The Reckless Reign (Book 3, The Culled Crown Series)

Chapter 9

Palace Bedroom.
Oredison Palace, Gazda.
The morning of the Welcome Dinner.

I awoke the next morning to the sound of someone banging on my bedroom door. For a moment, I was disoriented enough to not remember exactly where or when I was. I knew I was in the palace, but my mind was so rattled that I initially thought it was Cohen—come for a late-night chat or an impromptu walk. But as I threw back the covers and stumbled my way across the room, I was hit with the violent realization of where I really was.

I slowed my steps, suddenly afraid to go to the door.

It was still night or at least very early morning. Out the moonlit windows across from me, I could just barely see the skyline as it began to blossom from midnight blue to frosty daybreak. The knock sounded again, jarring me back to the present moment.

Dread stole my breath away. It made my hands shake. Fire pushed adamant at my skin, fighting to be released. I reached for it, the way I always had, but found it just out of my grasp. Either the drug wasn't entirely out of my system, or someone on tacet was close enough to suppress my ability.

I was still standing a few feet from my bedroom door as a key rattled in the lock. I knew exactly who was on the other side of my door then. Only one person in Oredison Palace held a key to my bedroom.

I was momentarily blinded as the door opened and Mirren Caine stepped into my bedroom. He regarded me, his mouth turning up into a cruel smile as he saw me standing there, one hand lifted to shield my eyes from the bright light in the hall. He took me in, running his eyes over my bear feet and legs, to the thin nightdress I wore. The fabric was sheer and fell a good way above my knee. A rush of cold went through me and I wrapped my arms securely around myself, trying to mentally unpuzzle why he was here at such a strange hour.

He hadn't come to fetch me from Anna's suite. Instead, he had sent Ross and Igell to get me. Thankfully, by the time they'd arrived, Kai was already long gone.

Saying goodbye to him had been more difficult than I wanted to admit. It wasn't that I wouldn't see him, it was that I didn't know when we would have another opportunity to speak openly with one another. And while a lot had been said, there was more that we hadn't discussed.

Seeing the way Caine watched me, his expression bemused, I wondered if he'd found out about my time with Kai. But then, if he had, I doubted he'd be smiling.

"Why are you here?" I was surprised by the strength in my voice. Caine scared me, especially when we were alone together in rooms like this, rooms with doors that could shut—but just then I was too tired, too anxious, to shrink away from him. I found that I was angry, but not afraid, as I said, "It's rude to barge into a lady's room uninvited."

Caine's smile only widened. "I didn't realize you were a lady, Miss Benson."

It was like he was undressing me with his eyes. That gaze, hungry and predatory as it was, reminded me of dark alleyways and slurred speech. It brought back memories of another man who had taken advantage.

Before I could begin to spiral, I turned and crossed to the bathing room. I kept an eye on Caine as I grabbed a thin robe from one of the hooks by the door and pulled it on.

I was just tying it around my waist when he said, "Get dressed. We're going on a trip."

I glanced to the brightening cityscape beyond the windows. "It's early."

He turned on his heels and stepped back into the hall. "Dress comfortably—boots, pants. Nothing flashy. You have ten minutes. If I have to come back into this room, you won't like it."