Rush (Roam Series, Book Four) by Kimberly Stedronsky Page A

journey, she has finally come back to me. It is my name she calls in the night… and when I’m buried deep inside of her…,”
    I stopped listening, trying to imagine that it was anyone else in the whole fucking universe that he describing, and not my best friend.
    “...pleasure that she gives me.”
    I nodded, desperate to change the subject. Maybe he’s just drunk enough to answer my questions. “What was my name? Back then?”
    He spit the name across his lips. “Leo.”
    Leo? “And I just… showed up, claiming to be your half-brother and you accepted me?”
    “I had no family. I longed for family.”
    Kinda sad. I wanted to punch myself in the face for feeling a little sorry for him. Not him now; him in the past. I should know more than anyone there is a difference. “And I just turned around and… slept with your wife?”
    He narrowed his eyes. “You plotted with her. To turn my entire army against me. My first knight… my closest friend… was West.”
    They were friends? I can’t wait to tell West this. Hey, guess who had an ancient bromance? “And then she left me… and moved on to West.”
    “ She was heavy with his child by summer. The three of you were to die for your sins.”
    My smart-ass mouth took over. “ Four.”
    His eyes snapped open. “Four?”
    “Her baby. Her baby with West . The reason all this shit is still happening. You could have just moved the fuck on, dude.”
    His face reddened in fury. “I did not cast this spell. I have a responsibility to this world, to my people, to save them from an old magician’s curse. My hours are numbered; I near the end of my existence. I am immortal only in your world, not here. I return here and age, every day. This is the longest that I have spent here, in Icepond, since the curse. Each precious moment here, I am closer to dying. She remains seventeen; my mortal body is nearing forty.”
    Forty ? I knew he was older than West, but… “So you have to stay… in my world… to not age.”
    “I have collectively spent twenty-two years in Icepond since the curse. I have spread those twenty-two years over the time that has passed here, since the curse. That means spending very little time with my people- or with my son and daughter.”
    What. The. Fuck. “You have a daughter, too?”
    “William’s twin sister, Meredith. She suffers from insanity and is locked in the dungeons below.”
    The screaming that I heard. So, nut-jobs run in the family. Of course .
    He looked ready to pass out. Any minute now. “It has been sixty years since my children’s birth. I knew that they were immortal, and yet I still let down my guard that night you killed his Violet. How could I have not known? She does this to me; I cannot think about anything but Roam.”
    Thank God he didn’t suspect that she was immortal. Convincing him that I was evil by killing Violet was the only reason that I was still breathing.
    “You are my brother once again, Logan. Do not forget that you have a responsibility to yourself, and to the people of this world.”
    Yeah, fuck everyone on Earth. “Yes, your majesty.”
    As Troy’s valet appeared, Will entered the room again, glancing at his father. “Good. I thought he’d never stop.”
    “What?”
    “Privately.” He gestured to the hall. “We must discuss the masquerade.”
    “Why? I don’t give a shit about a ball .” I tipped my mug back and downed the remainder of the shit-beer inside.
    Will leaned closer, lowering his voice to a whisper. “ I will help you get her out of here. ”
    I jerked my head to the side as the valet escorted Troy to his chambers. “Roam?”
    Will nodded again toward the hallway. “Well now, I trust that I have your attention?”

Chapter Eleven
    August 27, 2012
    “ Miss Camden?”
    I stood in the doorway of Roam’s history class, suddenly confused.
    The new teacher, Mr. Perry, stayed behind his desk as Roam gathered her books. She sent me a small ‘I’m coming’ wave as she made her