Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 128413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
“We could meet here.” Auden didn’t back down. “I really do need to start doing things, Charisma. I know I’m not the intended heir, but I am meant to be our face for the time being—and I appear to have full cognitive abilities at this point.”
Charisma’s pupils expanded. “Yes”—a soft voice—“and you are the direct line descendent. Your cousin is a substandard replacement.”
This is it. The fault line.
The voice inside Auden’s head was cold and manipulative…and not her own.
Her gorge threatened to rise.
“Yes, and if I’m no longer disqualified by the state of my brain, then no one in the family will argue against a deviation from the transfer document,” Auden pointed out past the churning in her gut, because this was about her baby, about the innocent life she’d promised to protect. “I was created for and trained for this position by both my parents.”
“Yes, you’re right.” A firm nod. “Yes, Devlin has had nowhere near your level of training—and you were Shoshanna’s chosen heir before…”
Auden waved that off before Charisma could walk herself back from her decision. “It would’ve been a useful thing had the experiment worked,” she said. “As it is, it proved a temporary problem, and I’m now at full capacity.”
“What about your physical status? It’s not safe for that to be made public.”
That risk wasn’t imagined. The Scotts had made a lot of enemies, many of whom wouldn’t hesitate at acting against a pregnant woman. “We make RainFire sign a confidentiality clause backed up by the promise of a ruinous financial penalty.” Once again, the words came from a part of her that felt colder and more mercenary than she’d ever believed herself to be. “They don’t have enough money to risk it.”
“I should’ve thought of that,” Charisma said, but it was with something akin to pride in her tone. “You truly are your mother’s daughter. She would be proud.”
Auden was going to throw up any second. “So we’re agreed?” she managed to say. “I’ll deal with RainFire?”
“Yes—but not here,” Charisma said. “We have a public building we can utilize. And to assure there is no attempt at interference from inside the house, I’ll make it so neither Hayward nor Devlin knows about the meeting until it is fait accompli.”
They have no real power, Charisma telepathed, but they could cause you physical harm. Especially as neither ever thought to come so close to the throne.
Auden nodded. You are a true soldier, someone on whom I can rely.
Charisma’s spine grew straighter in front of her, her face aglow. “I’ll start work on this now, sir.”
Auden barely managed to wait until after the aide had pulled the office door shut behind herself before she ran to the private toilet attached to the office, and threw up the contents of her stomach. The shudders that wracked her were hard and raw and she worried that they were hurting her baby.
Which was why, after she’d cleaned up, she went and saw Dr. Verhoeven.
“Nausea at this stage of the pregnancy is unusual, but it does happen,” he told her. “As for the fetus, its readings are within the normal parameters. You should, however, hydrate yourself with nutrient-enriched water.”
After thanking him, Auden grabbed a bottle of the prescribed water, then made her way out to the back of the property. The air was crisp and cold, the manicured lawn a bright green that seemed unreal, the trees at the back neat and tidy.
Not even a hint of the wild forests of the place RainFire called home.
That Remi called home.
She tried to focus on that, on the fleeting peace she’d found at the cabin, but all she could think about was how those words, those manipulations had come so quickly to her tongue. Her father hadn’t been like that, and he was the one who’d raised her for the most part. Even though she knew he’d hidden a lot of his evil from her, she wasn’t wrong in her judgment of his overall personality.
Henry’s household had been more martial, less political. He hadn’t been the one with the silver tongue in his partnership with Shoshanna. That had been Auden’s mother. And today, that had been Auden.
So slick, so cold, so nauseatingly serpentine.
Realizing she was in danger of hyperventilating, she began a slow walk across the lawn. She wanted to cradle her bump, wanted to reassure her baby with loving contact, but all she could do in this place where others might be watching was touch her baby’s mind. I’m here. I’m your mama. You’re safe.
The baby’s brain wasn’t yet developed enough to understand those words, but Auden hoped it would understand the emotion behind them. Because Auden wasn’t hiding anything when it came to the child in her womb. Her baby would never wonder if she was loved—Auden would drench her world in love.