"Dad, you promised if I told you that you wouldn't say anything!" I yelled.

He sat calmly on the chair in my room and shrugged. "That is not something I can let slide."

I told my dad about Syn and Queen in confidence. Well...a sort of drunk confidence. Nonetheless, I didn't expect him to betray my faith in him like this. I would think a man of faith such as himself would be able to keep his word, but I was wrong. I didn't even know he was going to be coming this morning and a heads up would've been amazing!

"We already have a plan," I said lowly. "Syn will be dead soon anyway so just let this go, father. Don't let your anger mess up our plans."

"I will not stand by having a daughter who disrespects me!" He roared. "A daughter of mine with that monster?! It's a slap in the face to everything I've done for her. You know, I blame your mother for this. She babies her and now that she needs to step up and put her hand down, she disappears like some coward!"

That she did.

A few days ago she called us and told us she wouldn't be coming home because she "wasn't happy" and I had never seen my father angrier than at that moment. He screamed at her for her to come back or he'd send an army for her...and she hung up on him. Since then, neither of us had heard from her. He had been extra abrasive since then.

"Perhaps she's being forced into the relationship," Felix spoke up. "Lucifer does have the power of persuasion...I wouldn't be surprised if his spawn had acquired the same ability."

"It looked pretty consensual from my point of view." I said dryly as I crossed my arms. What was up with people and thinking Queen was forced into things? She was a whore yet she was always victimized and it was beginning to get on my nerves. It angered me to see such an upheaval of Queen being with Syn, yet everyone was fine with letting me marry him.

A knock at the door sounded that broke the tension in the room and Julius came in. He quietly closed the door behind him and walked over to us.

"When will he be killed?" He asked bluntly.

A couple of days ago Felix had let Julius in on the plan with the gun and he was completely on board. He felt that Felix was the more worthy one as he was his son and I couldn't help but agree. Felix and I together would make great rulers if he could step up and grow a back bone. This situation with Syn would tell me if he was truly capable of being my king.

"We were going to plan it at the wedding, but since my daughter is in danger, I'd like to make it sooner," my father spat.

"Pace yourself, Jonathan," Julius instructed. "We need to wait for the right moment and the wedding seems like the perfect time."

"So I'm supposed to wait two months as my daughter does God knows what with that thing?!"

"Yes," Julius said. "Patience is key here. We can't afford to miss our shot."

My father rubbed his temples and nodded. "You can just take Queen back to Heaven until the wedding is over." I spoke up. It's what I've been wanting since she got here, but no one ever listened to me.

My father looked at me and nodded. "It seems that is our best option right now." He rubbed his temples before letting out a groan and shaking his head. "Felix, come with me," he said, "I'd like to speak to you privately."

Felix and I exchanged a confused glance before he stood up from the table and walked towards the door my father strode out of. I watched his figure disappear from the door and I crossed my arms. What could they be talking about in private? This was a group effort.

My attention snapped away from my thoughts as the sound of the door shutting made me look at Julius. "Why..."

"I'd like to talk to you privately," he said.

"No." I shook my head. "You and I have nothing to talk about."

"Why are you so cold with me when everyone is around?"

"Why is it that I'm cold?" I rolled my eyes. "I already told you I wanted nothing to do with you yet you stay around. You being hurt is no one's fault but your own."

"You say that...yet I find you in my bed more often than not Xyla."

"We need to go downstairs."

"I need to ask you something first."

"What?" I drawled, rolling my eyes. I walked to my dresser and grabbed my diamond earring before moving my hair aside and putting it on. I could see Julius looking at me through the reflection in the mirror and it made my body heat, but I pushed the warmth down and clenched my jaw. His eyes flicked around the room, his mouth still shut and I sighed. "What is it? We don't have forever."

"I'm not going to be King after this summer. You know that, right?"

"I know." I nodded. "It will be your son."

"I don't plan on staying in Jeradua after I'm dethroned."

"Really?" I crossed my arms. "Where will you go?"

"The universe is vast, Xyla. I'll go wherever I want." He smiled, looking around in thought.

"Good for you," I muttered. Some of us didn't have the luxury of being able to do such things. I'd only ever been to Heaven and Jeradua and I was sure I'd never go anywhere else. Especially not after becoming the Queen.

"Come with me."

My body froze as I looked at his serious expression. "What?"

"Come with me, Xyla."

My eyes softened as I looked at him and he walked toward me. "Think about it. We could start our own kingdom somewhere far away...or if you'd never like to sit on a throne again that can be managed. We could be happy together." He tucked my hair behind my ear and I shuddered. "Can you imagine that?"

Our eyes connected and I took a deep breath. "No, I can't."

His brows furrowed and he dropped his hand. "What?"

"I can't imagine that," I shrugged, turning away from him. "Just because you ruined your life and lost the throne, doesn't mean I'm stupid enough to do the same. Did you even think before you made this selfish request, Julius?"

"Selfish?" He asked. "How is me asking you to come with me selfish?"

"Because you got the chance to be at the head of the world for all these years and right when I'm about to feel that power, you want to take me away!"

"You think my reason for wanting you to come with me is because I want to strip you of the joy of ruling the world?"

"Yes."

"Xyla, surely you're wiser than that," he said. "Surely, you know that I'd give you the world if you asked for it, right?" I shrugged. "I'm asking you to come with me because I love you. I'm not returning to this kingdom and of all the things I'd leave behind, you'd be the hardest to forget."

"Then don't leave. Simple as that."

"Now who's being selfish?"

"I'm not asking you to stay. It's simply an offer since you seem so obsessed with me."

"Love is an obsession now?"

"When it's unrequited, yes."

"Is that what it is?"

"What?"

"Unrequited," he said. "This between us is unrequited?"

"Of course."

"If I remember correctly, you were the one who told me you loved me first, Xyla."

I sighed, shaking my head. "People lie when they're lonely." I adjusted the straps of my heels and glanced at myself before placing an arm on his shoulder. "No hard feelings, right? Thank you for being a friend when I needed one, but I no longer need you nor love you. Take those words with you to whatever far land you travel to."

꧁꧂

As I walked closer to the dining room I heard my father yelling and I smiled. I took a seat next to Mia who gave me a small smile as if she hadn't been gone a day. She mysteriously popped up a few days ago and wouldn't tell me where she was and I let it go for now, but eventually, she'd have to tell me.

"You two are done!" My father yelled as he pointed to Syn and Queen.

"We're done when we're done," Syn said.

Queen had a blank expression pinned at our father when she looked at him and I wondered why. Did Syn change her that much? She was usually a lot more respectful to him.

My father scoffed and sat back in his seat in fury before turning to Genesis. "So both of my daughters come to stay with you and just let them become whores?!"

Ouch. I felt an immense burning pain at his words, but it hurt less than usual. He had already yelled at me for being with Felix.

Genesis scoffed. "I don't control anybody. Besides they're happy together."

"No!" His voice thundered. "She's probably only with him because your son is forcing her to be!"

"Excuse me?" Genesis snapped. "MY son wouldn't do that."

"Oh, he'll murder hundreds of people but he stops himself at threatening a girl?" Felix scoffed.

"I'm not being forced to do anything!" Queen yelled from her seat.

"Queen, don't say a word," my father instructed her. "Go pack your bags. We're going home."

"She's not going anywhere," Syn seethed.

My father abruptly stood up with a loud screeching noise from his chair as it fell. "I say she will!" The whole table suddenly became quiet as they watched Syn look at my dad blankly. Syn let go of Queen's hand and stood up from his seat swiftly before taking calm steps towards my father. My father stood up tall against Syn and grabbed his collar violently when he got close enough. "She's coming with us!"

Syn looked between my father and his hand on his shirt. His head shook slowly as his eyes moved back up to his and I swallowed a nervous breath. "You forget your place here, Jonathan. I suggest you sit the fuck down before I let it be known."

I knew this was a bad idea.

My father reluctantly let go of him and took a step back. His murderous glare was still trained on Syn, but Syn ignored it as he picked up my father's chair. I looked back to Queen who had her hands buried in her hair in distress. I would've felt bad for her if I didn't feel she deserved it.

"What did you want to discuss about the treaty?" Julius asked as he walked in. He avoided my eyes as he walked to the head of the table and sat down and I laughed to myself.

The power I hold...

"I'd like to move the wedding up," My father said as Syn pulled out his own chair for him to sit. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Julius already advised him to wait but he seemed to be ignoring that after his recent scuffle with Syn.

I looked around at the table and noticed that Felix wasn't here. I was going to completely murder him if after this lunch I tracked him to some girl's house. We're going to be rulers, he needs to give up his childish ways.

"That's not a good idea, Jonathan," Julius said in a warning tone.

"I don't care," he spat as he flared up at Syn and sat down.

"We need time to properly prepare, you know this. This is only happening once and it needs to go off perfectly." I knew he wasn't talking about the marriage, but rather killing Syn. Everyone at the table seemed to think he meant the wedding though.

"He's right," I said.

"Fine," he hissed.

We all ate our food in a ridiculously uncomfortable silence until Syn spoke up. "We need to speak about tomorrow."

"Oh, yes. The decorations are all prepared in the ballroom for her arrival."

"What's happening tomorrow?" I asked in confusion.

"We're finally going to meet the woman stalking Queen. Keep in mind that you are all to come. Be here at six p.m. sharp," Julius replied.

"Do I need to be here?" I asked.

"You were on the list." He muttered. "Apparently you have a secret."

I momentarily shuddered at his words and kept my head glued to the table. He couldn't be excited about our secret being revealed...right? He may have been pissed, but there was no way he would want Felix or Genesis to find out about us.

"Apparently we all do," Queen said as she glanced at my father and me.

What's that about?

After the lunch Queen was unusually quiet. Her and her father had exchanged quite a few words, but it didn't seem to bother her at lunch. In fact, it didn't even seem to cross her mind until we reached the room. Her movements were droopy and there was a permanent frown creased into her forehead showing me how lost in thought she was.

Hoping she'd bring it up to me herself considering I didn't say anything to her. Instead, I caught up on work while she went into the closet. After almost an hour of not hearing a thing from her, I walked towards the it and leaned against the doorframe.

She was sitting in a pile of her clothes with her back to me as she picked one up at a time and dropped it. I just cleaned this.

I rolled my eyes as I walked next to her to pick things up and I heard her sniffling. I turned to her to see her face buried into her hands and I dropped the heap of clothes in my arms before sitting a few feet away from her.

"What's going on?"

She wiped her eyes and when she looked up at me I noticed her burning red eyes looking back at me. "Just my dad, I didn't want to care, but now it's kind of setting in."

"Don't let it hurt you, Princess. He's the one who's in the wrong." She remained quiet with a small nod and interlocked her hands in her lap. I pulled her to my chest and she silently laid her head against me. I kissed her forehead and rubbed her back, trying my hardest to comfort her. "Who cares what he thinks about you?"

"I do," she whispered.

I sighed and shook my head. I couldn't understand how she still cared about him after everything he's done to her. "One day you're going to snap, Queen."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"You're too forgiving. You'll let your family walk all over you and one day they'll do something unforgivable and you'll just lose it," I said honestly.

"You say I'm too forgiving yet you don't seem to mind it." She frowned.

"That's because I'm selfish. If I was a better person I'd stop apologizing and let you leave."

She laughed softly and I was relieved to finally see she wasn't crying anymore. She rubbed her eyes before yawning and I observed her silently. Queen was everything I didn't know I needed until she was here and I wanted to be with her for the rest of my life. I wasn't sure before, but these past few days solidified everything for me.

As I thought about the rest of my life and her, the gun came back to mind. It was still missing and we had no idea who had it. "I need to tell you something," I spoke up. She looked at me hesitantly and nodded. I told her the entire story about the gun and how it was missing and I watched as worry took over her features.

"So you're telling me that you could die?"

"No, but I'm not sure. I'm just telling you just in case." I wiped away her stray tears and sighed. "Don't worry. I'm sure if I was in danger I'd be dead already. Besides I'm just telling you it has the capability of killing me, not that anyone will actually come shoot me."

With my assurance she nodded and stopped crying. "Okay, good."

I kissed her hand and she smiled at me. I stood up and held a hand out to help her up. "Thanks." She rubbed the back of her neck before giving me a sheepish smile. "Sorry for the mess. I know you hate shit like this."

"It's okay. I'll clean it up if you want to go to sleep?"

"I want to help."

"Okay." We picked up the clothes together and silently cleaned up the closet. With the both of us working together, we were done within a few minutes and I organized random things around us. "I wonder what Lilith is going to say tomorrow."

I slowly turned to her and raised my brow. "How did you know her name?"

She glanced at me as she put clothes away and shrugged. "I met her a few days ago. It was weird. I was in a bathroom stall."

"Queen, she's dangerous." I warned. This was the first time I had heard about Queen meeting her.

"So I've heard," she mumbled. I walked towards her and she sighed. "Syn, she seems nice."

"Now is not the time for you to be naive. I've known her for years and she's far from nice. She's a user and manipulator. She's probably using you for something, but we just don't know yet."

In all the time I knew Lilith, she was never nice without proper motivation. She constantly had a plan. My father may have been tricked by it hundreds of times, but I wasn't the same as him. Queen wouldn't be like him either if I had any day in it.

"She's coming tomorrow, Syn. You expect me to ignore her?" Queen asked in obvious irritation.

"I expect you to not fall for her lies. She's good at telling them" I said seriously.

Queen looked at me for a moment and nodded. "Okay."

I pulled her in for a quick kiss and picked up a dress that had caught my eye in the closet. "You can wear this one tomorrow."

"Of course you choose the most revealing dress." She said with a smirk.

"I can't help that I like seeing you as close to naked as possible." She laughed and shook her head as I set the dress down. "Are you worried about tomorrow?"

"What do you mean?"

"The whole revealing secrets thing. I've told you all my secrets, but you haven't told me anything. Are you worried that something may come out tomorrow?"

"A little bit," she admitted.

I raised my brows at her. I was expecting her to say no but her being worried made me think she was hiding something.

"How are you going to make me tell you all my secrets, but I don't know yours?" I asked. She walked out of the closet and I followed closely behind her.

"Because I don't know my secrets."

"What does that mean?"

"I have no recollection of any part of my life before I got adopted by my parents. All I have are nightmares about it and they're horrible enough to make me worried about tomorrow," she admitted as she sat on the bed.

"What type of nightmares?"

"There's a recurring one of a fire and then I hear people screaming." She sighed. "I've never pushed myself to try to think about it because I'm not sure I want to know."

I sat next to her and held her hand. "Regardless of what is revealed, I'm not going anywhere."

"Really?" She whispered.

"I promised you already, Princess."

The sound of howling in the distance made us glance towards the window and I groaned as I felt a pain in my chest. "It's a full moon," she said, stating the obvious. "Are you turning...?"

"No."

"Because you can't or because you don't want to?"

"Both." I sighed.

"Hmm." She yawned again. "You want me to make you super mad right now?"

"No." I laid back on the bed. "I want to be here tonight. With you. We have an entire eternity for him to visit you."

"Visit me?" She asked. "I didn't ask you if you were going to turn so that I could see him. I just imagine that it'd be uncomfortable to keep him in...especially during a night like this."

"It is, for a little while." I closed my eyes, resisting the urge to show just how much pain I was in as the night became deeper. I didn't need her to worry. "But I'm fine. Just stay with me tonight?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" She smiled, crawling to my side. A warm feeling flooded my chest at her words and I relaxed into the bed. A light beside me made me glance at Queen's chest and I furrowed my brows as her necklace began glowing. Noticing the direction of my eyes she looked down. "Oh yeah, it's been doing that quite a bit."

"It's only supposed to do that when there's been an exchange in power," I muttered.

"You don't seem weaker," she asked with a yawn.

"No. But you do." I said as I glanced at her suddenly tired expression. I should've been in more pain than I was right now. Nights of the full moon when I wasn't transitioning felt worse than when I was. There was no release of tension or sudden liberation, it was all gut wrenching pain.

There was none of that right now.

My chest suddenly ached and I felt another warm feeling float inside of me. Pain across my body was washed away with the warmth, leaving me confused yet intrigued at what was happening.

What the hell? I made the necklace to be able to draw from my power source, my soul...not the other way around.

I looked at Queen as she put herself into a sleeping position and closed her eyes. She was getting tired...because of me. Each second that passed that I'd feel better, she'd fall deeper and deeper into her slumber. Her breathing would slow and her heart beat steadied dramatically...

Me being able to take magic from her only meant one thing:

Whatever she was...

...she was a lot more powerful than me.