*Ella*
“What the hell is that?” Amanda says, her eyes on the sky above our heads as we make our way back to the castle.
This is our normal routine during the day now. Westfall’s training sessions are incredibly light in the mornings now that it's been confirmed that I am, in fact, pregnant. I’m still not able to wrap my mind around it, honestly.
Amanda and I spend our afternoons walking around Veiled Valley when the weather allows it. Today has been no different.
Until now.
Drizzling rain brushes over my cheeks as I turn my eyes to the sky. All around us on the bridge, people have stopped to stare up in awe of a swirling ripple of light illuminating the dark gray storm clouds.
“Lightning?” I say to no one in particular.
Thunder booms louder than I’ve ever heard it before. The ancient stone bridge rattles, startling the crowd.
“We should go,” Amanda says hurriedly, clutching her stomach. “Something doesn’t feel right.”
She’s right about that. A strange creeping sensation settles in the pit of my stomach as we pick up the pace and walk briskly through the Garden District, which is full of beautiful townhomes and gardens. A lit pathway leads directly to the castle, and we cross several more bridges before we reach the front gates. Thick walls made of light stone block the view of the massive tropical gardens within the castle walls, guarded by two men and two wolves. Their royal guard regalia glimmers in the stormy light as we approach, but their heads are arched to the sky.
I open my mouth to ask what exactly is going on, but the gate opens so abruptly it smacks one of the distracted wolves in the face. The wolf yelps and bellows in pain and surprise.
Commander Westfall comes into view just as the rain picks up in intensity. “Inside, now,” he growls, reaching for us.
Amanda hurries ahead of me at Westfall’s urging, but I stop to give the injured wolf a pitiful, apologetic smile as he rubs his snout with his paw.
“Luna,” Westfall says sharply. “Come, we must hurry.”
“Is something wrong?” I ask, taken aback by his tone. Overhead, lightning crackles, casting the sky in blue. I notice the strange glimmer beyond the clouds retreat, fading away.
If Westfall didn’t seem so flustered, I would have chalked it up to an odd weather event, but the look in his eyes makes my stomach twist with apprehension.
“Lady Amanda,” Westfall says when we reach the private entrance to the castle off the flower garden, which has a beautiful patio and pergola. In the storm, however, everything looks gray and withered, especially as wind begins to push into the garden, causing the flowers to close their petals and curl into themselves. “Go to your rooms, immediately.”
Amanda glances at me, and I nod, trying to keep a handle on my nerves. She huffs a breath and walks into the house. “What’s going on?”
Commander Westfall takes me by the arm and practically drags me through the garden and around the curve of the castle. I’ve never had a chance to fully explore the gardens in full, and before long we’re walking away from the castle and deeper into the tangle of tropical trees and flowers. I look behind me, the view of the castle obstructed by the trees.
We finally come to a stop at an outbuilding–something ancient and crumbling to the ground. Ruins, I realize, stepping closer to inspect the stones. An old wooden door hangs off its hinges. Westfall pushes the door open, and it clatters to the ground inside the building, which is no more than a tight room that smells sharply of mildew.
“Is this part of my training?” I ask, suspicion lining every word.
“Maybe,” he says, but his tone is something I’ve never heard from him before. He’s frantic, which isn’t like him, and he’s trying hard to keep his unease in check. “There’s been a security breach at the castle.”
“You just sent Amanda back inside!”
“She’s fine. It’s safe… we believe.”
“You jackass!” I whirl back toward the door with every intention of running to the castle, but he grabs my arm, pulling me back to him.
“The Alpha has a prisoner in his dungeon, and I’ve been told to bring you down there to help with the interrogation.”
“Why?”
“Because the man says he knows you but won’t reveal his identity.”
“Oh, great,” I mumble, sucking in a breath and immediately regretting it. The moldy smell is overwhelming, and my already sensitive stomach twists. I gag as Westfall reaches along the damp, slippery floor and pulls open a trapdoor.
Steps lead into total, damp darkness.
“His dungeon’s down there?”
“Part of it, yes.”
“What do you mean, part of it?”
Westfall doesn’t answer. He walks down the stairs, reaching out a hand to me. I take it, reluctantly, and let him lead me down into the swirling darkness.
My legs are burning by the time we reach the last of what feels like hundreds of steps. I’m panting, gasping for fresh air, but there’s none to be had down here. The walls drip with condensation, and a thick sulfur smell penetrates a hallway so narrow Westfall’s shoulders brush against either side. He grabs a torch off the wall, wordlessly pointing it in my direction. I lift a single finger, letting my power zap through the air. I glare at him as the torch roars to life.
“Thank you, Luna.”
“Start talking,” I command, trying not to breathe.
He doesn’t, of course. We walk for what feels like hours through the tight, winding tunnel. I feel an odd feeling that we’re moving downward, somehow going deeper underground.
The torchlight begins to bleed with a soft amber glow ahead of us, which is obstructed by Westfall’s body while we navigate the tunnel.
But then he steps down, and a massive cavern comes into view, stalactites spiraling from the ceiling of the biggest underground cave I’ve ever seen in my life.
I let out a strangled cry of surprise.
A lake stretches as far as I can see, disappearing into the dark recesses of the cave. At its shore, I see my mate and his Beta, and a third man on his knees.
“Oh my Goddess,” I grind out. “Cassian?”
Ryatt’s head snaps up to where I’m standing. I push Westfall away and hurry down an ancient flight of stone steps, my shoes slipping over the wet stone. Cassian lifts his head, his eyes swollen and bruised. “Ella–”
“What the fuck is happening here?” I practically scream, my eyes lighting on Ryatt’s. “What are you doing to him?”
“You know him?” Ryatt snaps.
I gape at him, then at Granger, then at the horrifying cave they’ve brought him to. “This is Hannah’s mate, you idiots! Cassian is my brother’s Beta!”
* * *
Ryatt sits in a high back chair in one of the dozen or so formal sitting rooms in his castle. He slowly brings a glass of whiskey to his lips, his eyes fixed in a glare on Cassian. Cassian’s metal arm gleams in the firelight as he shivers by the hearth, his face almost unrecognizable. I glare at my mate as I lay another bandage over Cassian’s back, where blisters have formed, and his skin is red and raw.
I made Ryatt spirit us back to the castle after absolutely chewing his head off.
“How did you not recognize him?” I growl, dipping another bandage in ice cold water before laying it over Cassian’s back, who is barely lucid.
“When I was in your realm for the war, I had other things to worry about, none of them pertaining to remembering the faces of every one of your brother’s warriors.”
“He’s a Beta,” I correct, letting my anger flow through the words.
Granger paces back and forth on the far side of the room while Amanda sits in a chair near the window, her face grave and cast in shadows as she watches me tend to Cassian’s burns. “How did he get burned so badly?”
It’s a good question, and I’m thankful Amanda asked it. Surely Granger and Ryatt hadn’t lit him on fire as part of their tortuous interrogation, right?
Ryatt leans forward, balancing his elbows on his knees. “He came through the mirror.”
“What?” I say, unsure I heard him correctly.
Ryatt’s gaze locks on mine. “He came through the mirror, Ella.”
“Isaac,” Cassian groans. It’s the first time he’s spoken in at least an hour.
“What about Isaac? Is he all right?”
“We finally got into your studio,” Cassian wheezes. His eyes meet mine, narrowing into slits. “You destroyed it, but you forgot one.”
My mouth goes dry. His eyes are full of absolute hatred–hatred toward me, toward Ryatt.
“Cassian–”
“It was a painting of him–” He lifts a finger at Ryatt, who snarls.
“Stop it,” I tell Ryatt, my tone dripping with desperation. “What happened, Cassian? How did you get here?”
“I was trying to destroy the painting, but Isaac stopped me. He slipped and caught himself on the painting. Then there was light all around us, and I saw–I saw him again, in the flesh. I went through it, and now I’m here.”
Ryatt watches me as I straighten up. My hands tremble as I cross my arms under my breasts. “Isaac’s powers ignited my painting and created a portal? That’s not possible.”
Cassian ignores my doubts and says coldly, “Where is my mate, you fucking bitch?”
Ryatt stands, his eyes full of murderous rage. “What the fuck did you just say to her?”
“Stop,” I command, but my voice breaks over the word. “Enough.” I look at my mate, who looks like he wants nothing more than to rip Cassian’s head clean off. “Hannah is safe.”
“That doesn’t answer my question,” Cassian sneers. “Where is she? I want to see her. Now.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Ryatt growls.
Cassian tries to stand, but I push on his shoulders, forcing him back down to the floor. “Enough, Cassian. You need to rest–”
Cassian shoves me away. I hit the ground with a crunch, and then the room explodes with lupine rage. Ryatt roars with fury as he lurches forward, but I roll to my feet and step in his way, my hands on his chest. “I’m fine.”
Cassian huffs a laugh. “You’re sick, Ella. Leaving your family for this? Taking my mate–”
“I didn’t take her,” I say over my shoulder. Ryatt’s heart is racing under my touch. He’s incredibly angry, and I don’t blame him at all for it. Being called a fucking bitch by someone I’ve known and loved all of my life absolutely gutted me. But, so does this. “She was trying to stop me from going and accidentally came along.”
“I don’t believe anything you say–”
“We will bring you to her,” I tell him over my shoulder. “Then, the two of you will leave this place.”
“I’ll kill you if there’s even a scratch on her, Ella. That’s a fucking promise.”
Ryatt is on the verge of shifting. I can feel it.
“She’s sick, Cassian.”
The air in the room shifts, and Cassian goes silent for a long time. “What do you mean?”
I turn to face him fully, but keep a hand on Ryatt. “There’s a lot you need to know.”
“Then tell me!” Desperation fills his eyes. He looks so unfamiliar to me now, so blind with rage and worry.
“Not here,” Ryatt says sharply. “You’re not welcome in this house, nor this territory.” He steps around me, and I let him, unable to see past the pure hatred in Cassian’s eyes. It breaks something deep in my heart. How can I possibly explain all of this to him? “No one speaks to the Luna like that. If you even look in her direction again, I will flay you open while your mate watches–”
“You fucking bastard,” Cassian growls.
“Test me, wolf,” Ryatt continues, his eyes narrowing to slits. “That is my mate you just shoved to the ground.”
Cassian sneers at Ryatt while Granger moves in on the group, glancing at Amanda to make sure she’s all right.
A tray clatters on the coffee table in front of the fire. Two bottles of fine whiskey and several sandwiches. Cassian looks utterly confused as he glances around, probably wondering if a servant had somehow snuck in without him seeing, but the door to the sitting room slowly opens, the hinges creaking, then slams shut so hard it rattles the glass in the windows.
I sniff indignantly, wiping my hands on my thighs. “Well, that settles it. Sit down, Cassian, and have a drink.”
Ryatt and Cassian give me identical cold looks, but I shrug them off.
“Ryatt, tell him everything. I’m tired.” I’m breaking down, more like it. I turn for the door and feel Amanda falling in step beside me. The door swings open to let us out, and shuts on its own accord. “Lock them in until it’s done,” I tell the house, my voice beginning to tremble. I hear the lock turn into place with a loud click that echoes through the corridor.
Amanda doesn’t need to ask if I’m all right. She knows I’m not. She simply takes my hand and takes me to my room, lying down beside me while I cry into my pillow.
Does everyone back home feel the same as Cassian?
I wake several hours later to stormy darkness and the feeling I’m being watched. Ryatt comes into the room, dressed for a journey.
“We’re leaving, Ella. There’s a problem.”