The Dark Pretender (Royal Conquest Saga Book 6) by Nikki Jefford

Author:Nikki Jefford [Jefford, Nikki]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-05-28T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

Fraya

The bow slipped from my fingers. At first, I couldn’t tell whether I stood horror-struck in the past or the present. My stomach lurched.

“Excuse me,” I said absently, eyes on the ground.

I gave the barest tug. Luckily, Helio relented, letting me slip away as he resumed his parable about my glory days. I’d done his bidding, and he was pleased by it. I could still hear his boastful voice as I dragged my feet over the lawn. Reaching the stone steps, I halted, my heart sinking through quicksand. I couldn’t return to that prison.

I made a dash along the outer brick walls and hurried around the corner, into the shade. It was easier to breathe without the sun blistering my skin. I scorned its light, its heat. This was where I belonged. Alone in the dark.

I’d vowed never to shoot another arrow after the accident. Even dear, sweet Conall would look upon me in revulsion if he could see how I’d honored his memory. He’d seen right through Helio’s act from the beginning. Conall was the kind of male who was polite to everyone, but in private he told me he didn’t trust Helio’s honeyed tongue and lavish gifts offered under the guise of congratulations from my “biggest fan.” How much would Conall hate me now if he knew I’d given in to Helio’s pursuits? That in those dark days of misery, I’d spread my legs and allowed him to plant his gilded seed?

If only one of us could have survived that cursed day, it should have been Conall. He was the best male I’d ever known. He was good. Kind. Fair. Patient. Accepting. Loving. He had made the realm a better place just by existing. Why hadn’t he been the one to survive instead of me? I was a waste. A disappointment. A shadow against Conall’s daylight.

Anguish tore through me. I fell to the ground and sobbed.

Alok rounded the corner, face tight, and descended over me like a storm cloud. “Get up,” he growled.

“Leave me be,” I snarled back, sick of males ordering me around.

When I didn’t obey, he reached down and hauled me to my feet. His grasp on me was tight, but unlike Helio’s bruising grip, Alok’s fingers tore at some long-dormant need buried in that deep, dark well of desire that refused to die out.

“Accidents happen. Grave mistakes. I should know.” His eyes blazed. They scorched my soul. When Alok loosened his hold, I slumped. He gathered me back up and shook me. “What happened to you, Fraya? Why are you with him?” His upper lip curled.

If he knew the truth, that I carried that asshole’s child, he’d likely throw me back on the ground in disgust. I turned my head away, trying to avoid his searching eyes.

“Fraya!” Alok yelled.

Heat seared up my esophagus and burned through my brain. Energy and strength returned to my limbs right before I pushed Alok away. “I wanted to feel alive again. He made me feel like I was awake.

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