Cruel King (Royal Elite #0) by Rina Kent

“Where are we going?” I murmur, trying not to sound as spooked as I feel.

He says nothing.

My back muscles snap upright as my eyes bulge, bouncing between him and the pitch-black road.

“This isn’t funny, Levi.”

“It isn’t supposed to be.”

My breathing stutters as distorted images from that night with Mum claw at my walls like hungry predators.

“Don’t… Don’t…”

“You’re a good little princess, aren’t you, Astrid?” His tone switches to a chilling, apathetic range.

I grip the door handle with shaking fingers as the road keeps darkening and no cars come into view.

“Levi, stop.”

“You should learn by now that I don’t do what I’m told.”

My heart pounds against my ribcage so hard, it nearly falls to my feet.

He keeps going and going and going.

I can’t believe I fell for his trick. He distracted me with the story about his mother just to have me drop my guard so he can destroy me in the worst way possible just like he always wanted.

My frantic gaze flickers between the black surrounding us, the pounding of the rain, and how he pushes the accelerator until we’re almost flying off the road.

I want to fight him. I want to be crazy and force the wheel out of his hand, but I’m frozen.

The night of my mum’s accident plays in the back of my head like an old, grainy film.

My eyes blur with unshed tears, recalling the exact moment the car flipped and I had to watch her lifeless form lying in a pool of blood.

The car comes to a screeching halt and I jump up, a sob tearing from my throat.

“Not a bad ride, huh, princess?”

My head snaps his way at the same time as my hand. I slap Levi so hard, my palm stings, and then I’m running in the darkness.

Rain soaks me immediately. My hair sticks to my cheeks, and water forms rivulets down my face and neck. My shoes sink in the mud, holding me down.

Strong hands surround my waist from behind and pull me off the ground until I’m suspended mid-air.

I thrash against his hold, fighting my tears. I’m thankful that the rain won’t make them too visible. “Leave me the hell alone! I told you I’m done playing your stupid games!”

His lips find my ear and he nibbles on the flesh before speaking in a low, shiver-inducing tone. “And I told you, I’m not, princess.”

The bubble of anger, rage, and betrayal roll into one and claw to spill free, but what’s the point if I can’t even fight him?

What’s the point if he keeps wrecking my peace like a vengeful hurricane?

“Why?” I scream at the top of my lungs, still clawing and kicking at him. “I was living just fine in my invisibility bubble, why did you have to make me visible?”

“I made you visible, huh?”

“You did! You screwed up everything.”

“You were never supposed to be invisible, princess,” he whispers the words in that rough voice of his.

My skin heats. Even the rain can’t erase the burn.

“Why did you bring me here? Are you planning to erase me?” I blurt. “I swear I’ll turn into one of those vengeful ghosts and haunt you for eternity.”

He chuckles, sending shivers along the shell of my ear. “You’ll haunt me, huh?”

“Duh. For eternity, mate. You can count on it.”

“I can count on it,” he repeats with amusement.

“If you hear doors squeaking and sounds in the hallways, that’d be me. If you see smoke in the mirror, that’d be me, too. Oh, and if you trip and fall in the game? Yup, totally me.”

He laughs, the sound echoing around us like a hymn. “That’s kind of like clinging, you know.”

“I’m game as long as it makes your life miserable.”

“Who says it will?” he murmurs the words straight against my earlobe. His breaths tickle the skin, but his lips never do.

The freaking tease.

I clear my throat. “So where are we? The cemetery? I’m warning you, my stepmother calls me a cat with nine lives. She does it behind my back of course because she has her snobbish image to keep and all that jazz. Don’t tell her I know. So anyway, it might take a bit of effort to finish me off.”

“Are you always a drama queen when nervous?”

“Nope. Only when I’m kidnapped to the middle of nowhere. You know, by a devil minion and all that.”

Still holding me, he spins us around so I’m facing a cottage-like house on the unkempt ground. The car’s lights highlight the antique, cosy architecture with the rain pounding down on it.

“Okay. I’ve got to admit it’s a nice hideout for a serial killer.”

“This is our Meet Up,” he says with amusement. “Usually, the team would be here if it weren’t game night.”

“Right. No serial killer activities, I guess.” I peek at him. “Why did you bring me here?”

“You asked about my father and I brought you to the best place to feel it.”

“Feel what?”

He drops me to my feet, and I slowly turn around.

In the middle of nowhere, under the pouring rain, Levi opens his arms wide and tilts his head back. Water soaks his gorgeous face, the hard tendons of his collarbone, and his Viking hair.