Free Web NovelChapter 174: Torn Contract
The fire crackled low in the grate when Kira knelt before it, the photographs and the note clutched in her hand.
She did not let herself look at them again. She had seen quite enough. One by one she fed them into the flames, The paper curled and blackened and caught, the edges glowing orange before crumbling to ash.
She watched until there was nothing left but flakes of grey, and only then did she let out a long breath.
It changed nothing, of course. Brian had the originals. But there was something steadying about watching even copies of her secret turn to nothing in the fire.
She rose, brushed off her hands, and went to find Jessica.
Pushing the door open gently, she was relieved to find only Jessica inside, seated beside the bed where Kai lay resting, and finally, mercifully, breathing on his own.
Jessica looked up, her face brightening at the sight of her friend.
"Kira! Come in," Jessica whispered, though her voice carried a note of barely contained joy.
Kira crossed the room and sank onto the small couch with a quiet sigh. "How is he?"
"He’s awake, K. He woke up. He talked to me, the absolute menace, first thing he did was make a joke about marrying me."
She pressed a hand to her chest, beaming. "He’s asleep now, the healing kind. Dr Lorenzo says he’s well out of danger."
"Oh, thank the goddess." Kira’s shoulders dropped. "I’ve been so frightened for him." ƒгeewebnovёl.com
"So have I." Jessica glanced at Kai’s sleeping face, her expression going soft. "I’ve never been that scared in my whole life."
Kira tilted her head, a small smile tugging at her lips. "So. You finally admitted it, then. The mate thing."
Jessica’s cheeks flushed pink. "I did," she mumbled. "Like a fool, while he was unconscious, pouring my heart out, and the whole time the wretch was probably awake and listening."
Kira laughed, the first real laugh she had managed all day. "He’ll hold that over you forever, you know that."
"Oh, I know." Jessica groaned and dropped her face into her hands. "Forever. Till we’re old and grey."
She lifted her head and looked at Kira. "And don’t think I’ve forgotten about you, Your Royal Highness. You now have an actual crown. On your actual head."
Kira grinned and gave a mock-regal little wave of her hand. "You may bow now, peasant."
"I will not." Jessica threw a cushion at her, which Kira caught neatly. "You’re insufferable already. One day with a crown and you’ve changed completely. Power’s gone straight to your head."
"It’s a very heavy crown," Kira said primly. "It’s pressing the humility right out of me."
The two of them dissolved into giggles, hands over their mouths so as not to wake Kai, and for a few minutes it was almost like the old days. Two girls laughing over nothing, before kings and marriages and falling for their supposed enemies had crept into both their lives.
But Jessica, who had known Kira longer than anyone, caught the shadow lingering behind her friend’s smile.
"K." Jessica’s voice gentled. "What’s the matter? And don’t tell me nothing. You’ve got that face on. The one you make when you’re carrying something and won’t put it down."
Kira hesitated, her mind flashing to Brian’s words, and the photographs now reduced to ash. She thought about telling Jessica everything—the blackmail, the threats, the danger swirling around them both.
But her friend looked so happy, so hopeful with Kai finally awake. Ruining that with her own mess felt cruel.
"I’m just exhausted, Jess," she said instead, and softened it with a tired smile that was at least half true. "It’s been a long day of smiling at people who probably still half-hate me."
Jessica studied her for a moment, not entirely convinced, but she let it go.
"Anyway," Kira went on, steering firmly away from it, "I won’t be around from tomorrow. I’m off to my very first Queen’s Conference at Aethelwulf Centralis.
"Apparently I’ll be meeting all the leading women of the realm, and learning a great deal more about how one actually runs a kingdom without accidentally starting three wars before lunch."
"Look at you." Jessica’s face lit up with pride. "Off to mingle with the powerful women of the West. Just promise me you’ll be careful, yeah? All this queen business comes with enemies."
Kira nodded, her voice warm but firm. "I will. And you—stay near Kai if you must remain in the palace. Don’t wander out alone, alright? Things are... tense right now."
Jessica rolled her eyes dramatically but grinned. "Yes, mummy," she drawled in perfect imitation of a scolded child. "I’ll stick to my mate like glue. Now go and rest for your big queen day tomorrow. You look like you could sleep for a week."
Kira nodded and pushed herself up from the couch. She crossed to the door, then paused, hand on the frame, and looked back.
Jessica had already turned away from her, leaning over the bed, gently tucking the blanket up around Kai’s shoulders with a tenderness that made Kira’s chest ache.
I’m so sorry, Jess, she thought heavily. I dragged you into this mess without meaning to. I promise I’ll find a way to fix it. I won’t let Brian or anyone else touch you.
She slipped quietly out and pulled the door shut behind her.
***
The bedroom was dark when Kira stepped inside.
She closed the door and leaned back against it, letting her eyes fall shut, dragging in a slow, deep breath.
She had been holding herself together for hours, and now, finally alone, she let her shoulders sag.
Brian’s voice kept circling in her head. She wondered if Derek would believe her if she came clean to him.
She had committed a serious offense by drugging the royal gammas. The situation itself was implicating, and Jessica no longer had a pack’s backing.
She pressed a hand to her chest, willing her racing heart to slow.
"You said you were exhausted," came a deep voice out of the darkness. "That you were going straight to bed."
Kira gasped and jolted hard against the door, her hand flying out to slap at the wall until it found the switch.
Light flooded the room.
Derek was lounging on the couch, one arm draped across the back of it, watching her with an expression that was so cold, she felt it prickle her skin.
He was still in his ceremonial attire.
"What on earth are you doing sitting in the dark?" Kira demanded, one hand still pressed to her thundering heart.
"That’s beside the point." Derek rose to his feet, slow and unhurried, and the quiet menace in the movement made her go still. "Where are you coming from?"
Kira’s brows drew together. "I’m sorry, does becoming queen mean I now need a permission slip to walk about the Palace now?"
"That isn’t an answer to my question."
"I can’t even do this tonight." Her temper flared, hot and fast. "Leave me the hell alone, Derek."
He bent and picked up a document from the coffee table, then walked toward her slowly, the paper held loosely in one hand.
Kira’s eyes flicked down to it, confusion knitting her brow. What was that? What was he doing?
"You want to be left alone? I plan to," Derek said, his voice dangerously even. "So you can go and be with the men who are your type."
He lifted the document, and Kira’s eyes widened as she recognised it.
The marriage contract.
To her complete astonishment, Derek took the top edge in both hands and began to tear it.
"I imagine this flimsy little scrap of paper has been the thing holding you back all this time," he said.
Kira stared, lost. "What are you doing?" she asked softly. "You’re the one who said I’m not your type of woman."
"And you have sworn never to give me your loyalty," Derek bit back, his amber eyes flashing.
"All you ever had to do was ask, Kira. I’d have handed you your freedom long ago and saved us both the trouble."
He let the torn halves fall, the pieces fluttering down to scatter across the floor between them.
"What is this about?" she asked.
"You didn’t have to go sneaking around behind my back with Brian." His eyes burned into hers. "Tell me. Does he treat you better than I do?"
Kira’s hand flew up and cracked across his cheek before she even knew she had moved.
Derek’s head snapped to the side.
"How dare you?" she hissed, shaking with fury, tears springing hot to her eyes. "How dare you stand there and accuse me of something like that?"
Derek moved in a blur.
He shoved her back against the door, his forearm coming up to press across the base of her throat, pinning her in place.
His eyes glowed faintly amber, his whole body taut with a rage he was barely holding leashed.
Kira did not look away. She met his furious glare head-on, her eyes glassy and bright, her chest rising and falling rapidly with a storm of anger, hurt, and something far more complicated.
"Then tell me," Derek said, his voice low and ragged and scraped raw.
"Tell me why you can’t wait for this contract to be over. Why you’re so desperate to be free of this marriage. Why the fuck you can’t just be loyal to me."
