“Not you.” He cut his eyes down to Bishop. “You.”
Bishop’s jaw was ticking under the pressure; his lip was slightly curled at Katsia. “Yes.”
I exhaled, my fingers coming to my temples. “What the fuck is going on?” I started walking toward Tillie, but the guard stood in front of her again, blocking me. “Get the fuck out of my way.”
“Kitty,” Bishop growled.
“You can shut up,” I replied softly without looking at him. I was angry that her being here wasn’t new information to him and that he had known for a long time—probably all of the time. “Tillie?” I tilted my head to try and get a clearer view of her behind the big man of steel in front of me. He slowly stepped aside, and it was the first time I got a real look at what she looked like now. She was in a white gown that cut off at her knees. The straps were thick and rolled over her shoulder, displaying her arms. Her face was bare of any makeup and her eyes looked like ripples of lightening laced in a blue sky. She looked broken. Her hair had been brushed down, falling over her shoulders, with the pink now washed out to a faded pastel color and her re-growth evident.
“Tillie?” I stepped toward her again. Her face fell. “Are you ok?”
She raised her head and her eyes came to mine, a single tear sneaking out. “I—I’m, I mean, I was…”
“That’s enough!” Katsia snapped, and then quickly composed herself. “Take a seat with Nate, Tillie.” Katsia rolled her eyes. “Before he kills me.”
Tillie came toward us and as soon as she was within reach, Nate’s arm snaked out and pulled her into him. He sunk her down next to him and I dropped down on the other side of her. She smelled like bleach and antiseptic. Something was going on, something that I couldn’t understand—again, and until I found out exactly what it was that Bishop was hiding from me this time, I wasn’t sure how I felt with him. Again. Yes, I loved him, but love should never be used as a doormat. When will this shit end. Right now, Nate needed me more than anyone else, so when his hand went over the edge of the couch, I brought my right hand up to where his curled around my shoulder and laced my fingers with his. At the connection, I felt a jolt of power and anger. Anger amongst all that Nate was a King, yet something was held from him about Tillie—why?
“Why?” I snapped, suddenly having enough of the song and dance and ready to put her on a plane with Daemon and fly the fuck out of this place.
“Why, what?” Katsia quirked an eyebrow at me. She was an expert at making you feel inferior, but this time, my anger wasn’t going to allow me to cower to her like I had in the past.
“You know what, Katsia, cut the bullshit. Why was Tillie here?”
“Oh,” Katsia waved her hand casually. “Well, she was pregnant, of course.”
I sucked in a breath. My head pounded and colorful little dots danced in my bleak vision. I felt Nate’s hand still in my grip. He let me go and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “What?” The depth of his tone was enough to put the fear of the Lord into the devil.
Tate stood from the corner of my eye and walk to the window. Bishop’s leg pressed against mine roughly and I could hear the shuffling of a couple of the Kings who were standing behind me.
“Suddenly, shit makes sense,” Jase mumbled, rubbing the scruff on his jaw.
Tillie swiped away the tears that were streaming down her face. “Was being the correct word there.”
I stilled.
Bishop’s leg stopped flat, and Nate shot up off the couch. An armored guard stepped forward, grabbing Nate’s arm. “What do you mean was.”
Katsia’s eyes flashed to Tillie, and then to Nate. For once, I saw fear flash through them briefly. “You know the rules, Nathan.”
“Fuck you, tell me right now what the fuck is going on or I’ll snap all your guards’ necks and then feed them to you through a fucking straw!”
Katsia swallowed, shot the rest of her drink back and stood. “She couldn’t exist.”
I buried my face in my hands as realization snuck in. “What?” I whispered to myself, and then my hand came to Tillie’s. I was going to be strong for her. I didn’t know what she had been through and I don’t know why, but I didn’t care. She was my best friend and no matter what, I would stand by her. She sniffed, looked at me, and then squeezed her fingers with mine.
“I’m not walking out of this place without answers,” I whispered to her, squeezing her fingers.
“Did you kill my kid, Katsia?” Nate asked, stepping closer to her.
Katsia laughed. “Oh, wait, what made you think it was your kid?”
“And the plot thickens,” Hunter grumbled, standing from the couch to check on Tatum.
“Because I fucking know, Katsia, quit the fucking games. I’ll give you ten seconds.”
Katsia snickered. “You give her too much credit.”
“Nine.”
Bishop stood, walking beside Nate. Bishop tilted his head, pulled a smoke out of his pocket and lit it up. “Eight.” He blew out a cloud of smoke.
“Jesus Christ,” I whispered. “There’s going to be a war.” I could smell the heavy scent of spilled blood already.
Tillie’s hand squeezed mine. I looked at her. She shook her head.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“Nate! The girl had to be taken care of. You know the rules! We can’t have another” —Katsia paused just as I caught her glaring at me— “mistake out in the open.”
“Fuck you.” I flipped her off.
Bishop took another drag of his smoke, biting down on it. “Six.”
“What?” Katsia’s eyes flew between him and Nate. “I answered!”
“Yeah, but you see, we had a deal.” That was Bishop.
“The deal went out the window when she was born
