Tarnished Crown (Gravestone Elite #2) by Caitlyn Dare (books like beach read TXT) 📕

My father gives me a stiff nod. He’s quiet. Too quiet.

“The car is outside,” he says thickly, and I don’t miss the hitch in his voice.

“Daddy?” I croak, the sudden weight of everything crashing down on me.

“It’s all going to be okay, sweetheart,” he says, gently taking my elbow and steering me toward the door.

As he opens the front door and ushers me outside, I’m sure I hear him whisper, “You can do this, Mia. You have to.”

Gravestone Hall is as beautiful as I remember from the night of my Eligere. However, if I’d have known then what I know now about that night, I might not have been so seduced by its beauty and charm.

My father keeps his hand on the small of my back and we enter the room. Blood hums in my ears as everyone stands to welcome me. The girl of the moment.

Cade Kingsley’s prosapia.

They think it’s so sacred, such a coveted title. But it’s all lies. A smokescreen for what really transpires in the name of tradition.

I keep my eyes low, unable to meet any of the heavy stares I feel as we walk to our table.

Once seated, I finally lift my gaze and search for the only eyes that I know will ground me to this moment. Bexley looks as handsome as ever in his black dinner jacket and dress shirt. His eyes betray his cool appearance, though, pain flickering across his expression. I offer him a weak smile before moving on to find Sasha. She looks as miserable as I feel, seated between Brandon and Channing. Tim and Fawn are with them, and Alex. But Ashton and Brook are seated at another table, and I take small satisfaction in the fact that they don’t get to sit with the Electi tonight.

The other tables are filled with men and women—some I recognize, some I don’t. I spot the Rexfords, Bexley’s grandfather, Tim’s father, and Phillip Cargill. And I spot District Attorney Bailey, and Police Commissioner Walters.

Everyone here is directly linked to Quinctus and the Electi in some way. They know what tonight means… they know, and yet they do nothing.

I accept a glass of champagne from an immaculately dressed server just as Mom touches my arm. “Isn’t this lovely?” she whispers, her spellbound smile enough to make me want to gouge my eyes out.

Phillip steps up to the podium and ushers the room into silence. “Friends and family, I welcome you all here, on the birth of the new moon, for this celebration. Tonight, we shall witness two of our young enter one of our most respected traditions.” His eyes find mine and a chill runs through me. “The Coglio.”

29

Bexley

Sitting on the end of my bed, I drop my head into my hands.

This can't be happening.

But it is. In only a few short hours, Mia is going to be officially Cade's. Okay, so it may not be as official as an actual wedding ceremony, but in Q's eyes, it's as important.

She's meant to be mine.

It's meant to be us.

"ARGH," I growl, falling back on the bed and pulling at my hair until I fear I might be about to rip it out.

Memories of my time with her last night play out in my mind, swirling with the fear I have that it could have been our last time. If it was our last time, then it shouldn't have been like that. Sasha shouldn't have been passed out in the same bed while I said goodbye to the girl who owns me, who fucking holds my heart in the palm of her hands, so she can be with another man.

A soft knock sounds out on my bedroom door, but I ignore it. I don't want to see or talk to anyone despite the fact that I'm not going to have a choice in just over an hour. I'm expected to be dressed and ready to escort his highness to this fucking ceremony.

I think of the arrogant fuck and imagine him in his room right now with a satisfied smirk on his face, knowing that he's about to win. He's about to take the only thing in this world I give a fuck about and rub it in my face.

I'm going to be forced to live here with them, to see them together every single fucking day. Any other couple would get their own place, like Tim and Fawn, but not the fucking king himself. He's staying in his fucking castle so he can lord it over me.

The door pushes open despite the fact that I didn't invite whoever it was in before it quickly clicks shut again.

"Hey," a familiar voice says. I can hear the understanding in Channing’s tone, but I don't look over even though his concerned eyes are boring into me. "How are you doing?"

"This is bullshit," I spit. "There's got to be a way we can stop it."

"Trust me, Bex. If there was anything, I'd have told you by now. I don't want this for either of you. I just got off the phone with Phillip though, and he's ordered me to trail them back here—"

"But we're all going to the Cargills’," I interrupt, already dreading the party that Ashton is throwing in celebration for his best friend.

"You all are. I've been instructed to make my excuses and to come back here to keep an eye on her."

"What the fuck are they expecting him to do?" I bark, pushing from the bed until I'm sitting once more.

"They don't know. That's the problem."

Running my hand through my hair to get it out of my eyes, I stare up at Channing. "What the fuck was the deal you made with them exactly?"

His lips part to respond, and I can already hear his refusal to explain in my ears like he has done every other time I've asked… but today he must take pity on me, because instead of refusing, he comes to sit next to me.

He rests his