I grabbed his cold, wrinkly hand.
“No, no, no. This can’t happen.” My voice broke into pieces.
“You can’t die. I haven’t gotten my revenge yet.”
He just stared at me.
“I haven’t made you understand that I didn’t kill Mother!” I squeezed his hand tightly.
“You haven’t even seen me for who I really am. You can’t die thinking I am a bad daughter!”
He tried to speak, but only a small cough came out.
“No,” I shook my head wildly.
“You are not allowed to die.”
Tears filled my father’s eyes.
They spilled over his cheeks, mixing with the blood.
“Jessica” he finally realized “I am sorry.”
“Don’t.”
“I know I failed you,” he whispered, each word a struggle.
“I knew this day would come.”
“Stop talking. You are losing blood.”
“I thought… I thought the best way to protect you was to keep you in that hospital.”
I stopped breathing for a second.
“What?”
“I knew they would come for you,” he coughed again.
“I thought the psychiatric hospital would be the safest place where nobody would look for you.”
I stared at him, anger and pain burning in my chest.
“Don’t give me excuses now. You chose Victoria. You believed her when she pointed her finger at me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You sent me away when I needed you.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You made me wake up tied to a bed when I was supposed to be mourning my mother!”
More tears rolled down his face.
“I’m sorry.”
Tears wouldn’t stop falling from my eyes.
“Stop saying that”…” I promised myself I would work harder.
I promised myself I would become someone you couldn’t ignore.
You were supposed to look at me one day and realize the mistake you made.
You are not allowed to die yet,you are a Lycan with magic heal yourself father!”
My father slowly shook his head.
“Wolf magic doesn’t work here anymore, Jessica. If it did, I would have healed myself.”
My heart dropped.
My fathers origin were Lycans unlike my mothers who had no wolf magic…i thought…i thought fuck I don’t even know what to say anymore… i bit my lips, water rolled out of my eyes and nose
My father took a very slow, shaking breath.
“Just let me apologize. I am sorry, Jessica. I am sorry for how I treated you. I am sorry you thought we never loved you.”
“I am sorry for everything.”
He opened his eyes fully, and his gaze fell on the object pressed against my chest.
“What are you carrying?”
I looked down.
The teddy bear.
His eyes widened in sudden panic.
“Please… help your sister.”
I stared at him.
“She is at the palace,” his breathing became rapid and shallow. Read this novel at novelping.com for the best experience.
“Before they get to her… help her.”
My throat closed completely.
“My sister…”
He looked into my eyes.
“She is already dead,” I said, my voice empty.
I raised the blood-soaked teddy bear so he could see it clearly.
“This is what I got for her birthday.”
His eyes stretched wide with pure horror.
I reached under my shirt and pulled out the silver chain.
“This was around her neck. Her blood is on this bear.” I let the necklace drop against my chest.
“She died because of your stupid tradition.”
My father stared at the bear, his body trembling against the sword.
“One of us is raised to become the queen,” I pointed at the necklace.
“And then what? We crown these men as kings, and in the end, the queen either dies or gets banished.”
I stood up, stepping back from him.
“You knew this! You knew this tradition was killing our family, and you still refused to end it.” I looked around the large, quiet room.
“Now everyone is gone. Everyone!”
My father looked at me, his face completely pale.
His lips moved slightly.
“Please… forgive me.”
He took one final, long breath.
His chest stopped moving.
His hand fell off the armrest, hanging limp by his side.
“Father?” I whispered.
Nothing.
I touched his cold face.
“Father.”
He was gone.
I hated him.
I had hated him for five long years.
But I never wanted him to die.
Not like this.
Not while he was finally trying to apologize.
Not while I still had a thousand things I wanted to scream at him.
I had seen too much death tonight.
My twin sister.
Her unborn baby.
The kind servants.
Sandra.
And now my father.
I couldn’t even feel the sadness anymore.
A heavy numbness wrapped around my brain.
I kept hoping this was just a bad dream.
Maybe if I closed my eyes really hard, I would wake up back in my small hospital room.
I actually wished I was back there.
I reached out and gently pushed his eyelids closed.
Then, I pulled the two metal rings off his fingers the rings my mother had given him.
I held them tightly in my hand before sliding them into my pocket.
I turned around and walked out of the house.
I had only one reason to stay alive now.
Caspian.
I was going to find him, and I was going to kill him.
I walked through the streets of the city.
It was very dark.
The loud music and celebration from earlier were completely gone.
The roads were empty and quiet.
Josephine’s voice kept repeating in my head.
“Survive first.”
I kept walking, holding the bear.
Suddenly, something hard and heavy struck the back of my head.
A sharp, blinding pain exploded behind my eyes.
My vision flashed white, then black.
I staggered forward, my legs turning to water.
I reached up to touch the back of my head.
When I looked at my fingers, they were covered in blood.
I tried to turn around, but my knees finally gave up.
I crashed onto the sandy road.
Through my blurry vision, I saw two tall men standing over me.
“The assassin head said no witnesses,” one of them said in a deep voice.
I tried to move my arms, but I couldn’t feel them.
“What should we do with her?” the second man asked, looking down at me.
“We could throw her off the cliff.”
The first man looked toward the edge of the city.
“Wait. In a few days, the king is supposed to offer an omega to the River Spirit.”
“The ritual?”
“Yes. But he said he was going to skip it this year.” The man pointed his foot at me.
“She is almost dead anyway. Let’s offer her to the spirit.”
The second man nodded slowly.
“That makes sense. That way, even if the king doesn’t perform the ritual, the city will still be safe.”
I wanted to scream.
I opened my mouth, but no sound came out.
“Agreed.”
Rough hands grabbed my arms.
They pulled me up and dragged me across the rough sand.
The sharp rocks scraped against my skin, but I was too weak to fight back.
I couldn’t even keep my eyes open.
I felt the cold wind blowing up from the deep cliff.
They lifted my body into the air.
“Throw her,” a voice ordered.
The hands let go.
I felt my body drop into the empty, cold night.
And then, the world completely disappeared.
“At the end I couldn’t avenge my twin sister”