The Lonely King (Book 1 of the Shadows, Roses and Ice Trilogy)

Chapter Nineteen

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Amabelle's POV

"What?" I asked incredulously, my hands shaking.

"So while Amabelle is sleeping so soundly in bed, I will come to visit her. Slit her throat, and wash the halls of your bedroom with her blood."

Kamil's voice echoed through my mind like a hollow cave. My whole body grew cold, rigid, and pale. The fear froze my limbs as nausea swept throughout my stomach like a riptide. This feeling of terror was enough to sober me almost completely.

Dante was at my side in an instant, holding my hand. Normally I would have felt sparks zing with our unity but currently I felt nothing. Paralyzed, I looked up at him slowly. His mouth moved up and down, like he was speaking but I couldn't hear it. My ears were for some reason ringing as if an explosion had gone off nearby and my eardrums had been damaged in the blow.

My hands started to feel light, that pins and needles sensation humming its way up into my arms. Then my head was spinning, Dante's voice now muffled but getting more audible.

I was aware he was shaking my shoulders to capture my attention, which did help with the freezing of my limbs, but made the urge to vomit overcome me. "I think I'm going to be sick."

My feet were off, Dante leading me to his bathroom. In flashes I saw the walls of the bathroom, next the floor, and finally the toilet. Losing control of my body, I lurched my head practically into the toilet right as burning fluid and chunks of food from the previous night shot out of my mouth. The smell was enough to make me nauseous all over again, and eventually made me empty myself again, and again.

Dante stayed by my side the entire time, coaxing me as I got sick. His gentle touch helped contradict the burning in my throat.

"Hell," I swore, out of breath.

Dante kissed the top of my head and wiped some vomit off of my cheek with a warm wet cloth. "I'm sorry, ma rose."

Rubbing my eyes, I realized quickly that I had not removed my makeup from last night either. Laughing a little, even though the current situation was not amusing, I knew I had to look like a zombie.

"How many glasses of champagne did I have last night?" I grumbled, angry at myself.

Dante chuckled a little stiffly. "I lost count after the sixth or seventh glass. I should have slowed you down, but you were having so much fun... and I genuinely didn't know you were so drunk until I watched you sit down."

Smiling slightly, I sighed. "I apparently didn't either."

Worry began to creep its way back in, remembering Xavier's bad news about Kamil. Taking a deep breath, I tilted my head back down. Anxiety filling me, I fiddled with my fingers in my lap. The taste in my mouth was sour, and thinking about the fact that Kamil was loose, somewhere in this kingdom made the back of my throat dry...

"Hey, I know what you're thinking. It's going to be okay," Dante assured me, holding my chin up to meet his eyes again.

He was so sure, yet the pit in my stomach warned me otherwise. I tried to smile, but I wasn't sure how convincing it was.

"I won't stop until I've searched every inch of this kingdom to find him. I promise that no harm will ever come to you, ever again." Dante told me, his tone deadly serious.

I swallowed, offering what little of a smile I had that still remained. "Don't make promises you can't keep."

Dante frowned and held my shoulders tightly. "Amabelle, I intend to keep that promise, no matter what I have to do to keep it. Do you understand me?"