Confessions of a Jaded Princess by Joanna Ogan

Author:Joanna Ogan [Ogan, Joanna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-02-06T22:00:00+00:00

Confession 18:

You won’t know what you’re

capable of until you try.

Georgia grabs me as soon as I reach the top and step into the hallway. “Stay close, kid.”

Instead of following the flow of disbursement, with slayers splitting to the front and back of the house, she tugs me toward the stairs to the second floor. We race up, two at a time, and continue down a corridor to a door at the back.

Then she stops abruptly, seizes me, and swinging me around, slams me into the wall beside the door.

The impact is jarring—painfully so. I grunt, lifting wide eyes to hers.

“What are you fighting for, Halifax?” she demands, her voice cold. “Before we step out onto that balcony, you need to decide exactly what you’re fighting for.”

“For humankind,” I say quickly.

“Bull!” She shoves a forearm against my chest, driving me backward into the plaster. “Don’t give me that textbook response. What do you fight for?”

“For…” But words fail me. My heart pounds against my ribcage, panic flutters in my gut. “I don’t know.”

“Revenge?” Her eyes flash.

I think of Alessandro and Luca, driving the stake into Father. I think of the Seven turning their backs on me. I think of Mother’s hand striking me, the fury and disgust in her eyes. I think of the betrayals, too numerous to count. I think of my broken and battered body, the scars, the shattered bones, the heartache that steals my breath.

“Anger?” Her lips pull tight.

I think of the rage that’d held me for so long. I think of the hate I felt every time I looked at Conrad. Every time I looked at Mother.

Every time I looked in the mirror.

“Strength?”

I remember the fear when I faced the masked men, bleeding and delirious with pain. I remember the hopelessness when the only choice I could make was the wrong one. I remember the despair and the panic—even the acceptance—when I wore the explosive vest.

“I know your story, kid,” she says. “I know what drives you to take down the oldest of vampires. I know why you fight. But do you?”

It hits me then.

It isn’t about revenge. It isn’t about being a Dilecta, or being beholden to the coven that raised me. It isn’t about the anger and grief. It never was.

“I fight to survive,” I reply softly, almost choking on the admission. Once the words release, I can feel them resonate to the very depths of my soul. “I fight because if I don’t, Viktor will kill me.”

Her arm snaps back, freeing me. “Exactly. Human survival is the key to every battle, Halifax. When you understand and accept why you fight, you become stronger.” She steps away. “There are over a hundred vampires descending on this house. Are you ready?”

Hearing the number staggers me. “That many?”

“For weeks, people have been going missing from the surrounding parishes,” she says, unholstering her pistol and slamming a magazine into place. “Tonight, we’ve discovered why.” She chambers a round. “All of this is because of you. My question,” her eyes return to mine, “is if you know why?”

“I don’t.

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