I walk back to the car and climb inside. “Tell the others to wait here.”
Jeremiah gives me a look like I’ve lost my damn mind. Maybe I have. He finally says, “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“No. But it’s the only option we have.”
Several long minutes later, the gates open and Jonah motions us forward. I find myself holding my breath, but I can’t stop. I dread whatever we’ll find in the massive sprawling house. I should have protected Jasmine. My failure put her in this position, and there isn’t a damn thing I can do to earn her forgiveness. I have to make my peace with that, with the knowledge that I’ll mow down anyone who lays a hand on her. At least then I’ll know she’s safe.
Even if she’s no longer mine.
My chest feels too tight as we stop near the front door and head inside. With only Jeremiah as backup, I should be more concerned with my own skin. He’s good, but no one is that good. I’m not. My world has boiled itself down to the necessities. Two words.
Find. Jasmine.
It turns out I don’t have to look hard. She’s coming down the staircase, her hair pulled back into a braid, a bruise blossoming across the right side of her face. Her dress is the color of life’s blood, a red so dark it’s almost black, and it flares around her with every step. A glint of metal in her hand forms into the same blade she threatened me with the first night.
This is not a victim rushing to meet her savior.
This is a queen considering whether or not to treat with an enemy.
She stops halfway down the steps, and though I’m conscious of men filtering into the room around us, I can’t take my eyes off her. “Ba—Jasmine.”
“Jafar.” Even her voice sounds stronger, fiercer. As if she’s found her footing and she no longer needs my assistance to stand tall. She studies me for a long moment. “Ali tried to take something I wasn’t willing to give, and he’s dead because of it.”
Ali is dead.
I don’t have to read between the lines to know that my baby girl killed him, likely with that knife she’s clinging so tightly to. Fuck, but I would have saved her from that if I could. Even though I try to moderate my tone, my next words come out low and ragged. “I’m sorry.”
She lifts the knife to examine, the blade glinting in the light. “I’ve decided that I’m done being a pawn. My father may not have considered me his heir, but I am his heir in truth. His men—my men—have accepted that. The only question remains is whether you will bend the knee and come back into the fold, or if it’s exile.”
Exile.
She’s not bluffing. If I can’t accept her as queen, if I try to force her back into the box she’s lived in for her whole life, then she’ll drive me out. It might break her heart to do it, but she loves her freedom more than she cares about me.
I don’t fault her for it.
How can I?
No, pledging myself to another ruler was never part of my plan. If someone asked me yesterday if I’d consider it, I would have laughed them out of the room. But this isn’t just another ruler. This is Jasmine. If I cling to my pride, I will lose her, and my instincts say I won’t get another chance. This isn’t something I can override with lust and dominance to get her to bend to my will. She’s drawn a line in the sand and I can step to it or I can get the fuck out.
In the end, it’s no choice at all. Not when I can still taste the fear and desperation at the back of my throat. The certainty that I’d lost her forever. What is a kingdom without a queen? I always intended for her to be by my side. It may not have looked like this, but does it matter? I’ll have the territory, and I’ll have Jasmine, too.
Not as a submissive.
As a full partner.
Slowly, so slowly, I go to one knee at the bottom of the stairs. “My queen.” I can feel Jeremiah behind me following my motion, repeating my words.
Jasmine nods slowly. “Good.” She shifts her gaze to Jeremiah. “Inform the rest of his men. Jafar, with me.” She turns and starts back up the stairs.
I follow, matching her pace and maintaining the distance between us. Unexpected pride warms me, pulling at the edges of my lips. Damn, but she never ceases to surprise me. In all the scenarios I tortured myself with on the trip from the city to this place, I never once considered that she would turn the tables on Ali, that she would step into a leadership role and claim it as her rightful place as heir. More the fool I am. Ali underestimated her, but I have, too. Something I suspect I’ll be making up to her for a long time.