Vicious Prince (Royal Elite, #5)

by Rina Kent

The more I drank from it, the closer Uncle got to me. Soon enough, he was hugging me, setting me on his lap.

His voice was wrong, so wrong.

“You’re Dad’s brother…my uncle.”

“Not a real one. That’s why he thinks I’m disposable.”

If you say a word about this to your father, Charlotte will get sick and die.

I bit his hand and threw the glass and the blue juice at his face.

I managed to slide open the car’s door with shaking fingers.

I didn’t wait for him to say the words — I jumped. I remember rolling once then hitting a pole.

And then he left me in the middle of a deserted street.

In the beginning, I couldn’t even stand. It was the alcohol, or perhaps it was the slight pain in my side from when I hit the pole. It was a lot more than that, though.

They were at a party, and they’d sent me with Uncle Ed.

I remember holding on to a pole with stiff fingers and then walking slowly at first. I remember buttoning my Dracula shirt and trousers

And then I ran. I ran fast and hard down the street, then I tripped and fell and then stood up again and ran.

That’s when I saw them. Bunnies — or rather women wearing bunny costumes and giggling.

I had the urge to run after them and catch them. But the moment I rounded the corner, they were gone. Lars found me soon after. He’d followed us because he was worried. I didn’t tell him what had

happened. I said I’d had a fight with Uncle Ed, and he just nodded. Mum and Dad didn’t come home that night or the night after. They had a Halloween party for three nights, and I didn’t sleep once during that time.

She trusted him with me, and he stabbed that trust. She’d hate herself for not seeing the signs, and she’d suspect something else had happened. Nothing did, though not for lack of trying on his part — he did attempt to corner me a few times when he visited.

When I was a kid and couldn’t defend myself, I hid behind Lars. I was always with Lars whenever he came to visit. Lars, who already suspected something, never ever left me alone. He made sure to have me in his sight all the time.

When I grew up, Uncle Eduard kept his hands to himself,

He always brought up my weakness for Mum. Whenever he felt like I would slip and tell Dad about his paedophile activities, Eduard reminded me of how much it would shatter my mum. How much it would make her already fragile mental state worse.

That was and is the only reason Eduard Astor still exists in my life.

I’ve borne the memory all...

I left out the fact that the man who did that to me is my uncle and the part about the bunnies because I don’t want her to be disgusted with me. I don’t want her to think I’m sick for having a fantasy about bunnies when they’re associated with the darkest night of my life.

“That’s why I’m always with people,” I say. “People allow me to think less about myself.

That’s the reason behind

that image and the parties and the sex. I didn’t shag girls because I wanted to, but because I needed the company. I needed to not sleep alone.

I never spiralled out of control; I didn’t drink, do drugs, or even try weed or smoking. I was always a good girl, but with the worst facial expression.

I can’t stop dreaming about a small child running alone in the streets with no place to go and no one to ask for help.

Dad and Agnus are sitting across from each other in the lounge area.

Now, as I look at him, I realise whatever I felt for him in the past was fleeting. He’s been there for me and Knox our entire lives, and that gratitude has lived with me for as long as I can remember, but that’s it.

For a long time, I believed Dad only took us in because of guilt, but that was never the case. He could’ve sent us into the system — or even thrown us back out on the streets. He didn’t.

“Your mother is no more, Teal,”

“She died that same year you ran away. I was searching for her to have her give up her parental rights when I learnt she died of an overdose.”

I just learnt my mother and only biological parent — the only one I know of — is dead, and all I keep thinking about is how she doesn’t have to pay. She left without paying.

“I searched for her when we were in Birmingham and — wait for it — I went back to that brothel, when I was maybe fifteen.

“She was the whore who let those fuckers in while we were sleeping and⁠—”

Did Ronan's uncle rape them?

On this day eleven years ago, Knox and I broke the chains. We ran and never looked back. We were kids, but we earned our freedom. We saw an out, so we took it. If we’d stayed there, I would’ve become like my mum and Knox would’ve probably killed himself or gotten into drugs and overdosed like a certain mother.

“I don’t know. He’s distracted at practice and hasn’t been throwing his usual jokes.”

I retrieve my phone and call the number I should’ve dialled sooner.

After he confirms, I pull out a piece of paper and pour my heart onto it in one go. This is my legacy. My goodbye.

When the great Earl Edric Astor says he’s having a family meeting, everyone must drop to their knees and listen.

So we’re all here in the dining room. And by we, I mean, Mum, Eduard the fucker, Lars — because we’ve basically adopted him

Lars, like any adopted child, doesn’t want to tell me why Mum’s cold has been going on longer than ever. He’s after the parents’ favour.

She hasn’t acknowledged my existence since that night.

My great-great-grandfather brought his wife from Africa. When his family didn’t agree, he kind of gave them the middle finger and married her anyway. Or rather, he pestered her until she agreed to marry him. I’m that type of Astor.

“There’s no later.”

“She’s dying.”

eyes…Lars staring at me with sorrow… He knew.

“Your mother has uterine cancer, and she has always suffered from immunodeficiency disorder. The cancer relapsed a year ago, and the surgeries failed.”

“I asked your father and Lars not to tell you.