The Reckless Reign (Book 3, The Culled Crown Series)

Chapter 70

"Caine!" I bellowed his name with every last ounce of anger, frustration and power I had left. And still, my voice was drowned out by the rebels gathered around us. "Caine, you piece of shit!"

I could hear Kai trying to get past the crowd of rebels that had closed in behind me.

"Caine!" I yelled, my first hitting the door again. "If you want to torture someone, torture me!" I yelled. "We have unfinished business, you and I. If you're going to hurt someone, it ought to be me! No one here hates you the way I do. And there's no one here you'd rather hurt than me!"

At some point, Nadia's pained screams in the ballroom stopped and the crowd in the antechamber hushed, their attention moving to me. I slammed my fist against the door again. "Caine, you son of bitch, open the damn door and face me you coward!"

By the time I lifted my hand to knock a third time, Kai was there. His hand found my elbow, halting my knocking, and he turned me towards him. "What the hell are you doing?" He spoke loud enough that I knew Caine could hear him.

"Requesting an audience with your uncle," I said. My fist hit the door again, but before I could yell any more taunts at Caine, Kai was hauling me backward.

"Stop it," he said, raising his voice to be heard in the ballroom. "You're going to get yourself killed."

"What I do is none of your business!" I yanked out of his grasp.

I lifted a hand to bang on the door again, but Kai caught my wrist in his strong hand, holding it with a grip that was both strong and yet surprisingly gentle. "Don't goad him."

"Get away from me, Kai."

"You're going to give me a heart attack," he said, his voice quieter. "I'm going to live through this stupid fight and die at twenty-two from pure stress over you."

"Seems fair," I said to him.

He raised his voice, "We'll figure something else out."

"We won't," I hissed. With that, I turned back to the door and yelled: "My name is Monroe Benson and I am goddess-touched!"

The words echoed around the room, just as they had the first time I'd declared them all those months and months ago. Before I'd truly entered the Culling, before I'd been lured in by a rebellion, before I'd ever kissed a prince. And although so many things had changed in my life, this was one thing that had always remained. I could not run from it, could not fight it. I could no more change what I was than I could change the color of my blood or make myself taller.

It simply was.

Kai didn't try to stop me again as I bellowed, "I am goddess-touched and you will open this door and speak to me, Caine. Now!"

Silence reigned.

Kai's hand on my arm tightened. "Please." he whispered. "We can find another way. We don't need a distraction."

"They could be in the way of the rebels coming in through the garden doors," I breathed. "We have no eyes in there, no one to make sure they aren't caught in the blast. With Cohen and Nadia in there, we only have one chance at this. He'll kill them as soon as he sees us coming."

His throat bobbed. "He'll kill you as soon as he sees us coming. Monroe, you didn't see him, the rage he was in when he realized you were gone. When he realized you'd escaped—he was...he wants you dead as badly as you want him dead."

"I won't give him the chance," I whispered. "I promise I won't, Kai."

His eyes were shining and I thought he truly might cry. "I'm begging you to reconsider."