The slap made Jill's eyes go wide. She had not expected that at all, but she couldn't be sorry to see it. Though Nathan's growl and attempt to lunge at her made something snap in Jill. Without thinking twice, she removed the charmed ring and felt the rush of ghosts and pain hit her, but she channeled it and threw the shadows at Nathan who let out a yell of pain and frustration. When she put the ring back on, she looked a little dazed and very off balance.
"Jillian, don't do that." Eric looked concerned as he watched the three girls who were still alive. They had survived, but all had looks in their eyes that revealed that they bore scars of their survival. This was not the way he had wanted things for his girls. None of this was how he had wanted things to be. Rhea and Andre should still be alive. He should have seen through Victor. So many mistakes.
"Jill. My name is Jill." The words came out quietly, but she was back now. She glanced between her sister and Rose, grateful they were both beside her. Yet she wondered if it would be easier on them both if she wasn't. Lissa and Rose found bravery so easily, and Jill seemed to find being a victim so easily. Except she didn't feel like a victim now. Nathan was gone. Maybe not for good, but he was gone.
"Leave or I take it off again," she warned Victor. The man looked aghast, but then he disappeared. That left the Dragomirs and Jill and Rose. Because even in her head, she couldn't count herself among the Dragomirs. At least outside of Lissa. Rose belonged to them more.
"Thank you," she finally managed to say to Rhea. Her manners had been slipping. Squeezing Rose's hand and giving her sister a look, she thanked them silently. When she looked at Andre, he still seemed to be studying her, as if he wasn't sure what to think of her. That made two of them. She wasn't sure what to think of him either.
Finding the strength to turn her attention back to her father she said slowly, carefully, "If you believe you have unfinished business with me, you don't. I'm not angry. Not really. You and my mother did what you needed to do, and while it wasn't right to those you hurt, I was oblivious to it all until recently. However, you shouldn't waste the time you have here. I'm sure Lissa and Rose has missed you all, and I don't want to get in the way of your reunion. Please focus on them, and do not allow Mr. Dashkov or that Strigoi to harm them or the ones they care about."
Was that right? She looked at her sister and Rose as if to ask if she sounded Royal enough? Detached enough? The pain in her head was gone, but she felt tired. An attempt to check in Adrian's head was unsuccessful, but it was on her end, not his. Jill wasn't going to be able to last in this prison much longer, but that was no reason for Lissa and Rose to lose the time they had with the people they knew well enough to love and miss. They were strangers to Jill. They always would be.