Rejected Queen by Meg Xuemei X.

CHAPTER 15

Tessa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snow White’s paw landed on my chin. I raised a hand to shove it away, my eyes remaining shut.

I slept the whole day and more and didn’t want to get up. I turned and curled into a ball on the sofa, trying to fall asleep again so I could forget Loki and everything that had happened. I sought oblivion until the arrival of the third trial in a week.

Even in sleep, I couldn’t escape this reality. And when I awoke between hollowed dreams, I felt like I was falling into the abyss.

I’d thought that recognizing the King of the Underworld as the flame I’d been looking for would change everything. I’d started to hope. I’d thought he was different than my ex-mate and all the other powerful men. He’d made me feel special, only to cast me aside like all the other women before him.

I found the fire to my ice, but the fire had rejected me. I bet the Weaver hadn’t seen this coming.

Snow White tugged a lock of my hair hard.

“Go away, Snow,” I pled groggily.

“You need to get up, Tess,” she said. “You don’t roll over because a man dumped you. It happened to me too, but I didn’t quit. Dicks are heartless. I get it. But I don’t get what transpired between you and the king. He destroyed half of the castle for you, yes, but he’s already moved on. He’s having fun now while his demon subjects are patching up his castle. So, chin up, my lady. Show him you don’t give a fuck about him. At least, don’t hole up here moping.”

Acid churned in my stomach.

“What kind of fun is he having?” I asked harshly. “Did he have women come over?”

“Plenty of them,” the Hell Cat said, peeking down at me with pity. “But I didn’t stay and see if he invited any of them to spend the night with him. I was worried about you, so I wanted to be here. The king has never invited a woman to his suite except you. But he and his dukes have some kind of sex dungeons and underground clubs in the deep bowels of the castle.”

My heart was locked in a cage of ice. He was no different than Ragnarö, and I’d almost fallen for the wrong men twice.

“No matter what happens, Tess, I’m on your side,” Snow White said, polishing the nails on her paws. “My fealty isn’t to any dirty dick, not even the dick king, but to you.”

I sank my fingers into Snow White’s curly fur.

“You’re not alone,” she said.

I forced a smile. “Of course not.”

“If you like, you can comb my hair.”

I threaded my fingers through her fur, and she closed her eyes in enjoyment. At least one of us was having a good day.

“Things are worse than I thought, Tess,” the cat said. “As I spied on the king, I heard what he told the dukes. He declared that even if you won the trials, which he hoped you wouldn’t, he’d never allow you to be his true queen. What did you do to piss him off so much? He’s had a lot of women before. He cast all of them aside after a few nights, but he never hated any except you.”

My heart pounded in its icy prison. A dark thought swirled in my head. Could it be that he really had learned about the deal between his father and me? I shook my head and blinked my eyes a few times in confusion. It wasn’t possible. No one knew. Plus, if he’d known, his inner circle would have known, and none of them would have allowed me to walk out of the castle.

The only plausible explanation was that powerful men were cruel, capricious, and heartless. Loki was tired of me. That was all.

“Rumor has it that he’s going to form a harem,” Snow White added. “If he hasn’t already.”

My pain turned numb, and when the numbness passed, the pain throbbed back into my being.

Fated mate, my ass.

I should have taken his fucking head before I even entered the Bride Trials.

I could stop my body from trembling in rage, but I couldn’t stop my heart from bleeding.

I had only myself to blame for being bitten twice as I couldn’t really blame the playboy king. I was sent here to kill him, after all. I was no better than him.

My fingers slipped from Snow White’s fur. I wanted to be alone and I wanted to go back to sleep, hoping when I awoke again, I’d be the Tessa who’d never come to Hell and met its king.

“I’m sorry, Tess, but you need to get up now,” the cat said. “A mandatory lunch was announced when you were sleeping. Every contestant is required to meet in the dining hall of Hell’s Academy in half an hour. I can help comb your hair with my nice claws before you go.”

Somehow, I knew the mandatory lunch was the means to target me.

Just another challenge.

I sat up, my body heavy as lead.

My ice magic coiled around me.

I’m okay, I told it. A couple more weeks, and I’ll get through all the trials.

And I wouldn’t let myself cry over a man again.