Ruthless Empire (Royal Elite 6)

A wound that burns and makes me cry every night.

So today, I decide to close that wound myself.

I go to him.

To the house he moved back into.

The house of ghosts and dolls and blood pools.

Coming back here is the last thing I want to do, but I also didn’t sign up to be separated from Cole.

After putting in the code, I walk in slowly, watching my surroundings as if someone will jump me and jam a needle into my neck.

I stop when I make out his tense back. He appears melancholic, his shoulders drooping underneath his jacket. He’s standing in front of the pool, only, it’s empty now. No blood water or any water.

Several boxes are stacked above each other outside.

Is he moving out? Where to?

I tried asking Aiden how Cole was doing, but that bastard wouldn’t

give out any information and I’m too exhausted to plot anything to force him.

“Are you going somewhere?” I stop beside him.

Cole’s gaze snaps to me. His dark green irises appear bottomless, hollow, almost as if they’ve already moved someplace else. “What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here.”

“Then why are you standing here?”

He stares back at the empty pool. “Go home, Silver.”

I barge in front of him, wrap my arms around his waist, and rest my head against his chest, breathing in his scent.

“What are you doing?” he asks without hugging me back.

“You told me to go home. You’re my home, Cole.”

He shoves me away, shaking my shoulders. “I’m not your home. I’m the son of the woman who almost fucking killed you.”

“You’re not her.”

“Maybe I am. I’ve lived my entire life thinking I inherited the fucked-up genes from my father, but it turns out, they were from her. Maybe I’ll grow up to be her.”

“You won’t.”

“How would you know that?”

“Because you shared my loss. You called it our loss, Cole, remember? You told me my pain is yours. You’ll never be her, because you care. In your own way, you care.”

He breathes harshly as if he’s still fighting that notion. That reality.

The fact he’s not his parents. He never will be. I know that for a fact.

“And I’m your chaos.” I smile through the tears pricking my eyes. “So you can’t leave me alone or I’ll haunt you.”

“You’ll haunt me?” he asks with a little smile.

“Yes, I will. You know why?”