Chapter 105

Emily’s POV

By the third night, the rot on Silas was worse than ever. I knew it the moment Cindy walked in.

“The Rogue King wants you,” she said. Her voice sounded empty, like she was just too tired to care anymore.

My stomach dropped. Tonight. This was the plan Declan and I had made. He told me to be ready for the next time the King called for me. This was it—our chance to kill him and run.

“How bad is he?” I whispered while we walked down the stairs from my room.

Cindy stopped for a second. She leaned in and whispered, “His skin is literally falling off.”

I should have been happy that he was dying, but I wasn't. I was just terrified. If our plan didn't work, I was dead.

The corridors felt endless. Every step toward Silas’s chambers made my chest tighter.

When the heavy doors finally swung open, the smell nearly knocked me backward.

Black veins mapped his throat and jaw, pulsing like drowning worms under his ski