Chapter 32: Rise of a Queen: Chapter 32

Jonathan is here.

The moment my eyes fall on him, a sudden urge to cry hits me out of nowhere.

I didn’t know how much I needed to see him in my final moments until now.

His tall frame nearly blocks the entrance as he breathes harshly, and just like when I was a kid, he looks exactly like a god. Only, I’m not scared of him now. Was I even scared of him back then?

A forgotten memory hits me straight in the chest.

My small hand tugs on Alicia’s full wedding dress. She smiles down at me, her dark eyes nearly closing with the motion. “You don’t have to hide from Jonathan, Claire. He’s family now.”

“Family?”

“Yes.”

“Cuz you’re marrying him?”

She nods.

I pull on her dress some more, which is our secret signal for her to come down to my level.

Alicia is so tall, and I can barely reach her thighs. She says I’ll grow up to be tall like her one day, but that’s obviously not happening.

She crouches and gives me her ear so I can whisper, “When I grow up, can I marry him, too?”

She laughs, the sound making Jonathan stare at us, and I hide behind Alicia again, my cheeks flaming.

My sister ruffles my hair and whispers back, “If I’m not here, you have my permission.”

I’m thrust back to the present with tears hanging on to my lashes. Oh, God. I can’t believe I asked Alicia that. Jonathan is right to call me a wild one.

My gaze follows him as he slowly approaches the scene, his attention set on the knife Tom is holding to my throat.

He might’ve shown up, but it’s too late. Margot and Tom have no care for the consequences of their actions. That’s what happens when you live only for revenge. It becomes your start and your end. Everything else is collateral — their own lives included.

They don’t care if they die at the end of this.

“Let her go.” Jonathan’s voice is clear, hard, and leaves no room for negotiation.

Margot stands in front of him. “This has nothing to do with you, Mr King. Leave and we won’t hurt you.”

Jonathan’s guards follow after him, their tall, broad frames filling the entrance. Some of them have guns, but they’ll make no difference to my fate, considering that Tom’s knife is already slicing through my throat. A hot liquid trails down my neck.

Jonathan’s face turns into granite as his stormy eyes fixate on Tom. “You’re going to die.”

“Not before her.” Tom’s voice is as expressionless as his face. It’s like he lost the ability to feel when he was young.

“Go,” I whisper in a barely audible voice at Jonathan. “Aiden and Levi need you.”

“Shut up, Aurora.”

“I’m lucky I found you again — or you found me. Y-you gave a different meaning to my life and taught me how to rise above myself, and I’m so thankful for that, Jonathan.”

“Stop saying your goodbyes,” he snaps.

“Try to compliment the boys more often. They don’t show it, but they love your approval. Try to forgive Ethan. I know you need his friendship as much as he needs yours. Take care of Layla, and tell her I love her and I’m so lucky to have found her.” My voice breaks at the end as tears fall unchecked down my cheeks. Blood soaks the hem of my jacket and I try to ignore how I’m shaking all over. How tiny shocks of fear wrap like thorny wires around my heart.

No matter how brave my words are, I don’t want to die.

I fought with death for eleven damn years. Why does it get to win now, when I’m so close to beating it?

Jonathan approaches me, his jaw clenching under the stubble. Tom tightens his hold on the knife and Jonathan stops in place, his lips thinning into a line.

“You’re not going to die,” he says with so much conviction, I almost believe him.

I almost think that I’ll come out of this chair and I’ll be able to hold him again. I’ll be able to tell him what I haven’t been able to all this time.

“You’ll watch her die.” Margot levels him with her haughty glare. “Just like Maxim.”

“My men are on their way to Shelby.” Jonathan’s gaze drifts from Margot to Tom. “If you don’t remove that knife right now, I won’t hesitate to kill your father, Tom. So what’s it going to be?”

“He’s in prison,” Tom says. “He’ll finish Maxim off after Aurora dies.”

“I’ll finish him anyway.” Jonathan’s posture is calm, despite the tension in his shoulders. I don’t know how he remains so calm under such circumstances. I’m on the verge of a breakdown.

“Small price to pay.” Margot smiles. “Do you think death scares us?”

“Then you leave me no choice.” Jonathan steps aside, and a part of me is glad that he’s putting his life first. His family and many people’s livelihoods depend on him.

I ignore the bitter taste sticking to the back of my throat and try to gather the influx of thoughts scattering through my head.

“Jonathan…” I murmur. “I lo —”

My words are cut off when something punctures the kitchen’s window. The knife that was previously held to my throat clutters to my lap and the body behind me disappears. There’s a loud thud and Margot shrieks, the haunted sound echoing in the space.

My eyes widen as I make out Tom lying on the floor, his eyes staring up at me — or rather, at nowhere. A hole settles in the middle of his forehead.

Margot falls to her knees in front of him, sobbing and calling his name. There’s no answer. No movement.

Holy shit. I think I’m going to throw up.

A shadow appears at the window, and I flinch against the chair, the ropes tightening around my skin. For some illogical reason, I think Tom’s shadow has returned as a ghost and that he’ll finish what he started. The continuous bursts of adrenaline seem to be drawing energy from my life essence.

The shadow slowly comes into full view. He’s wearing elegant slacks and a dark blue shirt that matches the hypnotic colour of his eyes. The rest of his face is covered with a mask. He nods at Jonathan, who nods back. The masked man winks at me, laugh lines appear under his eyes as he stares at Tom’s corpse, and with that, he disappears.

Did he just kill Tom and smile about it?

I’m still focused on the window when strong hands cut off the ropes using the knife. My heart flutters and soars to life as Jonathan kneels in front of me, his gaze hard and focused.

He runs his fingers over the wound in my neck and they come away with blood. “Fuck!”

“I’m okay.”

“I’m not. Fuck, Aurora. What would I have done if something had happened to you?”

The moment I’m free of my bindings, I wrap my trembling arms around his neck. My first inhale of his woodsy scent brings fresh tears to the forefront, but this time, they’re happy tears. Grateful tears. “Thank you.”

Jonathan kisses my forehead and my cheeks, then brushes his lips against mine in a brief, soul-shattering kiss. With every touch of his mouth against my skin, it’s like he’s reviving me back to the life that was nearly stolen away from me.

He carries me in his arms, and I don’t protest since my legs wouldn’t be able to hold me up anyway. I snuggle my body into his embrace so effortlessly, as if I was always meant to be there.

And I was.

There’s no doubt in my mind that I always was.

Jonathan’s security wrenches Margot from above Tom’s corpse. I don’t want to look at him or the vacant look in his eyes.

“T-Tom!” Margot sobs. “Come back, honey. You can’t leave.”

Still carrying me in his arms, Jonathan stops in front of her and levels her with one of his wrath-inducing glares. The look of a god about to destroy everything in his path. “You raised him on useless revenge and eventually killed him, Margot. You’ll rot in prison for the rest of your life thinking that. You’ll regret the second you were born. Now, that is my revenge.”

He doesn’t wait for her reply as he strides out of the kitchen, her pained sobs and wails following after us like arrows.

My eyes are barely able to stay open, and my head feels wrong. What did they inject me with anyway?

I thought the heaviness in my head would loosen after being released from the ropes, but it’s getting worse.

“J-Jonathan…I…d-don’t feel so good…”

“Aurora.”

His voice turns hollow and distant.

“Aurora!”

My grip on his shirt slackens as my head rolls back and everything turns black.