enjoyebooks CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 41
POV: Evangeline
My breath freezes in my throat. Henry stands only a few steps away, blocking the aisle, the shadows bending strangely around him as if the books themselves recoil from his presence. Fear crawls up my spine, but anger burns hotter—sharp, electric, impossible to swallow.
I grip the book tighter. “Stay away from me.”
Henry tilts his head, amused. “You wound me. Truly. I came only to talk.”
“I don’t care,” I snap. “You will not lay a hand on me. And you will pay for what you did to my brother.”
His eyebrows rise. “Ah. Straight to the threats. Cordelia always did say you were fiery under all that gentleness.”
I step back, planting my feet. “Mention her again and I’ll scream loud enough to shake this archive apart.”
Henry chuckles lightly. “Oh, Your Majesty… Do you really think anyone would reach you in time? You’re alone. Again.”
My heartbeat stutters—fear, yes, but also fury. “If you want to scare me, you’ll be disappointed. You already took Alexandro. I have nothing left to lose.”
“On the contrary,” he says softly, stepping closer. “You have everything to lose. A kingdom. Children. A marriage crumbling by the hour.”
My jaw tightens. “Sebastian isn’t crumbling.”
“He is,” Henry counters. “And you know it. You saw it in his eyes after the funeral. You saw it when you refused to speak to him.”
My chest tightens painfully. “Stay out of my marriage.”
“Oh, but that is precisely why I am here,” Henry whispers. “To ensure you understand the truth. To help you free yourself from a man who will only ruin you.” He gestures toward the exit. “Walk away from him, and I’ll disappear. I’ll take William far from here. No more deaths. No more grief.”
His words twist through the dusty air like smoke.
I glare at him. “You think I would believe anything you say? After what you did?”
“I did nothing,” Henry says calmly. “Alexandro leaped into a spell that wasn’t meant for him. He died because Sebastian refused to stay back.”
I flinch. The wound is too fresh. Too raw.
Henry sees it—and smiles.
“Your husband is the reason your brother is dead,” he continues. “Not me. Not William. Sebastian. His guilt. His obsession. His desperate need to view himself as the savior.”
“Stop,” I say sharply.
“Why?” Henry murmurs. “Because you know I’m right? Because some part of you already whispered those thoughts when you cried at the grave?”
“I said stop.”
He steps closer, lowering his voice. “Sebastian is the only target, Evangeline. I want nothing from you, nothing from your children, nothing from the kingdom. Only him. And if you keep standing beside him, more people will die. More people you love.”
My pulse roars in my ears.
He leans forward. “Tell me… how many funerals do you think you can endure?”
I grit my teeth. “You don’t get to speak his name. You don’t get to speak about my family at all.”
Henry sighs dramatically. “I’m offering you clarity. You’re drowning in grief because of one man’s choices, and you still choose to cling to him? How loyal. How tragic.”
“I’m angry,” I admit. “I’m broken. But I will never betray Sebastian.”
Henry chuckles. “Oh, you betray him every day by refusing to see him. He stands outside your door like a ghost, whispering apologies into the wood. Pathetic.”
My heart jerks painfully. “That’s none of your business.”
“It is,” he insists. “Because Sebastian’s suffering feeds the curse. Every crack in his heart weakens him. Every tear you shed is another fracture. You are doing half my work for me.”
I step forward now, fury overtaking the fear. “If your plan is to break me to get to him, it won’t work.”
“Oh, Evangeline,” Henry murmurs, “I’m not trying to break you. I’m trying to free you. You deserve better than a man who destroys everything he touches.”
I smack the book against my palm. “And you think you get to decide that? You, who manipulated a grieving child? You, who uses your own son as a weapon? You, who hides behind magic and shadows because you can’t stand to face the world honestly?”
Henry’s smile fades.
Good.
“You are the bad one here,” I finish, voice shaking with rage. “Not Sebastian.”
He straightens slowly, expression cooling into something sharp. “I see. You’re choosing him.”
“I chose him years ago,” I whisper. “And even if we’re broken right now, I will never stand beside the man who murdered my brother.”
Henry laughs softly. “I didn’t kill Alexandro.”
“You may not have cast the spell at him,” I say, “but the one who caused his death is standing right in front of me.”
His gaze darkens. “Careful.”
“I’m done being careful,” I breathe.
We stand face-to-face, inches apart, the weight of unspoken threats thick between us.
At last Henry exhales, almost disappointed. “Very well. Stay loyal to the king. Stay blinded by love. But when the next tragedy unfolds—and it will—you’ll remember this conversation.”
I lift my chin. “I will.”
“And you’ll remember that I warned you.”
“And you will remember,” I hiss, “that I gave you one final mercy.”
His eyes glitter. “Oh?”
I step around him, refusing to break eye contact as I move toward the exit.
“Do not,” I say coldly, “appear in my path again. If you do… I swear to God who listens, you will die far earlier than fate intended.”
Silence.
Then Henry smiles—small, curious, dangerous.
“Until then, Your Majesty.”
I tighten my grip on the book and walk past him, refusing to look back, refusing to let him see the tremor running through me.
Once outside the aisle, my breath finally releases—and I realize my hands are shaking violently.
But I keep walking.
I leave the archive with fire in my chest, fear in my bones.