Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 52864 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 264(@200wpm)___ 211(@250wpm)___ 176(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52864 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 264(@200wpm)___ 211(@250wpm)___ 176(@300wpm)
“Then you placed me in a dungeon to grow old and die.”
“They would have killed you.”
“They who?” I asked.
“King, the Bastuli, and anyone else who didn’t want Ten Club or the Seers to get a hold of you. I saved your life the only way I could, and that was by—”
“Putting me on ice.”
“Yes. And I’m sorry.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “Especially because I have no way of finding out if it changed anything. But please know I’d do anything to erase the pain I’ve caused you. There hasn’t been a day that I didn’t miss you or want to get you back. I must’ve gotten on a plane twenty times over the years, thinking, If I could just find a way to help him or prove his future isn’t set in stone, then I could free him. Sometimes I made it as far as the house where they kept you.”
“What stopped you?”
“I love my other children, too. And I made a promise to Ansin that goes beyond—”
“Motherhood?”
“It’s more complicated than that. Just know that you’re not the only one who suffered.”
“I lost thirty years of my life to a dream. Without a choice, I might add.”
She stopped walking and whooshed out a breath, looking at her feet. “I know how upsetting this is and—”
“What is upsetting is that you seem to be saying my fate is sealed because there is no event, and I was born to murder, torture, and destroy everything good in the world. That is not the future I imagined for myself.”
“I’m not saying that at all. I don’t actually know if my choices, or yours, have changed anything. I don’t have my gifts anymore, and the only ones who could help are the Seers. They can’t be trusted.”
“What about the Bastuli?”
“They’re enemies of the Seers. They won’t help you, Draco.”
“Because I have your blood, and I am a Seer.” Which I already knew. “So why don’t I have your gifts?” From what the black binder said, Seers had a variety of powers ranging from seeing multiple versions of the future to gazing into a person’s soul—who they were meant to become, their destiny.
“Draco…” Her voice was filled with warning.
“You are afraid if I figure out how to use my Seer abilities, it will only bring me closer to becoming the evil, murderous bastard I was born to be.”
She hesitated and then nodded. “More power is the last thing you need.”
“Fuck.” I turned away for a moment, attempting to rein in my rage, but it was no use. Perhaps I wasn’t really here just for answers. “So you all decided who I was meant to be, and then systematically ensured I became that monster, instead of arming me to fight the sons of bitches who want me to lead them.
“Did you or anyone else, for one fucking moment, think? Maybe if you had been there to guide me, all this would have been avoided.” I pointed a finger at her. “You have created the angry, bitter man on the edge of control. You have made my future. Not me.” I exhaled sharply, noting Ansin and Piper walking toward us. “I need time to think, but when I return, Jeni, you will help me find a way out of this. You owe me that.”
I marched away, needing to calm down and consider my next steps. It had just become apparent that everyone who had acted “on behalf of society” had never once given a shit about the man they’d locked up. They had written me off and set me on this path at birth. It was why Ten Club had been expecting me. So far, it was all going as planned, and I had no doubt that the Seers would come knocking soon to make their sales pitch.
I’m fucked. I never had a chance.
“Draco!” Piper yelled, following behind me. “What happened?”
“All they had to do was keep me, Piper. That was it.”
Piper
I waited until we arrived at our hotel suite before I asked Draco anything else. On the outside, he looked calm and collected, but there was a coldness to his voice, and he refused to look me in the eyes. Whatever his mother said had left a deep mark. He was hurting.
I went to the phone on my nightstand and ordered a rare steak, salad, and bottle of scotch for Draco. A burger and wine for myself. Until the food arrived, it was better to leave him alone on his balcony, staring out at the waves.
Thirty minutes later, a young man rolled our food into the suite, and I sent him on his way quickly. Draco was in a mood that had been brewing since he woke up six months ago.
I opened the sliding glass door and stepped outside with his plate in my hand. “Hey, I thought you might feel better with a full stomach.” I set the food on the small table next to him and returned with a glass of scotch.