The King's Queen

Chapter 29

Jackson's POV

The splitting pain that pierced my heart made it hard for me to breathe. I'd never experienced heartburn before, but in that moment it seemed like the most suitable thing to explain what was happening to me. It was unbearable but if I had the option to live my whole life with the pain in my chest, it would be worth it if I still had Grace by my side.

When I was younger, I'd heard stories about how when a person's soulmate is in danger, they are sometimes able to detect it through the soulmate bond, almost like a sixth sense. It wasn't something I'd believed, or rather it wasn't something I'd thought about until that day. I'd been in a meeting with Prince CaVaughn and the other advisors when I felt it. There was no explanation for the inexplicable premonition that settled on me. Grace was in trouble and I needed to go now.

After arriving in the Royal Realm, I got the ill-fated news that Grace had been severely injured and had been taken to the Royal Hospital. I ran to the hospital like a mad-man, ignoring the stares of the other nobles who were probably surprised to see me looking so anxious and scared, and not at all like the usual Jackson Bentley.

I hurriedly got a hold of a nurse who did some checks and came back to tell me that Grace had died. But I refused to accept it. That couldn't be true. That couldn't be reality. I could still feel the soulmate bond. She must be alive, fighting to survive. The nurse insisted that Grace was not at the hospital and must have been taken to the morgue.

"Are you asking about an Omega woman?" A voice behind me asked, and I whirled around to see a man who wore a small frown. He was from the Nu rank.

"Yes, do you know where she is?" I was panicking and frantic for answers.

"I was the one who brought her here," he said. "I was delivering some documents when I smelt the blood and found her. She'd been attacked by the bodyguards of a princess." He shook his head sadly. "I took her here but after they saw a tattoo on her arm they refused to treat her. A woman came by and took her away." He pointed me in the direction that the woman had gone and I ran off without hesitation.

My feet pounded against the pavement of the hospital compound while my heart pounded against my ribcage as I prayed that I wouldn't be too late in finding Grace. The tattoo that the hospital staff had seen was the emblem of Sepia, the special branding that only the members received. To keep things confidential, organization members were treated at the organization only. The Origen doctors must have been given strict orders not to see to her.

I could smell Grace's scent on the wind as I rounded the corner and in a minute, I'd caught up to them. It was just as the Nu had said. A woman with jet black hair looked up with a frown as I approached them. Grace was lying on a stretcher and just barely breathing. I breathed a sigh of relief that I'd made it in time.

"Are you taking her to the organization's hospital?" I asked.

"No."

My eyes drifted to Grace's still form. "Then you must be trained in emergency aid." I narrowed me eyes at her. "That's the only explanation as to why you're not taking my soulmate to a professional!"

She placed a hand on her hip and leveled an annoyed glare at me. "She's not going to make it. I'm going to put her out of her misery."

"If you lay one finger on my soulmate, I'll make sure that you never know peace again," I warned.

She laughed to herself but her eyes were dead and dull. "Peace doesn't exist. You can continue living in your fairytale world where there's such a thing. The Omega knew what she was getting herself into. The life expectancy for an Omega in Sepia is three months. She's done her time. The only thing left is for her to be silenced permanently. As her squad leader, that is what I will do."