*Maddox*
The drive to Cliff’s Edge pack will take several hours. If so many of the packs between our territory and Alpha Charlton are hostile right now, it’s best if we take our troops around them. The last thing I want to do is give the impression that we might be moving in, planning an invasion, because some of these packs have been rumored to be aligned with Beach Front.
As we meander through the countryside, my long convo of military vehicles following along in parade order, my mind goes back to the information I’ve gotten from my commanders in the field. Both Commander Vember and Commander Givens have supplied me with plenty of information. I need to make sure that my alliances are strong in the few packs that are closer to Beach Front that might still might be willing to help me.
“We are expected by Alpha Charlton, but he is a bit leery of our arrival,” Seth says from his seat next to me in the second row in the SUV. “He’s afraid that the other packs in the area might decide to attack him in order to attempt to bring him into the fold and make sure he’s not going to side against them, regardless of whether he intends to fight alongside them or not.”
I nod, but I don’t have much to say when it comes to this subject. Seth knows my feelings about Cliff’s Edge pack. He understands my consternation about going there again after all of these years, more so than anyone else, I’m certain.
We drive on in relative quiet, though I am getting reports from the commanders when we approach the pack in question and designated members of our train turn off and fall into position.
It irritates the hell out of me that we are even in this position, where I am having to defend what is rightfully mine because some other assholes think that they can simply take it from me for any reason whatsoever but most especially because Alpha Jordan and his bitch wife, Luna Elaine have started this fiasco to begin with.
All because I wouldn’t marry their daughter….
The border of Cliff’s Edge comes into town, and take a deep breath, holding it tight for several minutes before I slowly let it go.
A thousand images flicker before my eyes. An elegant castle lit up at sunset, a sparkling silver ball gown, the ocean twinkling in the last light of day, a thousand stars winking down from overhead.
But mostly, I see a pair of stunning eyes, a gorgeous face, and open arms… arms that will never hold me again.
“We’re here,” Seth says, and I snap back to reality. The castle in the distance doesn’t look the same as it did ten years ago when I first arrived here. I see patches of green on the outside where nature has attempted to reclaim it. Cracks between the stones testify to a hard life. Something tells me that this place has been just as miserable as I have been these past several years until recently.
I can’t think about all of this right now. I’m here to do a job. Just because something is difficult, that doesn’t make it impossible.
I brace myself to get out of the car certain of one thing and one thing only… I will make this right. If not for my own sake, for hers.
* * *
*Isla*
“He’s your cousin?” Poppy asks me, her mouth a wide O as her eyes practically bulge from her head. “Are you serious?”
“I am serious,” I say, sitting on the edge of my bed as I swing my legs back and forth. “I know it sounds crazy, but I believe him.”
“You believe him?” Everything that comes out of her mouth at the moment is a question. I feel no need to reply to her in the affirmative when I’ve just told her I believe him.
Though, I’m not exactly sure I should believe him, not fully anyway. Much of what Antony Moon has just told me seems farfetched and distant from reality.
But he knows so much that it’s difficult to think that just anyone could’ve come up with this information. No, the more I think about it, the more I believe he has to truly be my cousin.
“All right, so tell me again,” Poppy says, sitting down on the bed next to me. She had brought lunch in only a few minutes after Commander Pepelos had made his dramatic revelation to me. We’d eaten in relative silence because he didn’t want to say anything more in front of Poppy, I presumed, though he should’ve known that I would tell her everything anyway. But then again, if she were just a maid and not my best friend, other than Maddox, then perhaps he would be right in assuming his secrets would be safe from her.
As soon as he had left to go do his rounds, I’d spilled the tea to her, disclosing everything he’d said. But in true Poppy fashion, telling her once simply wasn’t good enough.
No, she needs to hear everything a few times so she can digest it all, take it in, let it ruminate.
“So… did you know your Aunt Mary and Uncle Tony had a child?” she asks me.
I shake my head. “I don’t think so. If I was ever aware of him, I’d forgotten a long time ago.”
“Kind of like Ginger,” she mutters, tapping one finger on her chin.
I roll my eyes at her. It’s true, I had forgotten about the cat that died and came back to life. But then, I’d been so young. For that matter, if I had known about Antony, I would’ve been a child at the time. It’s not as if my parents ever spoke about anyone or anything associated with Maatua once we left the island.
“Is he younger or older than you?” she asks me.
“I don’t know,” I admit.
“Do you think he has the same powers as you? I mean, if his mother had him after she was killed and came back to life, then maybe he does?” she wants to know.
“I don’t know,” I say again.
“But then, if he has the same powers as you, why wouldn’t he just be able to reverse the curse himself? Why would he need you?” Poppy stands and begins to pace as she asks these questions.
My reply is a simple, “I don’t know.”
“And if he needs you because he doesn’t have the powers, then why does he think you’re capable of lifting the curse? Does he think your aunt will listen to you for some reason?”
As I open my mouth to respond, she turns and looks at me, and at the same time we both say, “I don’t know.”
“Well, I don’t!” I shrug and hold out my arms in exasperation. “How would I know? I’ve told you everything my cousin told me. I either need to speak to him some more, or I need to talk to the only other person I know who has some sort of understanding about Maatua.”
“Mystica.” It’s not a question. She settles back on the bed beside me, still thinking. I can tell by the expression on her face. “Yes, I think that’s a good idea. You can trust her more than you can trust your wayward cousin.”
“How do you know he’s wayward?” I ask, though I’m not sure why I feel the need to defend him.
“Because… he’s here. He’s lying about who he is. He’s pretending to want to help with the war effort when his entire purpose for being here has nothing to do with the defense of our kingdom. That sounds like a wayward person to me,” she declares.
“To me, it sounds like a desperate person, someone with enough direction to understand that he needs help.”
She shrugs. “Whatever you want to call him, I don’t think we can trust him yet. There’s just something about him that screams shady to me.”
I have to agree with her. I don’t quite know what it is that makes me feel that way either. Perhaps it is his strangely colored eyes. Or maybe it is the fact that he’s deceiving the king. I want to get to the bottom of it, so I use the mind-link to call Mystica into my chambers.
“She’s on her way,” I tell Poppy, and she gives me a small nod of satisfaction.
While we wait for Mystica to arrive, Poppy continues to pepper me with questions I cannot answer. Rather than telling her my standard answer of, “I don’t know,” I sit in relative silence, waiting for the pack healer to arrive.
A knock on the door a few minutes later has Poppy getting to her feet. Mystica walks in, and I can tell she’s concerned. “Is everything all right with the baby, Princess?”
I realize then that I failed to tell her why I had summoned her and immediately feel guilty. “Yes, yes, everything is fine. It’s just… a man has shown up here at the castle claiming to be from Maatua. He says he is my cousin.”
Her eyes widen slightly as she sinks down into a chair across from us. “A man?” she repeats.
I nod. “Yes, and we’re not sure we can trust him.”
“Tell me everything you know,” she insists, folding her hands in front of her, stoically.
With a deep breath, I start in, telling her the information that Antony Moon told me. Every once in a while, Poppy interrupts me to add something that she thinks is important, even if it’s just her own thoughts and not something he said directly.
When I’m done, I ask Mystica, “Do you think it’s possible? Could this man truly be my cousin?”
She shrugs, which is not what I want to see. “I don’t know.” That’s supposed to be my standard answer, and now I see why Poppy has been annoyed at it. “There is a possibility. I can do some asking around and see what I can find out about his background, see if his history lines up with what he told you.”
“I think that is a good place to start,” I tell her with a nod.
“Perfect. What is the name he’s going by here?” she asks.
“Commander Pepelos,” Poppy says before I can even open my mouth, like she’s anticipated the question.
Mystica looks at me, her eyes slightly wide. “Is that correct?”
“Yes,” I tell her. “Why? What’s the matter?”
She shakes her head. “Well, I definitely wouldn’t trust him then. Not with a name like that.”
A chill runs down my spine as I ask the question. “Why do you say that?” But Mystica only stares at me, like I should already know.