CHAPTER SEVENTY

Dimitri's POV 

"What?" I whispered. The word barely came out of my mouth.

My heart stopped beating. Everything around me froze.

"Alexei is... dead?" I repeated slowly.

The guard nodded frantically. "Yes, sir. He just went limp. We do not know what happened."

Without thinking, I pushed past the guard and ran.

I ran through the corridors. Down the stairs and towards the basement.

My feet pounded against the floor. My heart pounded in my chest.

Alexei could not be dead. He could not be. I had just left him not king ago. 

We were fighting, yes. I hated him, yes. But he was still my brother.

My...