She heard people talking in the throne room.
But no one was yelling, no one was screaming. And it didn't sound like they were fighting.
She felt hopeful once more.
Aria stopped in the entryway and surveyed the scene. Martinez and Katy stood at the front of the room, another fifteen to twenty people from their groups around them.
Warren's guards and various other people sat at the tables. Almost all of them were slumped over, passed out.
Aria nodded to Hunt, letting him know he could bring Warren in.
The three of them made their way to the front of the group. But stopped short when they saw so many of Warren’s guards slumped in their seats.
"What happened? Why are they all asleep?" Aria asked, looking around.
"Your mom had a really good idea," Martinez said, smiling at Katy.
"What?" Aria asked.
Katy had a satchel across her body. She opened it and took out a syringe.
"Barbiturates. After we disabled them and brought them here, we injected them with these. They won't stay asleep for long, but we figured having them all awake in such close quarters wasn't a good idea," Katy said.
Aria nodded. It was a great idea. She wished they'd thought of it sooner.
What about him?" Katy asked, looking at Aria.
"No," Aria said, "Let's keep him awake."
Just then, another group of guards was being ushered into the throne room. One look around, and they began to panic.
And then, everyone was yelling. Arguing.
Hunt was distracted. He looked away for a second, but it was all Warren needed.
He brought his bound hands up and hit Hunt; his elbow connected with Hunt's chin, sending his head flying back.
The other guards followed their leader and began to fight back.
Aria ran towards Warren. He had his back turned to her, barking out commands to his guards. She kicked at the backs of his knees with all her strength, and he screamed out in pain, falling forward.
She pointed her gun at the ceiling and fired it. Just once. Then she put the gun on the back of Warren's head.
Chapter 48
"Everybody shut up,” she yelled, her voice echoing through the throne room. "If one more goddamn person tries to fight this, fight us, I will shoot him," Aria said. "It's over. So shut the fuck up and sit down."
Loud. Demanding. Clear. And unwavering.
Every single person in the room stopped talking, stopped fighting. They all looked at her.
The guards looked to Warren, who nodded.
They sat down in the available spots and didn't fight as Aria's people tied them up. Katy and Jackson went around and put them to sleep, one by one, telling them that it wouldn't be for long.
After that, Aria and her people were the only ones awake. Well, them and Warren.
Eventually, all the others returned. The throne room was overcrowded by that point. Aria had never seen it so full.
"That's all of them," Mara said, walking up to stand beside Aria.
"Really?"
"Yeah, the others all radioed in. I told them to take the remaining guards to the dungeon since it's way too crowded here. We've left the others in their rooms, the people who aren't guards but possibly side with Warren. What will we do with them?" Mara asked.
"I don't know. Have you heard from Grace?" Aria asked.
It'd been over an hour, possibly two, since Grace and the others had left.
Just then, the doors opened, and Grace walked through, a few people trailing behind her. Isla was one of them. She stopped to close the door.
"Speak of the devil," Mara said, smirking.
Grace glared at Warren on her way towards the two girls.
"Why is he still breathing?" she asked.
"We haven't decided what we're going to do-" Aria began.
"Then I'll make it easy on you," Grace said, pulling her sword out.
"Grace, no," Aria said, "We need to talk about it first. With Lex."
"Like hell! He killed-"
"I know," Aria said, cutting Grace off. "I know. And he will pay. But not just yet."
"Aria, you can't-"
"I said no," Aria said, an edge to her voice.
There was still so much to do. She didn't have time to argue with Grace.
"Fine," Grace said, putting her sword across her back.
"Where's Lex?" Aria asked.
"He's coming," Grace said.
Aria turned and walked up the few steps to stand in front of the table she shared with Lex and Grace.
"Listen up," she yelled, "The palace has been-"
But she stopped talking when she saw the doors to the throne room opening.
As soon as the doors were open, she found herself staring directly at Lex, and he was looking at her, too.
He was in his king ensemble—the sword from their bedroom in his right hand.
He walked through the room, and the people parted, giving him a clear path to Aria.
She looked past him for a second, noticing Brent guiding his mother in. And Adrian, guiding a bound and very beat-up looking Ben in.
She looked at Lex again.
His jaw was clenched, but he walked towards her with his head held high, the look in his eye one of admiration. Like he was proud, looking at her standing there in front of all those people. And he didn't look at anything or anyone else as he made his way to her. Not a single person. Not even Warren.
She was pretty sure she'd never been so turned on in her life because, amidst all the chaos around them, he had eyes only for her. She couldn't look away.
She jumped off of the elevated portion so that they could stand face to face. She didn't care if everyone was staring. She didn't care that the whole room had gone very, very quiet.
She looked at him, thinking about her very first night here.
He didn't stop when he was a few inches away from her like she thought he would.
Instead, he walked right up to her and crushed his lips to hers.
She momentarily forgot that they were in a crowded room.
She kissed him back. In her kiss was everything she couldn't say; I'm so glad you're here.
