215
We settled into a large suite with two bedrooms on the top floor of the Palace. Milo stayed with us since he could better keep an eye and ear out for any rumours circling the Palace. Maya took a shower and Milo pushed his luck, going in to join her.
I took that time to head down to speak with Abby, leaving them to get better acquainted and from what I heard from the bathroom, they were getting carnally acquainted. I wasn’t jealous of Milo having sex with Maya because I didn’t want to cheat on Luciana, no matter what you labelled our relationship.
I stopped in front of Abby’s suite and knocked on her door. “Come in.”
I opened the door and walked into her sitting room where a can of soda stood on the table and she scrambled for the remote but I saw what was on the television in any way. “Who’s that?”
Abby seemed flustered for a second and then she sighed and put the remote down. I looked at the baby filling the screen and thinking the baby was beautiful. It surprised me and even Echo pushed forward and my eyes changed to yellow.
“His name is Hunter.” Abby had been reluctant to tell me and I had to wonder why.
“Who’s baby is he?” My voice took a serious tone as I looked at Abby.
“Ally gave birth two days ago. He’s a bit premature. Mom and Dad are with her in Greece.”
“Did you know she was pregnant?” I studied Abby’s face for any deceit but found none.
“No, she called me last week and told us together. She didn’t call you?”
“No she didn’t.” I sat down on the sofa but my mind was working overtime.
“What happened between you two, she said she hasn’t spoken to you in months.”
“She rejected the bond that formed and I accepted her rejection.”
“Shit Wynter, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine. Now tell me what I’ve missed here.” I didn’t want to think of Ally with some other guy and the fact that she’d just had his baby.
“Dorin’s back in the Palace. He arrived last week. He’s climbed through my window twice now and it’s hard to resist his charms. I’m so afraid Nicu will catch him or smell his scent in here. You have to talk to him, Wynter.”
“I’ll smack his brain right on track!”
“He can’t help it, the bond pushes us closer together.”
“How’s Nicu treating you?” I looked intently at her as she lowered her gaze and when she looked up at me again I could see how unhappy she was.
“He’s an asshole, Wynter. He treats me like I’m his property. He hasn’t hurt me physically but I think the moment that wedding is over he will.”
“It won’t come to that. He won’t ever lay a finger on you. It’s a few more weeks until you’re eighteen and the King won’t allow him to harm you in any way until then.”
“I know. I just wished you weren’t so far away from me.” She wiped a stray tear from her cheek and I moved in closer to hold her against me.
“I can ask Milo to stay with you.” I didn’t want to but for her I’d do anything and then some.
“Will you?” I nodded my head and she visibly relaxed against me. Milo wouldn’t let anything happen to her either and the only other person she’d be safer with was me.
We spoke for another hour and I promised her that I’d find Dorin and knock some sense into his head. I walked out of her suite to the library with the secret tunnel that led outside, not with finding Dorin as my purpose. I needed privacy.
Her phone rang about five times before her voice filtered through the line and I felt a pang of regret at accepting her rejection. “Hello.”
“It’s me.”
“Hi.” Her voice sounded more grown up and it surprised me.
“Is he mine?”
“What?”
“Hunter, is he mine?” I could feel my frustration rising and I wanted to punch something so bad that it hurt inside.
“Wynter …”
“Damnit Ally, is he mine?”
“No, he’s not yours.”
“Are you sure?” I wasn’t sure, the timeline fit and Abby had said he was premature but she didn’t say how premature.
“I had my period a week after you left Hartwell. I came to Greece a week later and met a guy. We fell in love and we’ve been together all this time.”
“And Dad hasn’t killed him for knocking you up yet?”
Ally laughed then and it was hard to admit how much I’d missed hearing her laugh. “I only told them two weeks ago. Dad only fumed the first day he was here but the moment he held Hunter in his arms he was a goner.”
“Are you happy?”
“I am happy, Wynter, are you?”
“I am.” It was the truth too because speaking to Ally now brought up past feelings and memories but Luciana held my future in her hands and she made me happy.
Our call ended soon after that and I made a vow to myself that this Greek man had better make her happy every single day or I’d break him and then kill him. Echo laughed viciously in my head and his thirst for blood spurred mine on.
Dinner was a formal affair and I’d gotten used to how relaxed things were in Mintia. I despised all the fuss and formal titles whereas the King flourished being fawned over. He repulsed me even more now than he had four months ago when I had met him the first time.
“Maya tells me that things are going well in Mintia.” The King looked pointedly at me.
“Yes, my King. It was a rough start but things are progressing very smoothly.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Nicu hadn’t joined us for dinner and when I asked Abby in a whisper she told me that he had gone out with friends, like he normally did on a Friday night. I nodded my head but didn’t like that he left Abby alone in the Palace to fend for herself.
Maya sat on the bed as I walked out of the shower in sweats and a t-shirt. She looked like she had something on her mind. I sat down next to her and she shifted into a more comfortable position and then looked at me.
“Do you love her?”
“Who?” Her question had taken me by surprise because I had no idea that she knew about Luciana.
“The one you spend your nights with. You smell like her in the evenings.”
“Maya …”
“I’m not mad, Wynter. I get now how you and Milo can share. You were right when you said we didn’t love each other. I don’t love you, Wynter, I like you yes like I like Milo. This baby brought us together and forced us into a marriage.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying I don’t mind if you love her but I am sorry you’re stuck with me. We could make the best of it you know. You with her and me with Milo.”
“You with Milo?”
“It’s only fair if you get to sleep with her then I get to sleep with him.”
“Will it make you happy, Maya?”
“I’ll never have you, Wynter, not like she has you but I can have Milo. He seems to genuinely like me.” She let out a breath and her heart started beating faster.
“Yes, I love her.”
“Good, I’ll be sleeping in Milo’s room until we go back to Mintia.”
She left the room then and I sat there dumbstruck. I couldn’t believe the conversation I had just had with my wife, giving me permission to love Luciana. I felt for poor Milo, she was going to run him ragged.
I headed downstairs to Abby’s suite. I had planned to sleep on her couch and wait for Dorin because I hadn’t been able to find him. He’d have a hell of a time explaining his presence in her room to me and I planned on making it interesting.
I heard a scuffle in her room and opened her door not expecting to see the utter destruction of her room. There was a man on top of her on the bed, his hand on her throat as she kicked and clawed at him with her hands.
His one hand had pulled her dress up and his hand was fumbling between her legs. I stood as if frozen in time and the sound of his zipper tore through my daze. I ran forward and stumbled over something on the floor and landed haphazardly on top of them.
Abigail’s eyes were wide with fear and her lips were turning blue. I grabbed the man and tore him off of her. Abigail coughed as she inhaled and we landed on the floor in the darkness. His fist came flying through the dark at my head and it crunched into my nose.
I rolled out of the way as his fist landed on the wooden floor exactly where my head had been. I tackled him from a kneeling position and I heard his grunt as he went down hard. My hand morphed into a claw and I swiped down at his neck.
I could only see red and I had no idea who was in front of me only that he had been trying to assault my sister. My hand tore through his throat and blood splattered onto my face. Abigail had her hand over her mouth and I smelled the blood.
I was breathing hard now, alert to anything else in the room that could attack her. How the hell had this person gotten this far into the palace? If I hadn’t decided to spend the night on her couch she would’ve been dead.
The thought that someone had wanted to hurt her enraged me and I could feel Echo’s fury deep inside me. I tensed as Abigail’s hand touched my shoulder and I saw her mouth moving. I was still in some sort of daze.
“Wynter! Wynter!”
“Are you okay?” I stood up from the body beneath me and looked at Abigail.
Her throat was red but that would fade in no time. She had no other marks on her and I pulled her into a hug, my heart beating furiously. I could feel Echo calm down slightly knowing she hadn’t been hurt too badly.
“Did he …?”
Abigail shook her head. “No. He didn’t get that far.”
I breathed in a breath of relief and hugged her again. My hands were on her head and I think I just needed to convince myself that she really was okay. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to her and neither would Ryder.
“They’re both dead.” Tears streaked her face and I only then realized that someone else was there too. I smelled his blood and turned towards the wall and switched the lights on.
“Shit. Call Milo.”
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