Cruel War (The Gilded Sovereign 1)

The voices come to me in a whir, everything’s blurry, and even though I try to focus, I can’t.

“We have to get him to the hospital.”

“There’s a slow heartbeat.”

“We don’t know if he’s going to make it.”

“I don’t think he’s breathing.”

My heart thuds as it attacks my ribcage like it’s fighting its way out of my chest.

“Abner, you’re not leaving here with her.” This comes from Billy, the man who owns the house. There’s a standoff between them, as I watch Tarian and Etienne take Ares away. He’s barely moving, and the agony that lances my chest is so acute, I struggle to pull in air.

My lungs don’t work. They’re fighting against what I already know. The bullet is in his chest; it’s lodged in his heart, I’m sure of it. And somehow, I feel the pain in my own heart as well.

The smell of blood fills the room. Tariana and Etienne move swiftly around me, but nobody’s shocked at the events of tonight. I suppose all the guests know about the Sovereign. They all know about the evil secret society that my father was a part of.

“You can’t tell me what I will or won’t do. When you stepped down, you made your choice,” Abner tells Billy in a low, gravelly tone that instills fear in me right to my core. Then, those familiar eyes are on me again. “Take her to the car,” he informs the man holding me.

“No! I want to see Ares!” My voice is a high-pitched squeal. “Let me go!”

My voice cracks when I’m dragged out of the living room with eyes pinned on me from everyone standing around as if this is normal. This isn’t a normal fucking life. None of this is okay. How can everyone just stand by and watch? My body is slung into the backseat of a blacked-out SUV, and the moment I’m left alone, my attempt at opening the door is thwarted by the lock clicking in place.

I watch in horror as Etienne’s car speeds down the drive, and I’m left alone. There’s nothing I can do from the backseat of the car, I’m locked in. I don’t have my phone or my purse.

My vision is blurry, and I can’t stop sobbing when I’m joined by Abner and the bodyguard who locked me in, in the first place.

“Please, let me see Ares?” I plead, hoping that there’s a shred of humanity in the man who’s sitting in the passenger seat.

He flips the visor down, glancing at me in the mirror. “Do you really think my son would choose you over something he’s wanted his whole life?”

Rage surges inside me, my blood burns in agony, and my frayed nerves are at the end of their tether. “He already has,” I bite out. “Don’t you see it? He chose me in there.”

“He wasn’t thinking clearly. I’ll make sure that when he wakes up, he’ll have his priorities straight.” Abner’s voice is cold, filled with power and violence. “Tell me, Dahlia,” he says, “if I made you choose between your father and Ares. Who would be the man you’d choose to save?”

My heart catapults into my throat, and I can’t swallow past the lump of emotion that’s threatening to choke me. More tears spill free from my eyes when we pull up to the Lancaster house.

“Where is he? Where’s my dad?” Inching closer to the front seat, I grip the headrest in an attempt to stop myself from clawing at the bastard’s face. I want to make him pay. I want to punish him just as much as he’s done to everyone around him.

The car comes to a stop in a garage that doesn’t provide much light, and I wonder if we’re under part of the house. The space has an eerie feeling, which causes my stomach to churn with anxiety and fear.

“Your father is a guest of mine,” Abner tells me, before shoving open the door and exiting the vehicle. Moments later, I’m dragged from the seat, and a piece of silver masking tape is slapped over my mouth. My hands are bound behind me, and I’m being lifted over the shoulder of the bodyguard whose name I still don’t know.

My breaths come in short spurts. I’m trembling from head to toe, praying for Ares to live, praying for my father to be alive, and begging that I’ll make it out of this with the men I care for, the men I love.

I’m deposited on a couch that overlooks the garden. There’s nowhere to run, no way to get off the property without the security team finding out. A young man stalks into the living room, his eyes are the deepest green I’ve ever seen. His hair is dark, like Ares’, and his expression is filled with thunder.

“Kidnapping?” He questions Abner. “This wasn’t part of our agreement.”