Steel Princess (Royal Elite #2) by Rina Kent

I’ll go to him instead.

Knox isn’t the one I want to see right now. It’s strange that when I’m a mess and need comfort, Aiden is the first one who comes to mind.

The text is from Knox, telling me he’ll be here in a few minutes.

Disappointment tugs at my stomach.

Of course, Aiden wouldn’t forfeit. It’s always his way or the highway.

Screw him.

I turn off my phone.

After pulling my hair into a ponytail, I exit my room. I’m about to go downstairs when I hear hushed yells coming from Aunt and Uncle’s bedroom.

The door is closed, but I do something I never did before.

I tiptoe closer. No sound comes out. Was I always able to move this silently?

I glue my ear to the door and listen in on their conversation.

“Enough is enough, Blair!” Uncle hisses. “Can’t you see that she’s stressed?”

“She’ll get better with Dr Khan,” Aunt replies with that air of confidence.

“She can’t get better from a disease she doesn’t know about. You can pretend all you want, but she’s remembering, Blair. She’s smart to know those recurring nightmares mean something.”

“She’s not remembering,” there’s a note of panic in Aunt’s voice.

“Even if she isn’t, she will soon. Or those people will come for her.”

People? What people?

“She’ll choose us.” Aunt’s tone hardens. “Elsa will choose us.”

“Even if she does, you can’t pretend that all of this is okay just to protect yourself.”

“Protect myself?” I can almost imagine Aunt scoffing. “I did everything to protect her. I don’t want her to go back to that phase of her life, I wanted her to start anew. I thought you wanted that for her, too.”

“I do, but as Dr Khan said, she can never really move on if she hasn’t dealt with the trauma.”

“She’s dealt with it by forgetting all about it.”

“She was a seven-year-old child, Blair! That was her only defence mechanism. It doesn’t mean she dealt with it. She didn’t know how to deal with it at that age.”

“And you think she does now?”

“She needs to know.” His voice softens and my heart breaks. “Are you blind to the lost look and the tears in her eyes? Are you blind to her screams after the nightmares? Because it cuts me over every time.”

“She’ll be fine. She will.”

“Fuck this, Blair!” He yells. “I won’t let her suffer just so you won’t feel guilty.”

“Keep your voice down,” she whisper-yells.

I glue myself further into the door, my heart almost beating out of my chest.

“I’m done, Blair. Okay? I’m done keeping her in the dark just because you don’t want her to hate you. If you don’t tell her, I will.”

“You don’t know the whole story.”

“I’ll tell her what I know.”

“Shut up, Jaxon.”

“I won’t shut up. You need to face that you abandoned her and her mother when they needed you the most.”

“I did not and you know that.”

“You ran away and never looked back. Elsa lost her mother and family because of it.”

My knees shake and I can’t remain standing. No other sounds come out, and I quietly leave from their door.

My heart slams in my chest.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Aunt abandoned us?

What is that supposed to mean?

Aunt didn’t abandon us. She saved me. She couldn’t have saved me if she abandoned me. Uncle must be wrong.

He has to be.





27





Elsa





I’m distracted out of my mind during the dinner with Knox.

He brought me to the coffee shop where Aiden and I usually have our meals. I’m surprised he knows such a place exists.

Even with the familiar setting and Knox cracking jokes, I can’t concentrate.

I’ve been picking at my salad, but I barely took a bite.

My legs bounce under the table. I emptied the hand sanitiser, but the itch under my skin wouldn’t go away.

The conversation between Aunt and Uncle keeps playing at the back of my mind on an endless loop.

He said she abandoned us. Abandoned us.

And I lost Ma because of that? How so? How the hell did that happen?

“Elsa?”

My head snaps up at Knox’s voice. I’m gripping the fork so tight, my knuckles are white. I think my face is the same, too.

“Sorry.” I force out an awkward smile. “I’m a bit distracted tonight.”

“It’s okay. We can do this another time if you like.”

“Absolutely.” I glide my fork in the salad. “I’m really sorry, Knox. I love your company. I’m just not in my right state of mind.”

“Family problems?”

I wince. “Sort of.”

“I completely understand. I also have an overbearing father.”

“You do?”

“He’s a control freak and is hardly satisfied with anything. I think he rubbed off on me.”

I smile despite myself. “You’re not a control freak, Knox.”