Page 50 of The Midnight King
The King smiles. “I told you they would be.”
And then his face changes. Freezes in an expression of horror as he realizes that he’s been caught.
A silent scream throbs in my throat, and my teeth clench until they hurt. Savagely I try to push him away, but he grabs me in an iron grip and dances me through the crowd toward an arched doorway, while I struggle against him.
“Stop it, Sin,” he whispers harshly. “Not here.”
I almost don’t care if anyone sees the scene I’m about to make. But causing a disturbance would contradict my stepmother’s directive that I mustn’t do anything to deter the Prince from proposing. The anklet will interfere if I try to have this argument in the ballroom. I might as well go with him.
He hurries me up a narrow back staircase, down a side passage, then into a silent, empty parlor. Through glass doors, there’s a balcony twined with winter roses, their petals silvered with moonlight.
I spin around to face the King. He presses the button on the wall, and two small lamps come to life, bathing the room in an amber glow.
My fists are clenched, my body shaking. “Drop the glamour.”
The shift is seamless, from the form of the King to his true form. Killian folds his arms and faces me, looking both rebellious and repentant.
I knew the truth, and yet seeing it quakes the very foundations of my heart.
“How long have you been pretending to be the King?” My voice is breathless and quivering, on the verge of tears.
“Since we first met in the library.”
“You mean…” I take a shuddering breath. “The whole time?”
“Yes.”
“Where is the King? Did you kill him?”
“The King died in the library on the night of the first ball,” Killian says. “His heart failed him. I had glamoured myself as a servant so I could keep an eye on you during the party, and I was passing the library when it happened. He’d slipped away from his bodyguards, so I was the only one within earshot at the time. When I reached him, his spirit was already gone.”
“So you decided tobecomehim?”
“Well, yes. I thought it would be a pity if the ball had to be canceled. You were so eager to attend, and I had dressed you so beautifully. I decided to assume the King’s form, his scent, and his voice. My plan was to put him in his bed later that night, so his servants could find him in the morning. I laid a preservation spell on his body and stuffed him inside the bench seat in one of the reading nooks. Actually it’s the one where you found me.”
Something in his tone sends a jolt of dread through my gut. “Killian… tell me he’s not still in there.”
Killian gives me a shamefaced smile.
“Oh gods, I’m going to be sick.” I grip the back of a chair and bend over, trying to get a deep breath.
“I only planned for the deception to last one night,” he says. “But then you seduced me while I was glamoured as the King, and I went along with it, to my own shame. I should have toldyou everything, but you already seemed very distrustful of me… I thought if you discovered the truth, you might refuse my help, which you so obviously needed. So after the initial ball, I continued the ruse, which proved difficult, especially since I had to be an actual ruler during the day. It’s not an easy job.”
“You think I care howdifficultit was for you?” I exclaim. “Is that why you kept sleeping with me? To ease the hardship of acting like the King? Or was it for your own sick amusement?”
Pain and penitence battle in his eyes. “That was… fuck, it wasn’t planned, I swear. I never expected you to be so… enthusiastic. If you recall, on that first night, I asked if you were seducing me only because I was the King. I asked if a different face or a different body would do just as well for you, and you said yes. You seemed toneedsex, and I gave it to you gladly.”
Hot blood rushes to my face, a tidal wave of shame. He’s right… I was ridiculously eager to be carried away on a flood of passion. When I think about how quickly I fell for the man I thought was the King, the father of the Prince I was supposed to be courting…
I turn away from Killian, both hands covering my face.
“Fuck you,” I whisper.
I can’t stay in this room. My whole body is burning with regret, with shock, and the cold air outside looks like relief. I cross the room to the glass doors, fling them open, and rush onto the balcony, splaying my hands over the icy stone of the balustrade.
I hear Killian’s steps behind me. Of course he can’t just leave me alone.
“You think I despise you for needing comfort? For craving physical affection so badly?” His voice has changed—it’s deeper now, thrumming with a regal force I recognize. “I fucking loved it, Sin. That first night surprised me, I’ll admit. But from that moment on, I was addicted. I couldn’t stop. I swear I couldn’t. Fuck, I salivated for your cunt every time I heard youbreathe. Iwas instantly hard every time I saw you. I wanted to tell you about the ruse—I swear I planned to, but I was so damn weak. I wanted more. I couldn’t give you up.”