Page 63 of Fake Fae-Ancée

Kostya gave me a scrutinizing look.

I swallowed. "Your brother Nicolai mentioned it earlier. That Yuri was in captivity. In Svalbard." Of course I knew about the ancient dungeon on the most northern island in the Arctic sea. But the thought that Yuri had been there was alarming in a new and horrifying way.

Kostya took another step closer, his expression solemn now. "This is really not my story to tell…"

"But he won’t tell me," I said, more fiercely than I wanted to, my voice wobbly. "I don’t know why, but he won’t."

Right now, all I wanted was to know what the hell had really happened to Yuri. What wasn’t he telling me?

Kostya measured me for a long moment, then shrugged.

"I can tell you my part," he said. "What happened to me. And the rest of the family. After our father was murdered and Yegor seized power, we were taken hostage."

I stared at him.

"We were imprisoned, all of us." Kostya’s voice was dark, detached. Like he didn’t like the memory he was conjuring up. "I was still a lad, back then. But I remember how they came to get us. Locked us up. How mother pleaded for our lives…"

I swallowed. "Yegor threatened to kill you?"

Kostya nodded. "He used us to blackmail Yuri into submission. My brother was the legal heir to the throne of Bears. But with us at Yegor’s mercy, Yuri had no choice but to comply and abdicate."

I felt cold and so, so stupid.

"And that lady?" The horrible woman from the video. The horrible woman who had kissed my husband all over social media.

"Yegor wanted to marry Yuri off, and quickly. Bind him to his line of the family. Force him into loyalty."

"But Yuri didn’t," I whispered.

"Obviously." Kostya threw me a glance over his sunglasses. "In the meantime, someone I don’t know saved mother and my siblings and me from our imprisonment and brought us to a safe place. Without any leverage left over my brother, Yegor banished him to Svalbard."

My head spun. Blackmailing. Forced to abdicate. Banishment. Kostya had yanked the carpet about everything I had thought I’d known from right under my feet.

"He also did it to protect you," Kostya added.

I didn’t answer, kneading my hands, my mind spinning.

"Please, don’t be mad at my brother for not telling you," Kostya said in a low voice as he opened the door and went outside. "He had to make some hard choices. And I know for a fact that it’s eating him up inside."

Yuri

Only one monthwas left until the ball and Kai actually made an effort in training sessions. Her curtsies were flawless. Her conversation impeccable. She matched all the courses and the forks correctly. Bates was visibly impressed with the polite conversation Kai made with him during practice dinners, as nondescript and translucent as the soup on our plates.

It wasn’t just the hair, the make-up and all those dresses Auntie’s designers shoved her in every day. She didn’t talk back anymore. She smiled and agreed with everything I said. Her explosive personality never showed. She had put on a mask, another shield of armor to hide her true self, in order to go through with our plan to fake a happy couple that was soon to be wed.

It ground against my soul every time she smiled and agreed with me — where I knew the real Kai would have told me to just shut up and go to hell. She didn’t even complain anymore when I stepped on her feet. Just grit her teeth into a smile and waltzed on.

Bear wasn’t happy at all. If he’d have his way, I would have grabbed her and shook her, until she dropped the artificial princess act and finally was herself again.

Even worse, after my brothers had left, I was once again alone with my thoughts. Which was bad, because I couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss.

* * *

The zombie died with a groan,collapsing on the large flatscreen, when Kai entered the media room. I had been blowing off steam with my favorite shooter, so focused on busting zombie brains I almost didn’t notice her until she was standing right in front of me.

"Hey," she said.

"Oh, hey…" I swallowed and almost choked on the sunflower seed I’d just been chewing. I was surprised to see her here. We didn’t usually talk or spend time in the same room, once training sessions were over for the day.

---