Claiming Her Crown (War Songs of the Courts #2)

Chapter Seven

Hours passed and I remained sitting on the floor, leaning against the foot of the bed as I stared blankly at the door.

I had a bad history with doors. I was always being trapped behind them. My world had been limited behind them, enforced by others. I'd always found ways to break free before this, usually windows, but this was different. This time, a door wasn't the only thing trapping me here.

I sighed and rolled my head back to stare at the ceiling.

Worse than death. That's what Lincoln said.

What could possibly be worse than death? I'd already done that and-

Kieran's cruel eyes flashed in my mind, making my hands flexed over the hardwood floors. My breathing stuttered inside my lungs before I forced the image from my mind. I squeezed my eyes shut and lowered my head until my hair curtained around me, trying to focus on anything else.

I breathed in, not stopping until my expanding lungs ached. An array of smells cluttered the room, piling over one another as I inhaled. Some were stronger than others, but there was one that stood out significantly, drawing my attention.

I breathed in again, this time searching for the smell that had caught my interest. My muscles relaxed as I honed in on it, the smell growing more intense the more focused on it I became. I greedily took it in, the smell addicting and comforting.

I went still mid-breath and my eyes shot open. It was him. His smell.

I frantically pushed off the floor and ran my hands up and down my arms, trying to shake the feeling of him. He was everywhere. Every time I turned around he was right there, making me feel weak.

I really fucking hated feeling weak.

I pushed my hands into my hair as I paced, trying to ignore the now too prevalent smell of him. My eyes traveled to the only open door in the room, where hours of searching revealed that a shower stood just inside. I started towards it instantly, impatiently tugging my clothes off.

I pushed into the bathroom, heading directly towards the only distraction the room provided. The frosty tile sent a chill through me as I opened the glass door and stepped into the shower stall. I turned the knobs until icy water was sent pouring down on me. My bra stuck to me, becoming heavy against my skin as a shiver went through me.

The shock of cold was enough to pull me out of the anxiety plaguing my body, but it did nothing to distract me from the reality I'd been forced into. I stood there, letting the water warm until it became almost too hot against my skin. I looked down at the knobs. One marked with a capital C and the other with a capital H. I could mess with them, trying to find the perfect balance in temperature that I was comfortable with, but eventually the hot water would run out.

It reminded me of my life. Always too hot or too cold. Never comfortable, and never mine to control. There was only a thinly veiled illusion of the possibility.

And I bought it. I pushed back against the stream of my life. It was in my nature to fight it, but it had never prevented me from falling under it's pull. It made all the fighting I'd done seem... Pointless.

I wrenched the water off and pulled the foggy door open, tired of the depressive thoughts that followed wherever I went. I stepped onto the small rug as I wrung my hair of it's water. Uncaring, I let the water run down my body and onto the floor to create a small puddle. I turned to look into the mirror as I reached back and undid my bra.

My breath halted. The bra fell to the floor and I blinked back at myself. Golden eyes flashed in the mirror and I finally breathed. My eyes had always been hazel, but this was more intense than the hazel I was born with. They were the eyes I'd briefly seen on myself after I'd been bitten by Demetri.

I ran my eyes over my face, trying to find the changes. They were there, but the were subtle. My face was less soft around the jaw, sharpening my face into something that was dangerous in a quiet way. My cheekbones seemed more pronounced against a smoother, paler complexion. I really never thought I could get any paler, but it was like this change was intent on bringing all my nightmares true.

I continued the search until I reached my ears. I lifted my hand up, running a finger along the point that hadn't been there before. I jerked my hand from it and stepped back.

I stared back at the woman that stood in the reflection. She was a stranger. Even her hair was different from mine. Deeper in it's color than mine ever had been. But, then I looked to her forehead. I couldn't tell if I was relieved or disappointed to find the same scar I'd worn my entire life.

I turned, wanting to avoid this different version of myself, but froze when a glimpse of something different had reflected back at me in the movement.

Scars.

Four long scars had wrapped themselves just around the side of my ribs. My mouth opened as my eyes stung with the knowledge of where I'd gotten them. Or more accurately, who'd given them to me. I slowly turned my back towards the mirror even more, watching as it climbed higher on my skin, only ending when it reached the middle of my shoulder blades.

Kieran.

His violence now held a permanent spot on my body. Almost like a matching physical mark of what he'd done to my soul. This time, when the memory surfaced, I let it play out. I intentionally let it draw out, every painful detail vivid it's recount.

My last breath sounded in my mind hauntingly as I looked up to meet my own eyes and they darkened back at me. Fangs were now visible behind my top lip. My eyes were filled with unshed tears, but it only made the image more unstable with emotion.

"Queen," I whispered to myself. The notion suddenly held interest where as before it had held none.

Just how many people in the Courts orchestrated my death and others like mine? How many participated in it or just knew about the horrifying things happening and ignored it? The questions wouldn't rest and now  they consumed my thoughts along with something else.

Revenge.

I tilted my head up slightly, examining the new features with a new light.

I was going to be Queen.

The ruler of the Four Courts.

And I was going to burn it all to the fucking ground.

A U T H O R ' S   N O T E

I already know where this is going, but I'm curious...

What do you guys think is going to happen?