“Should I be surprised you knew I would come here?” I ask, walking toward the traitor. He just grins: a ruthless smile.
“Of course not. I know you better than you know yourself, Edward.”
“That’s King Edward to you.”
“Not anymore,” Wyatt shakes his head. He motions to himself, to his body. “I believe the position of king has been taken by another, my friend.”
“You won’t be up there for long,” I tell him.
“I believe you don’t understand how power works, Edward,” Wyatt says. He stands and steps down from the throne. He takes a few steps toward me, sneering. I’m well aware of the fact that every demon in the room has tensed. They’re all paying careful attention. Now is not the time for me to try to be smart or vicious or to attack Edward. Were I to be stupid enough to do so, he would have my head in an instant.
I want my kingdom back.
I don’t want to die.
“And I believe you don’t understand how loyalty works,” I retort.
“Loyalty? You want to talk about loyalty?” Wyatt sneers, irritated. Yeah, I’d say I hit a sore spot right there. He doesn’t understand the first thing about loyalty, but I’d bet he somehow feels wronged or betrayed right now. He probably thinks that somehow, everything that’s happened is not his fault at all.
I raise an eyebrow, but say nothing. Wyatt is about to start ranting, and I’m fine with that. It gives me a chance to check my surroundings. Rose isn’t visible to me right now. When we entered the room, she spun her amulet. I can sense her presence, but I’m not sure where
she is. Maybe she’s trying to sneak up on Wyatt. I don’t know. I just hope that whatever she’s doing doesn’t get her killed.
Now that I have her, I don’t think I could possibly live without her ever again. I’ve already lost one love. The idea that I might find another woman to share my life with seems impossible. Whether it’s Rose’s cleverness, craftiness, or the unbreakable mating bond we now share, all I know is that without her, life will be empty and unkind.
Life will be cruel.
“Loyalty is when you don’t start dating the woman your friend loves,” Wyatt says.
Cheryl.
He’s talking about Cheryl.
“You didn’t have to kill our son,” I say, because now that I know the truth about what he did, I can’t un-know it. Wyatt stole so much from me. He took our little boy. He took my wife. He took our family. Everything Cheryl and I ever wanted, everything we could have had: it’s gone. It’s all gone because of him.
As much as I want to move forward and think about the positive things in my life, like my bright future with Rose, I’m also forced to wrestle with the fact that a fairy stole my darling bride.
He stole my child. He stole the crown prince. He stole the child that was supposed to rule the kingdom after I die.
And now Wyatt has done more than that.
He’s taken everything.
It may have taken him years, but slowly, bit-by-bit, he has made it his mission to destroy me.
And he’s done a wonderful job of it.
I don’t like admitting that he’s conquered the kingdom. I don’t like knowing that he’s destroyed everything, but I especially don’t like the knowledge that this is all because of a childhood crush.
“She didn’t love you,” I say.
“You knew I liked her,” Wyatt says. He looks like a petulant child about to stomp his foot.
“This isn’t the schoolyard,” I hiss. “This is a kingdom, Wyatt. This is everything.”
“This is your life,” he says. Wyatt nears me.
Closer.