I took my time heading down to lunch. The only reason I was going in the first place was because I knew Queen would be there. I was curious to see her interaction with Sebastian, yet I wasn't excited to see them together...hence my slow roaming around the halls. The later I arrived, the less time I would have to spend watching Queen with him.

As I passed the room Queen was previously staying in I heard footsteps in it. Is she moving back to her room? I listened outside the door for a few moments and heard the click of heels and opening and closing of drawers that I knew for a fact were empty considering Queen didn't unpack.

"Shit," a woman's voice muttered, a voice that wasn't Queen. I barged into the room, finding it empty with Queen's belongings spread across the room.

"Show yourself," I said. When no one stepped out, I ran a hand through my hair in irritation. From the corner of my eye, I caught a small note on the barren table. I rolled my eyes, recognizing it as one of the notes Queen received and I walked towards it. I expected it to be addressed to her as it always was, but when I saw my name scribbled across the top, I took another look around. What the fuck?

"You're a real bitch, you know?" I yelled into the empty space as I held the note up.

Syn, you missed me. Just barely. I really need to work on my quickness in my old age. I figure it's time for me to introduce myself, but I feel as though I deserve one HELL of a grand entrance...for old time's sake.
Throw me a party! One month from today. I've done the honors of creating a guest list for you on the back. I want and DESERVE only the best. Make me feel like I've gotten less than that, and Queen will pay. Don't fuck it up. See you soon.
P.S. Not a bitch ;).

I flipped the note around to see a small messy row of names. All names that I knew...names that somehow all lived in the palace except for one. My father. Who are you? I set the note down, taking a picture of it before sending it to my father and hoping that he'd somehow be able to recognize the writing. The quicker we got on top of this, the better.

I picked up the note, getting ready to head to lunch all the while resisting the urge to crumble it right then and there. In general, if they were watching me I would've thrived on the show of defiance. But I wasn't the one that would get hurt from that. Whoever it was had already kidnapped Queen, and I didn't want to set them off.

Look at you.

I scoffed, storming out of the room and fuming about how pathetic I already was. I condemned my father for holding back for my mother's sake, yet now that's what I was doing. "So fucking stupid," I mumbled.

I walked down to the lunch and huffed when I looked towards Queen and saw her sitting with some dude that had his arm around the back of her chair. Sebastian. They were giggling and laughing as he whispered something into her ear and her words about not getting back together with him felt like lies.

Her smile slowly dropped from her face when she saw me approaching and I shook my head. She was just laughing with the boy seconds ago, but when she sees me she stops? That right there already told me all I needed to know.

I held up the note and laid it on the table in front of King Jonathan, and he picked it up. He read it aloud in confusion and tossed it down before looking between Queen and I. "Who is this from?"

"Her stalker," I spoke up.

"Her what?" Her mother asked.

Queen sighed, looking down at her hands and explaining the entire few days to everyone, leaving out the kidnapping part for some reason. Since she didn't bring it up, I wouldn't either.

When she was done, her mother gasped, riddling off solutions as to what to do and her father scoffed, shaking his head. "Ignore it. The person will go away on their own."

"She won't. I think she knows Queen somehow," I admitted, voicing a thought I'd had since yesterday.

"You think she knows me?" She asked.

"It only makes sense that she does." She slouched in her seat and the man wrapped his arm around her. I waited for her to move away from his arm or to tell him to stop touching her, but she didn't.

"Queen go pack. We have to leave at once. You are not safe here," Queen Zara spoke up, standing from her seat and frantically tucking her blonde hair behind her ears.

"She's not going anywhere," I objected.

Everyone's eyes snapped to me and I gave them a shrug. "This person seems to have an attachment to Queen. She'll just follow her. I believe we should have the party so we can put a face to the threat. She's safer with me than with you all," I said sternly.

"With you?" Sebastian spoke up, raising a brow at me. Queen grimaced, her heartbeat speeding up and I looked between the two of them. Maybe she didn't want him knowing we were closer than anyone else here knew.

"You know what?" Felix started, standing up in his seat. "I will not standby here and act as though you truly care about people's safety, Syn."

"Felix, sit down," I instructed, not hiding the bitter edge in my tone.

"How is she safe with you when you just killed Justin Cline a couple of days ago?!"

My eyes looked at Xyla who was glaring at Felix and I shook my head. The girl couldn't keep a secret for her life. It was pathetic, but I should've known better.

"You did what?!" King Jonathan screamed as he stood up from the table and slammed it with his fist. I raised my eyebrow and him and leaned onto a nearby column in the room. I looked at him for a long moment and shook my head. I had no answer for him and he was being too dramatic for me to want to have a conversation.

"He killed the man Queen was supposed to marry," Xyla added in, explaining it to the lost people at the table. My parents' eyes widened and Queen Zara held her hand over her mouth, stifling a sob. I see where Xyla got it from now.

"Yeah!" Mia added, unnecessarily.

I kept standing in my spot as King Jonathan walked around the table and poked his finger into my chest. I looked down at his finger for a moment I thought about breaking it but Queen's worried eyes stopped me.

"You are a heartless monster." The King spat. I looked over to see Queen about to say something but I shook my head at her. I didn't care if her father thought I was evil. "I bet you killed his kids too, you evil bastard!"

"Yup, both of them," I muttered.

At those words, Xavier decided to stand up and face the King. "Listen asshole, he hurt the man who hurt your daughter. I bet you knew though so the only evil one here is you. As for the children both of them are alive. His son now lives with us so you know nothing!" Xavier ranted, leaving the rest of them stunned.

"What do you mean hurt my daughter?" Queen Zara spoke up. Her husband lowered his face into his hands and cursed quietly, making her take slow steps toward him. "What are they talking about Jonathan?!"

I looked over at Queen who looked like she was about to cry and I suddenly wondered why the man next to her hadn't already moved to get her out of here. That ticked me off more than the way he touched and looked at her.

"Xyla! What do they mean?!" The Queen asked again. Xyla shook her head and looked down at her hands, not answering.

"We needed the money, Zara," Jonathan said softly.

Her eyes became watery as she looked at her husband. "What did he do?!" She screamed, and I suddenly felt a small wave of respect for the Queen. I could tell she cared about Queen in her own way, and that in my book was commendable. "Tell me!" She roared, slapping his chest.

Queen took a shaky breath, laying a hand over her chest and I shook my head. Since nobody seemed to be getting her out of the room, I needed to take matters into my own hands.

"Enough!" I screamed, interrupting the screaming match between the Upperworlders. "You," I said as I pointed to Queen's ex. "Take her out of the palace for the rest of the day." I hated having to leave her alone with him, but a part of me I still hadn't faced, wanted her to be okay. She wouldn't be okay if she stayed here.

The man just remained in his seat not knowing what to do even though I just told him. "Leave. Now!" I snapped. "Have her back before eight." The boy grabbed Queen's hand and led her out of the dining room. My chest ached as I watched them leave hand in hand together, but I ignored it. I turned back to find everyone looking at me and I pointed to Jonathan and Zara. "Figure your shit out."

Jonathan explained to Zara what happened and she started sobbing along with my mother. "And you excuse what happened with 'we needed the money' what has happened to you, Jonathan?!" She screamed. My mother went to her side to try to comfort her, but there was no calming her down.
She turned to Xyla who was still looking down at her hands in silence and shook her head. "And you, your own sister! Both of you make me sick!"

I was beginning to get a headache from all the screaming and I rubbed my forehead. Xavier must have noticed me stressed out because he came to my side and handed me a cigarette. I lit it between my lips and took the longest drag I had ever taken in my life.

Xavier watched me in awe and began laughing when I started coughing. "Fuck you." The screaming in the palace was becoming too much and I snapped my fingers, taking Xyla, Jonathan, and Zara back to Eden.

"Syn, what the hell?!" My mother snapped.

"I have a headache." I groaned. "They can discuss it at their home."

She sighed, rubbing her head and looking at me. "James is his son?"

"Yes."

"I saw the bruises on him. Was that because of Justin?"

"Yes, and his mother."

"And you killed both of them I'm assuming?"

"Yes," I admitted.

"Good." She nodded. "If you hadn't, I would have." Xavier snickered at her words and she gave him a small smile. "I'm going to go check on James. Let me know when Queen comes home, I'd like to speak to her." Xavier and I nodded and my mother walked out of the dining room, leaving Felix, Mia, and Julius with us.

"Felix, Mia, excuse us," Julius said, keeping his eyes on me as he twirled his glass of wine in his hands.

Felix frowned. "But-"

"Now!"

With a loud screech from both the chairs, Felix and Mia scurried out. Felix sent me a glare as he did, and I sighed at his ridiculous attempt to humiliate me. You can't embarrass a man with no shame. He should've known that.

"I think it's time we catch up, Syn," he said as the dining room doors slammed shut.

"What do you want, dude?" Xavier asked for me, knowing how easy it was for Julius to get to me.

"I'm just thinking," he said as he walked toward us. "It seems as though you care for the girl, Syn." I froze at his words and glared at him. I knew Julius long enough to know when he was up to something, and this was one of those times. His eyes glinted with mischief as he pulled up a chair and sat directly in front of me, tossing his long white hair over his shoulders.

"What's it to you?" I muttered.

"Let's just say I'm just curious," he said with a smirk. He was no doubt thinking about a way to control me using Queen, but I was no longer the little boy he could toss around when he pleased.

Julius crossed his legs and took the cigarette from between my fingers and took a long drag, blowing it directly onto my face. I ignored the burning sensation in my eyes from the smoke and kept my eyes trained on him.

"I was thinking of another treaty with them, maybe Queen and Felix. What do you think-"

Before he could say another word my fist connected with his jaw, and he flew backward onto the chair, landing on the floor with a thud. I was trying my best to hold back with him, but that was the last bit of my control he had plucked away. He had taken too much away from me to have the audacity to threaten the one thing I had shown interest in.

He spit out blood on the floor and turned back to me, giving me a bloody smile that made my blood boil. I grabbed his collar and raised my fist to lay another one on him, but before I could make another move Xavier pulled me away and led me out of the dining room.

"Not worth it," he muttered. He was the only person that knew the full story of the pain Julius inflicted on me. So he understood that there were times that I wouldn't be able to control my anger with him. We walked in silence as I tried to calm my anger, Xavier glancing at me more times than I was comfortable with.

"What?"

"We need to have a best friend night."

"What the hell is that?" I asked as I crossed my arms and leaned against a window in the hall.

"Jess and Gen have a day once a month where they go out and hang out. It keeps their friendship strong and they remember why they're in each other's lives. Plus don't you need a reminder as to why you fell in love with me in the first place?" He asked batting his eyelashes and feigning sincerity.

"I don't need a reminder," I said softly.

His eyes lit up and a smile spread across his face as he held a hand over his heart. "Aww."

I rolled my eyes at his melodramatic reaction and clarified my words. "I don't need a reminder because I don't love you."

My words didn't seem to faze him as his smile grew ten times larger if that was even possible. "Sure you don't."

"Whatever," I muttered.

He came to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder as we walked. "I know exactly where we are going tonight, Syn."

"Where?"

"A strip club." He said.

I scoffed at his answer and shook my head. "No." I despised strip clubs. There was nothing I found fun about women trying to seduce me for money or being surrounded by sweaty bodies and drunks.

He stepped in front of me and clasped his hands together. "Syn please, I need this. Jess rejected me you know? I asked her on a date and she said that she needs someone 'mature' as if I'm not. Can you believe that?" He said with a scoff.

"No. Not at all. I have no idea why she would ever say that." I said sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes at me as he took a deep breath, laying his hands on my shoulders. "Syn, lay your hand on my chest." I furrowed my brows at his instructions but hesitantly obliged when he urged me to again.

"Now tell me, what do you feel?" He asked earnestly as he looked into my eyes. He laid his hand over mine on his chest and nodded slowly.

This was beginning to feel more and more uncomfortable by the second but I followed along for his sake.

"I feel nothing," I said.

"That's because my heart is broken." He said softly.

I shook my head at him and removed my hand from his hold. "No, it's because you have no heart, you idiot."

"That is not relevant to this topic." He replied and I shook my head. "I'm hurting, Syn. Jess kissed me and rejected me. If you love me we will go to a strip club and you will get me drunk and let me watch hot women." He ranted sadly.

I closed my eyes for a long moment and took a deep breath. When I opened my eyes I found Xavier looking at me expectantly and I sighed.

"Fine. We can go."