*Maddy*
I stand on the steps leading to the tower watching Isla as she hovers in the doorway. Past her, I she Ella’s shadow moving through her art studio, the sounds of paint being poured and brushes scraping against the ceramic jars she keeps them in.
It’s almost dawn. The sky through the narrow windows is dreary and gray, and the scent of rain is heavy in the air. There will be no sun today.
Or additional sleep, apparently, especially for Ella.
I slowly ascend the stairs to stand in silence with Isla. Ella stands, her arm flying as she coats a canvas a foot taller than her with black paint. I find it momentarily hard to swallow as the black paint swirls like it has a mind of its own, drawing me in.
“Come with me,” Isla whispers. She gently touches my elbow and turns toward the stairs. I glance back at Ella once more before following her.
The house is quiet as we walk through the darkened hallways. Isla shows me into her room and closes the door behind us. She switches on the light and lets out a sigh, tightening her robe around her waist.
“She’ll be fine,” Isla says to herself as if forcing herself to believe it.
“Are the nightmares always like that?”
“No. Never this violent,” she replies as she moves across the room. A large, golden jewelry box sits atop her dresser. She opens it and slips the empty vial into it, closing the lid.
“Isla,” I begin, turning to her. “Who was she screaming about? It sounded like she was–she was begging for the life of a child.”
“That’s also what I heard.” Isla smooths her hair away from her face in the mirror over the dresser, her blue eyes several shades darker than usual. Her bright, clear skin is tinged with gray, and her undereyes are dark with stress and fatigue. “She sounded like she was being tortured and then–” Isla’s mouth snaps shut, her brow furrowing.
“What is it?”
“Did Isaac every tell you about the woman from Eastonia who died in the throne room?”
“That’s all I know about her,” I answer, sitting down on the ottoman at the foot of her bed.
“She was a witch. She put a spell on the castle before she entered the throne room to shield herself from everyone but us, and she was severely injured when she arrived. Mortally so. After she died, she simply disappeared.”
I straighten up. Isla turns to face me, leaning her hip against the dresser. She continues, “None of us in that room that day thought what we’d seen had actually been real. I still don’t.” She sighs, running her fingers through her hair. “But that woman, Cressendra was her name, the look in her eyes when she died… she was in so much pain, but not like the pain of being hurt, or dying. Her eyes showed so much agony, like she was desperate, and the last thing she did before she died was point… at Ella.” Isla’s eyes go glassy with the memory.
I feel a seeping, twisting feeling settle through my chest as Ella’s rushed words during her nightmare. Find his mate, find his mate…
“Cressendra said she was the Luna Queen of Eastonia. She came here to warn us of something, but died before she could say anything further. She just pointed at Ella and died, then disappeared before any of us could do anything about it.”
I think of the man I’d seen in the garden, and the man Isaac said was in his office before disappearing, and my mouth goes dry.
“What if she wasn’t here at all?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if… you just saw an illusion of her, almost like a vision.”
Isla crosses her arms under her breasts and shrugs. “Perhaps. I don’t know why this is what I’m thinking about right now.”
I stand, wringing my hands as I debate telling her the truth about everything I know. It’s Ella’s business, not mine. But what if she’s in danger?
“What if the agony you saw in her eyes was because of whatever child Ella dreamt about?”
“We don’t know anything else about her or Eastonia–”
“What if the child is the same person I–I saw today beneath her window in the gardens. And the same man who appeared in Isaac’s office.”
Isla straightens to her full height, eyes wide. “What?”
“Kane,” I say, meeting her gaze. “He met her at the ball three years ago.”
“Maddy, what are you talking about?”
“I saw it in a dream, the same dream where I saw you holding me as a baby. I didn’t understand what I was seeing then, but after tonight everything is so much more clear. I saw Ella, in the ballroom, standing with the same man I saw today beneath the tower.”
“What makes you think he’s Kane?” Isla’s voice is strained as I slowly walk toward her, holding out my hands.
“Her necklace.”
“Her necklace from Mystica?”
“Y-yes.” I think of the old woman I’d seen in Mountain Spring and then again in the temple. “The symbols on her necklace are the same as the piece of paper Kane left in Isaac’s office, and all over the books the High Priestess left for me.”
Isla’s face goes pale as she turns from me and opens her jewelry box, pulling out a leather notebook and a small, velvet box. She clutches the notebook to her chest and hands me the small box. I open it, revealing a small golden locket.
“She left us gifts when she died. Ella’s was the pendant,” she says as I open the locket to reveal two mirrors that catch the light of the chandelier. “Mine was this notebook. It helped me during the war with KiloKilo.”
“What does the locket do?”
“I don’t know. I kept it safe for Isaac. I couldn’t imagine why she left him a locket.” She flips through the notebook with a sigh. It’s totally empty.
I look down at the locket in my hand, my heart hammering in my chest. That old woman–Mystica–had told me to stay with my mate. She said to stay with my mate, and I’d be safe.
I look up at Isla, who’s rubbing her hands over her eyes to rid them of fatigue.
I’m not with my mate though. Not right now. We’re hundreds of miles apart.
The locket warms in my hand as I close my fingers around it.
“I need to sleep,” Isla sighs. “I can’t think straight. I don’t feel right.”
“I’ll find you in a few hours. We can figure this out,” I say, but the words are barely a whisper as I walk past her and out of the room, shutting the door behind me. In the empty hallway, I feel like I can breathe for the first time.
How had I gone from scrubbing floors to trying to figure out some Goddess-forsaken magical conspiracy in a matter of weeks?
I groan, my head beginning to throb, as I walk back to the library to fetch the book I’d left behind. There’s no point in sleeping now, not when the first inklings of gray morning light are spilling through the windows, and the maids and servants are waking for the day. I can smell breakfast, in fact.
I push through the door to the library, my eyes landing on the table where I’d left the book.
It’s gone.
Rubbing my eyes, I look again. Had I dropped it in the hallway when I came upon Ella having that horrific nightmare?
A search of the second floor comes up with nothing, and by the time I’m back in my room, the sounds of activity in the castle have reached the morning peak. Maids flutter into my room, gathering laundry and tidying up, while I sit on the edge of my bed and look down at the locket in my hand.
What does any of this mean? Is Kane the second Beast? Is he Ella’s mate?
Surely not.
A breakfast tray is laid on my bed, but I don’t hear the words of the maid who brought it to me. I just sit here, lost in thought, staring at the locket. Isla was right when she said she didn’t feel… right. Something is off, but I don’t know what to think, or do.
I lay down and dangle the locket above my face, watching the reflection of what little sunlight cuts through the clouds flicker off each frame. “What can you do?” I ask. “What powers do you possess? Or are you just a locket?”
The locket answers by doing absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.
Frowning, I clutch it in my fist and rest my arms at my sides, staring up at the ceiling. “I wish I could see him,” I whisper. ‘Goddess, Isaac. Why do you have to be gone right now when all of this is happening?’ “Just to know he’s al lright.”
I feel a sudden warmth surge from the locket. Startled, I drop it and crawl away. It’s wide open, its mirrors shining bright, and then…
I pick it up and look into the mirrors as Isaac runs through the woods in his wolf form, in step with several others, all of them darting through the trees at incredible speed.
Shadows dance, choking the image, but through the fog I watch him barrel through what seems like dozens of foes, the sounds of battle sharp in my ears. I wince at the volume, which seems to echo throughout the entire room. Wolves and men in battle armor wielding a variety of weapons clash in the woods.
“Isaac?” I say, watching in horror as he’s tackled and pinned by another wolf. Isaac throws the wolf off his back and goes for its throat, slicing it open.
My mouth fills with the taste of metal. The sharp tang of blood fills the room, so real it’s like I’m there, in the middle of it.
There’s a flash of light and howling screeches fill my ears. The image in the locket begins to go hazy, like it’s fading away. “No!” I shout. “Please!”
I hear Isaac’s voice, calm and steady, like he’s standing right next to me.
“I know where they’re coming from. I found it when I went with the scouts. That’s where Cassian and my father will be.” Another voice echoes through the room in a whisper that sounds like whoever said it is under water. I can’t make out the words. But Isaac speaks again, his voice strained like he’s in pain. “We can’t lose anymore men. The next battle will be our last stand. I’m going. I need to find my Beta and my father. Elijah, you’re in charge of the warriors we have left.”
How long ago was this? I ask the locket aloud, begging it to show me where he is now, if this is current.
But then thundering footsteps sound in the hall outside my door, and Hannah flies into the room, her face white and stained with frantic tears. I get out of my bed, my heart stopping.
No. No. This isn’t happening.
“There’s news,” she cries. “Cassian’s back, Your Highness. Isla is tending to him now.” Her eyes flood with tears, telling me whatever state he’s in is not good, not good at all. “There was a battle two days ago. Isaac–The Alpha King, is missing.”
People are running down the hallway, shouting.
Hannah looks behind her, her eyes wide with sudden fear.
“King Kane’s armies took Moorn.”