*Isla*
Seth is a good person to have on one’s side. Somehow, he has managed to convince Maddox to leave just before Poppy and I plan on leaving to meet Antony. If the timing works out right, Maddox will still be out there making his rounds, and I can return here without him realizing I’m gone.
Of course, that is assuming he forgets about having this festival around the Blood Moon and never once calls home, when the last time he was gone from the castle, he called at least once a day, so it probably won’t work out like that, but at least I will be able to leave the castle.
“I’m going to miss you so badly,” Maddox says near the door to my room on the morning of his departure. He leans down and kisses me, lifting me up off my feet.
“I’ll miss you, too.” It’s the truth. I will miss him. From afar.
Seth is waiting for him on the other side of the door, and as soon as Maddox is done telling me goodbye, his Beta will swoop in and take him away.
“Be careful,” he tells me. “Just get some rest. That baby will be here soon. The last thing you need is to be up and running around. Stay away from the other girls as well. Except for Trinity, of course.”
“Of course,” I tell him, fighting the urge to roll my eyes. “Don’t mind me. I’ll be sleeping the whole time.”
“Good. I told Mystica to be on call in case anything happens,” he continues, his hand on the knob now.
I nod. “I’m sure she will be.” From hundreds of miles away…. We still haven’t told Mystica we are going to the island. I can’t decide whether she would be an asset or a liability.
Maddox kisses me again, and this time, I rush him. “You don’t want to be late.”
“Right. I love you.” He smooths his palm over my cheek.
“I love you, too.” Finally, he opens the door. Seth looks as impatient as I feel.
“Alpha, sir, your car is waiting,” Seth tells him. Maddox gives me one more longing look and then turns to walk through the room, toward the door.
I take a deep breath and watch him go, waving in response to his wave to me.
The moment he is gone, I go about making sure I have everything I could need. The journey shouldn’t take that long. I just hope we can somehow pull this off.
Poppy is ready, too, and the moment Seth tells us that Maddox is gone and our car is ready, we lock eyes with one another.
“Are you sure we have to stop to get your cousin?” Poppy asks me. “I really hate him.”
I almost laugh at her. “Yeah, I think it would be a good idea. Come on.” I take her by the arm, and we head out of the room, almost running directly into Trinity.
Her eyebrows are raised. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing. Just… going for a walk,” I stammer.
“With a backpack shoved full of stuff?” She eyes my backpack and Poppy’s.
“That’s right.” I am an awful liar.
“The moment Maddox leaves the castle for a couple of weeks?” Trinity folds her arms beneath her chest.
“Yep. A long walk. Around the gardens,” I lie.
Trinity shakes her head. “This is dangerous. You realize that, right?”
“We’ll be fine,” Poppy interjects.
“Was it your idea?” Trinity glares at my maid.
“No,” I leap in. “It’s mine. And we have to go. Listen, Trinity, I have to do it. I’m the only one who can get the Diamond of Faith back. Please don’t tell him, okay? He’ll probably call my phone, and when he can’t get ahold of me, he’ll question Seth, and Seth will tell him I’m fine and I’ll call him later, or whatever, and I have a cell phone, but I don’t think it will work on the island. Just… if Maddox asks, please don’t tell him.”
“You want me to lie to the king?” she asks, and I can tell that she’s not gonna do it.
“Or at least play dumb. That should be easy enough. For you,” Poppy says with a shrug.
Trinity’s mouth drops open.
“Poppy!” I shout. “Really? Why insult someone we need to help us? She didn’t mean that, Trinity. She knows you’re one of the smartest people either one of us has ever met. She’s just trying to be funny.” I jab Poppy in the arm. “Tell her you’re sorry and you were kidding.”
“Sorry. Just kidding.” Poppy’s tone conveys neither of those things are true.
“I can’t guarantee I’ll lie, but I can guarantee if Maddox finds out, I’ll tell him it was her idea,” Trinity says, eyeing Poppy.
“Okay. Just let us get out of town first, please?” I ask her. It’s the least she can do, I think.
Trinity shrugs and steps aside so we can head to the car. “Be careful, Isla. This is going to be a lot more dangerous than either of you realize.”
“I know it will be dangerous,” I tell her. “But I’ll be okay.” Somehow, I feel like that’s true, though I’m not quite sure why.
Poppy and I rush down the hallway. I bite my tongue. I want to yell at her for having a smart mouth, but it’s never done me any good to say anything to her about it before, so why would it now?
We reach the car, and Seth is there. He quickly opens the back doors for us. I assumed Poppy would be driving since I don’t have a license, but when we slip inside, we see a familiar face fitted behind the wheel.
“What the--?” Poppy says.
“Buckle up, buttercup. We’ve got an island to save!”
Mystica hardly waits for us to get the door closed before she pulls off
“Uhm, do you know how to drive, Mystica?” I ask the older woman, buckling my seatbelt beneath my baby bump, which seems to have gotten a lot bigger in the last few days.
“Of course I do, Princess.” She swerves along the side of the driveway making her way to the gate, which is open for some reason only Seth will be able to explain. I’m not convinced.
If we don’t die on our way to Willow pack to meet my cousin, I think we’ll be all right.
Mystica almost takes out the guard station on one side of the gate as we pass through. Thankfully, there’s no one in it, though I believe there’s a camera.
“This is insane!” Poppy says. “I can drive better than this, and I don’t have a license either.”
“Oh, I’m just a little rusty,” Mystica says with a laugh. “You girls actually thought you’d be going to Maatua without me?” Her tone changes so that she sounds slightly offended, maybe a little hurt.
“Sorry, Mystica. We just thought it might be too dangerous for you, that’s all,” I explain.
“Psha!” she spits, dismissively. “If you can do it, as pregnant as you are, I think I can manage. Besides, what were you going to do if that baby decides to come early?” She looks at me in the mirror long enough that we almost end up in the ditch.
“The road, Mystica!” Poppy shouts.
“I was just hoping he would stay put until it was time,” I admit. “Do you have the tools you’d need to deliver him anyway?”
She holds up her hands, taking them off the wheel. “This is all I need.”
“The road!” Poppy screams louder this time.
Mystica grabs the wheel again. I hope my cousin knows how to drive. This is a disaster, and we’ve hardly left the castle.
All she needs is her hands… I hope I don’t have any complications. But she’s right. Having her with me will be better. Assuming we don’t die on the way to meet Antony.
“Where ‘bouts are we meeting the boy?” Mystica asks me as we get further away from the castle.
“A diner called Le Sandwich,” I tell her. “It’s on the outskirts of Willow pack, in the direction we’ll have to go to get to Port Westerly.”
“I know where it is,” she says, assuredly. I wonder why that is but don’t say anything more. Poppy has a death grip on my hand. Both of us stare out the windshield, watching for obstacles, like cars that we could collide with, trees too close to the roadway, or pedestrians. So far, Mystica hasn’t killed us, but she gets close from time to time.
When we get nearer to the village in Willow pack, traffic picks up, and Mystica slows down, thank goodness. She’s peering over the top of the steering wheel like she really can’t see. I give her directions to the restaurant, even though she insists she doesn’t need them.
She doesn’t follow them, gets lost, and has to backtrack.
Finally, we arrive at the diner, and Poppy and I both hop out of the car the second it’s in park, ready to kiss the ground we walk upon.
“I never thought I’d be happy that we are about to see your cousin,” Poppy tells me, latching onto my arm as we walk inside.
I laugh under my breath. I never thought she would’ve said that either.
“Oh, hush, girl,” Mystica says from behind me. “I didn’t kill you, did I?”
“Almost. Lots of times,” Poppy argues.
Stepping through the entryway of the restaurant, I glance around for Antony’s golden eyes and see him sitting in a booth in the back. I’m famished and want to eat something before we go on, if we have time. He knows more about our schedule than I do. He motions for us to come over and looks confused that there are three of us.
He’s not the only one who is having trouble with the numbers.
He’s not alone either. I see the back of another guy’s head in the booth across from him. Who the hell did he tell about this? What if word gets back to Maddox?
Glancing around, I look for warriors or someone else who could leap out and grab hold of us, taking us back to the castle and arresting “Commander Pepelos” for lying about his identity.
When I reach the booth, I’m thankful to see the person he’s with is trustworthy, but I’m still confused as to why he’s here. He’s absolutely not coming with us.
“Ben? Why are you here?” I ask my younger brother.
He looks a bit frightened, staring up at me.
Antony answers for him. “He’s coming along,” our cousin says.
My eyes widen. “Over my dead body.”