Chapter 68

Neil

The blade in my hand felt heavier than it usually did. Maybe it was just my exhaustion, or maybe it was the weight of the crown that I wasn’t wearing yet that was dragging me down.

Or maybe it was the feeling of everyone’s eyes on me. The warmth of my father’s blood still coating my hands. The knowledge that Caleb had conspired to take me down, to use Serena for his own gain.

Or perhaps it was just the fact that one of my closest friends was fucking dead thanks in part to a plot created by my own flesh and blood.

Nothing could ever fix that. Nothing. Not even winning this battle and taking the crown could bring Eric back. Nothing would ever make me forgive the bastards who had caused this.

And nothing, absolutely nothing, could make me stop missing Raven.

Even though I was about to take part in the succession battle that I had been preparing for for so long, my mind and my heart were still in that hotel room with her. In the room where I had left her.

When I had left her there, I knew that my heart would not come with me. And I was glad for it.

But now… something felt different. It was not Serena; I was glad to have her here, safe and alive, my friend and partner after all these years.

It was something else. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but something felt slightly changed in the air. Like there was someone watching me. Raven.

But when I turned to look, she wasn’t there. The throne room was exactly the same as before, devastated by the battle. My father’s body was long gone, his crown sitting on the throne. Serena was dressed in something clean, something other than the torn rags she’d been placed in. The Queen was putting on her best face even though I could see the tears streaming down her cheeks.

And Edrick was circling me, waiting, his eyes dark and predatory.

“You look nervous, little brother.”

I flexed my grip on the hilt of my sword and began to move with him. “I am not your brother.”

He laughed low in his throat, the sound crawling over my skin like a venomous spider. “That much is true. My darling mother made the mistake of taking you in when she should have left you to rot in whatever gutter you crawled out of. But I will not let her suffer for you anymore.”

I didn’t respond. His words weren’t new. They weren’t even original. But they still hit somewhere I couldn’t quite reach, and that was the dangerous part.

“You think you are fit to rule? A half-blood prince who slipped out from between a maid’s legs?” Edrick spat onto the stone floors and raised his sword. “You are nothing but a spoiled bastard who got lucky. You do not deserve the crown. You never did.”

“And yet here we are,” I replied, my voice low and steady despite my racing pulse. “You on one side, me on the other. The only two heirs left who are eligible for the crown. If I am so unworthy, then how did I make it this far?”

Edrick’s eyes narrowed.

Good, I thought bitterly. Let him hate me. I hoped he burned with the force of a thousand fires. I needed that hate to blind him, give me an edge.

The fight came fast. He lunged, and I barely had time to raise my blade, blocking his strike with a sharp clang that echoed around us. My arms buckled under the force, the shock rippling through every muscle, but I held.

Our blades locked, our faces mere inches apart, and I could see it in his eyes—he wanted this. He wanted me dead more than he wanted to breathe. Maybe he had always wanted me dead far more than Caleb ever did.

“You’ll never be king,” he hissed in my ear.

I gritted my teeth, shoving him back with every ounce of strength I had. He staggered backwards, momentarily losing his footing—but only momentarily. “I think you’re forgetting something, Edrick,” I said as I advanced on him.

He raised his sword and easily parried an attack with one hand. “And what’s that?”

“I may not be the full-blood prince, but I was chosen to take that place. Perhaps that is worth more than your blood ties to the crown.”

I pressed forward, hammering him with a series of strikes, but Edrick met me with the same relentless precision. He wasn’t just fighting for the throne—he was fighting for vengeance, for something twisted that had grown inside of him for years.

He was fighting because he regretted not stepping in and helping Caleb drown me in the bathtub.

The clang of steel against steel filled the room, sparks flying between us as the fight raged on. I could feel my heart slamming against my ribs, adrenaline flooding every inch of me, but Edrick was relentless. His strikes rained down, one after another, until I was forced back step by step.

He was stronger, but I was faster. And speed was the only thing keeping me alive right now. I wasn’t a fool. I knew that if it weren’t for my stamina, I would have been dead already.

As children, being forced to train together in the training yard, Caleb was always just a touch too slow and a touch too proud. He often lost because of his haughtiness, and that was precisely why he had lost today.

Edrick, on the other hand, had always been the best fighter out of the three of us. He was cold and precise, and picked up maneuvers like a well-oiled machine.

Even now, all these years later, his skills never faltered.

“You should just lay down that blade,” he grunted, circling me once more. “Save yourself the embarrassment.”

I wiped the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand, my chest heaving. “Why don’t you come take it from me?” I asked.

Edrick snarled, charging again, and I met him head-on. Our blades clashed, but this time, I twisted just enough to knock his weapon aside. His guard faltered, just for a second, and that was all I needed.

I drove the hilt of my sword into his ribs, hard. Edrick stumbled, gasping, and I seized the opening, slashing downward. His blade barely caught mine in time, but the force drove him to one knee, his knuckles white against the handle of his sword.

“Yield,” I demanded, blade hovering near his throat.

Edrick looked up at me, eyes dark and furious. “Never. Whoever wants this crown will have to kill the other.”

I pressed closer. “I don’t want to kill you, Edrick. I’m not like you.”

“Then perhaps you should be,” he hissed, curling his lip.

I grit my teeth, pressing closer, hoping that he would come to his senses and yield. But then something shifted. A shadow along the rafters. A glint of light.

And then I saw her.

Raven.

She was crouching in the beams above, half-hidden by shadows, but I’d know her anywhere. The way her hair caught the faintest light, the shape of her body wrapped in the folds of that damned cloak that I’d left behind for her.

My heart nearly stopped.

She should not have been here. Not now. Not while Edrick still had a sword in his hand. Not while half the kingdom still thought she was a spy.

For a split second, I lost focus.

And that split second was all Edrick needed.

Pain exploded through me, white-hot and blinding, as his blade pierced my side. The shock knocked the air from my lungs, and I staggered backwards, clutching at the wound as fresh warmth spread over my fingers and red blood dripped onto the stones.

I dropped to my knees, the room spinning violently around me. Edrick loomed overhead, saying something, but I barely registered him anymore. All I could see was Raven.

Her hood had fallen back, and she had climbed down from the rafters. She was bolting toward me, chestnut hair and dark fur billowing out behind her, and her eyes were glowing with the bright light of the sun.

She looked like my dark angel.

And the last thing I heard before the darkness began to take me was her scream.

“Neil!”