Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 94834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Zade doesn’t respond, and I let out a huff, getting up and hurrying to the door before making a point of glancing through the peephole. Recognizing the bellboy, I open the door and reach for the tray in his hands. “Miss Quinn,” he says with a polite nod.
I glance up and meet his eyes, more than prepared to return a friendly smile, only this time there’s a tightness in the set of his jaw and his gaze is filled with nervousness. Anxiety wafts off him like a bad smell, and I hold his stare a little longer, both our hands gripping the tray. “Everything okay?” I ask.
He forces his smile to become more genuine. “Oh yes,” he says. “Everything is wonderful. Enjoy the rest of your day.”
My brows furrow and I watch as he quickly scurries away, something he usually never does. Most of the time I struggle to get him out of the penthouse, especially when Zade is around. He always wants to talk, constantly searching for Zade’s approval, but today is different.
Not wanting to get caught out in the open for too long, I pull the door closed and head back to the dining table, setting the tray down. I reach in, grab my Diet Coke, and quickly take a sip before opening the lid off my lunch. My back stiffens as I gape down at the black Empire envelope that stares back at me, the glossy E shining against the black paper.
Nervousness rattles me, and I pick up the envelope, flipping it over to check if there’s anything on the back. It’s bare, but I hold it up anyway. “Hey, check this out,” I say, realizing exactly what the bellboy was nervous about.
Getting no response from Zade, I peek over my shoulder at him only to find he’s not actually there. Feeling like an idiot for talking to myself, I glance over the envelope again, wishing just the sight of it didn’t make me feel sick.
Needing to know what's inside, I flip it over and break the seal. I find a calling card, exactly the same as the one I first found in my apartment, and let it fall to the table before fishing out a note.
It’s folded in half and I quickly open it to find black smudged ink scrawled across the paper.
One cannot flourish in the power of Empire without first giving his soul.
A sacrifice to be made, an innocent life to be lost.
In sixty suns and sixty moons, he shall sacrifice an innocent in the hour before dawn.
Her still beating heart carved from her body, he shall offer it to the sacred fortress.
For this is his offering to his Empire. This is his sacred ritual to bind him in blood.
What the fuck is this?
My heart races as I scan over the note. A second, third time. Fourth, and then a fifth.
This couldn’t be what Zade needs me for. This couldn’t be the ritual he’s been talking about because that could only mean that he’s been keeping me alive, protecting me from these cruel, vicious attacks, just so that he can be the one to carve my beating heart right out of my chest.
Sixty suns. Sixty moons. How long has it been since he murdered his own father?
In the dungeon, Nikolai said that Zade cannot rise to power without completing his ritual. I’m his golden ticket to secure everything he’s ever wanted, and all I have to give is my life.
They’ve been lying to me this whole time, drawing me in and forming these connections, making me want to trust them. And I fell right into their trap, yet again.
Fool me once and that’s on them, but fool me twice . . . well shit. I won’t allow it to happen. I won’t sit back and allow myself to become sliced and diced for someone else’s twisted games. My life is not a bargaining tool. It’s not there to be used at someone else’s will.
I have two choices. One, I can disappear. All I need to do is make it past the night of the sixtieth moon and ensure Zade cannot complete his ritual. My life will be saved, and Zade will forfeit his claim to leadership. Then I can bitch out, run as far as I can until they eventually catch up to me. Or two, I can be the daughter my father raised me to be and take what’s rightfully mine.
I am the rightful heir, and the power of Empire is right there, waiting for me to take it.
My father lost his life for this, and now that I finally have some answers, I can make this right. And when I do, Zade DeVil better watch his fucking back.
With my decision made, I glance around Zade’s penthouse, making sure the coast is clear, and without a second thought, I slip the note and calling card into the back pocket of my jeans and walk straight out the front door.