Steel Princess (Royal Elite 2)

A hand pulls me by the arm, hauling me out of the water. My lips curl into a smile.

He’s here for me.

He’ll always be here for me.

My limbs and my lungs fail me. I can’t even open my mouth and breathe.

I can’t do anything except for closing my eyes and drifting.

* * *

Present,

My eyes crack open, and the smell of antiseptic assaults my nostrils.

For what seems like forever, I stare at the white ceiling, letting the smell of antiseptic seep all around and inside me.

This must be a hospital.

Why am I in a hospital?

I’m too disoriented to recall what happened before I was admitted here.

Something about —

Could this be…?

I slap a hand over my chest, but I find no bandage.

Okay, so this isn’t about the heart surgery.

I probe my brain for answers, but it feels dizzy. Everything is like a giant black puzzle with no pieces to put together.

“Oh, hon. You’re awake.” Aunt’s brittle voice reaches me from the doorway before she appears by my bed.

Her red hair is held in a bun and she’s wearing a black trousers-suit. The paleness of her face is more alarming than usual.

“Aunt…” I trail off at the grogginess in my voice and clear my throat. “What happened?”

I try to sit up, and Aunt helps me by adjusting the hospital bed and putting a pillow behind my back. I stare at the needle lodged in my veins and a deep-seated itch starts underneath my skin.

I rip my gaze from it to focus on Aunt.

She sits on the edge of the bed, a frown etching between her brows. “You don’t remember?”

“I was going to the car park and then —”

Her parents killed his mother. The only reason Aiden approached that monster is to make her pay for her parents’ sin.

I blink a few times at the onslaught of Jonathan King’s words.

It’s a dream.

It can’t be true.

The more I deny it, the harder the memories hit me. They’re like the crashing water that swallowed me and suffocated my breathing.

I gasp for breath.