not. I miss her so much. But I… What she did.”
“I know,” she says and rocks me in her arms until my heartbeat slows back to normal and my breathing settles.
