Page 16 of Queen
“Of course. Did you really think otherwise?”
His words cut even deeper. Mostly because they confirmed the doubts it had taken her so long to overcome. The insecurity that told her there was no way someone like Bishop would actually be interested in her. Over time, his gentle reassurances and words of love had convinced her. Now, it felt like the rug was being ripped out from beneath her.
Any lingering hope she might have that this was a mistake, or some horrible, awful misunderstanding vanished.
“What are you going to do?” she repeated. “How are you going to bring her here?”
Confusion appeared in his gaze for a split second, but it quickly disappeared. “We're not conducting the ritual to awaken Selene. It’s to stop her from coming to Earth at all.”
Ella stared at him, even more confused than she already was. “I don’t understand.”
“Selene made her choice when she shunned my mother as the true consolidation of her power, but that doesn’t mean we have to accept it,” he said coolly. “Felidae has been operating in the shadows, taking orders from that damn temple on behalf of the moon goddess who can’t even be bothered to show herself in a proper vessel. In case you haven’t noticed, what has she done for the colony lately?”
Ella was too stunned to reply at first. “You’re my mate. The throne would’ve been yours, too. Why did you have to do this?”
“Because this isn’t about me. It’s more than that,” he answered. “Felidae is more than a glorified social club. We’ve been operating this colony from the shadows for centuries, and it’s time we stepped into the light. There will be no more Empress. No more Selene. When her tyranny is at an end, Felidae will rule, and at its helm will be a true leader.”
As his words sank in, Ella felt her throat tighten, making it difficult to speak. A strangled laugh escaped her instead, and Bishop looked at her like she’d lost her mind. “You?” she challenged.
He didn’t answer, but she didn’t need him to. His silence said enough.
“You’re going to kill me,” she said, her breath shuddering. “You're going to kill me because being king wasn’t enough. Because you wanted everything.”
“We were,” he admitted. Something like guilt appeared in his gaze, but it disappeared before she could be sure. “Then I found out the truth. The truth about you being a feral. There’s no way Selene would have chosen you as a vessel, no matter what the correspondences say, but the child…”
Just when Ella thought she couldn’t feel any more horror or disgust, he proved her wrong.
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “No, Bishop. Please. Don’t do this.”
He didn’t reply to that either, just stared at her. That strange look was in his eyes again, and his expression seemed to soften as he reached down and brushed his hand along her cheek. “I really did come to love you,” he said quietly. “My brother is right about that. Now I won’t have to lose you.”
“I hate you,” Ella spat. “If you’re going to kill my baby, then kill me too, because I will spend my every living moment making you pay for it.”
Bishop considered her words for a moment. “I believe you will,” he said thoughtfully. If she didn’t know better, she’d think there was a hint of admiration in his voice. “But in time, you will come to understand. There’s much you don’t know. Much Felidae can teach you. When the time comes, you will rule at my side, as my queen.”
“Fuck you.”
Irritation flashed in his gaze, but before he could respond, Ella heard a door slamming somewhere in the distance. The way the sound echoed made her think they were in a basement, or somewhere else just as large and vacant. It explained why there were no windows in the room. It felt like a dungeon.
Then again, if they were in the Felidae house, it probably was.
“I’ll be back,” Bishop told her. She wasn’t sure if that was a threat, or if it was supposed to be a reassurance. Either way, as soon as he left the room, she regained focus on trying to shift, and when that failed, she tried to find a way out of her restraints. Nothing was working.
This couldn’t be real.
But it was, and she had to find a way out.
Chapter 10
Axel
Fear was the one emotion Axel wasn't used to. Frustration, rage, love, sure. But not fear.
Ella had changed all that. In the time since he and Sterling had realized she was gone, and almost certainly with Bishop, he had learned a whole new meaning of fear. Now he could see what everyone was always bitching about.
He tore up the road in his sports car to get to the Felidae House, and despite the fact that Sterling was gripping the door hard enough to dig lines into the leather upholstery, he didn't complain.
As soon as they reached the house, both men got out and looked around at the sea of cars in the parking lot. "Is it always this busy on a Friday night, right after a major colony event?" Axel asked, turning to Sterling.
