Unlikely Queen (Crystal Castle 1)

“Have you slept?” She shakes her head. “Sleep, even if just for an hour.” Her eyes fall to the bed. “I’ll go and see what I can do about Patrick.”

“I don’t trust him,” Tatiana whispers.

“And you shouldn’t. Now, sleep. I’ll wait for you to fall asleep before I go in search of Patrick.”

She climbs onto the bed and turns to face me as she lies down. “I was so worried I had lost you.”

“I’m here.”

“I kind of went mad. I didn’t listen to anything. Anyone who came near me, I had to get past to find you.” I sit on the bed opposite her and touch her arm.

“Sleep. I’m fine. You are fine. Tanya is fine, too. We will all be together soon.”

She closes her eyes and soon a soft snore follows. I wait a few minutes before I get up and leave the room, shutting the door behind me. As soon as I step out, Cinitta is there. Her eyes are red from all the tears she must have shed. My body goes into survival mode. But she makes no move to attack me, instead she looks deflated. Defeated. Broken.

“He wants to see you.”

Do I ask her if she is okay?

Tell her that I’m sorry about what happened?

As I try to think of the right words, she heads off down the hall.

“Cinitta.” She ignores me until we arrive in the same room where the party was held last night. I step up and go to touch her, but she pulls away and hisses at me. “I’m sorry.”

“Come on in, Talia, we have much to discuss.”

We don’t.

I only have two things on my mind.

Give me the spell or potion to get through the witch’s barrier.

And give me Patrick.

Viper cackles, obviously reading my thoughts as I step in. I briefly look back to Cinitta and I am filled with sorrow.

“Nothing you can do will comfort her. Unless you want to forfeit your life, that is.”

Cinitta turns and walks off, her body lighting up in flames as she goes.

“She is deciding whether it’s worth it to disobey me and kill you. You see… she likes you, but she loved her sister,” Viper says from his seat at the head of a large table.

The room has changed since last night. In it now sits a massive dining table, big enough to fit more than ten grown men, but only he sits at it, right at the end in his damn throne.

He waves his hand to the food and smirks, knowing full well I’m hungry. “I see you have healed nicely.”

“No thanks to you,” I bite back.

“Hmmm...” His white eyes close for a brief second before they open. “It seems you still have no respect. Even after everything I have done.”

“You haven’t done any of the things I have asked you to do…” I pause. “You know why I am here, right?”

His elbows lean on the table, and his hands form together. “Right.”

I shrug. “And have you supplied the thing I need?”

“The spell,” he says, smiling. “You think I will just hand over the spell that will let you walk straight through her barrier, tearing it down? What if I told you a false one and sent you on your way? How would you know if it was true, that I didn’t send you to sign your own death warrant?”

“Are you that type of man? One who lies and doesn’t follow through on his word?”

He smiles, his brilliant white teeth showing. “I could be, if it serves me right.”

And I believe him.

“But lucky for you, I do not wish to see you dead… yet. So, no, I will not give you a false one. But…” He smirks, and I know I won’t like what is about to come out of his mouth, so I talk first.

“I’ve killed someone for your amusement, yet you still want more?”

His fingers tap together.

“Maybe you are just like the queen,” I sneer.

“Can you guess what I am?” he asks. “If you guess right, I will let you, your friend, and your sister walk free. If you do not, the wolf is mine. He has so much hurt bundled up inside that it will be awesome to play with him.”

My mouth goes to open, but he shakes his head.

“Think on it. Do you think you can risk getting this wrong?”

“I want to see him,” I demand.

He eyes me and then simply nods his head once.

A door appears behind him.

“You have five minutes and then tell me what you think I am. So, think carefully.” My feet move quickly through the door until I get to what looks like a bare, dark room. “Four minutes and forty seconds,” Viper’s voice rings out behind me. Ignoring him, I step farther into the room and look around. At first, I don’t see anything until I check again. There he is in the corner, naked and scrunched down in a position of fear.