Aviva
I’ve never been to Crescent Falls before. I imagined something different than quiet, somber hallways and hushed murmurs. I guess, in any other circumstance, we would have been able to drive here in a real car from the border with Eastonia, taking several days to travel through the sweeping plains of Moorn before reaching the mountainous, sprawling mecca of the capitol while Ryan told me stories about growing up in this fascinating place but that’s… not how this is happening.
We arrived an hour ago to chaos. Now, I pace behind a couch, watching my mate lean into conversation with his twin brother Sydney and their father, Alpha King Isaac. Ryatt, the Alpha King of Eastonia, isn’t here. Neither is his wife and mate, Ella, Ryan’s aunt.
Evander’s here, however, and he keeps stealing glances in my direction while I do my best to fade into Maddy’s floral wallpaper.
One second, I’d been tucked into bed with my mate, reveling in the absolute bliss of our impending parenthood, and now I’m here, after hours’ worth of jumping from place to place, learning the horrific details about an attack that will go down in Eastonia’s sordid history as one of the worst offenses to our people we’ve ever experienced.
Over a hundred young university students are dead or badly injured. Dozens more are missing.
Princess Misty, Ryan and Sydney’s little sister, is one of those currently unaccounted for.
Maddy sits in silence on the couch with her hands knitted so tightly together her knuckles are white. I pace behind her again, laying a hand on her shoulder. She briefly leans her cheek against my hand ,and it shatters my heart.
“When did this come?” Isaac asks like someone took a rake to his vocal cords as he lifts his eyes to Evander. An envelope so black it sucks the light from the room rests in the center of a table where the men stand in a semicircle, looking down with bated breath at the note that came in it.
“Last night,” Evander says with a short nod. “Ryatt killed the messenger.”
“Of course, he did.” Isaac closes his eyes and stands with the letter in his hands, crumbling it in his fist.
We brought the letter. Ryatt showed up in the middle of the night last night, covered in blood, and whisked us away to the Roguelands where we joined Evander and jumped all the way to Crescent Falls. Ryatt promptly left us behind to deliver the letter to Isaac ourselves, and now we’re… trying to grapple with what comes next.
Ryatt opened the letter first. He read the neat handwriting. He learned Misty’s fate and used his powers to turn the mysterious man who’d delivered it to a bloody pulp. At least, that’s what Evander told us. I have a feeling it wasn’t a swift death.
Maddy wouldn’t read it. Even now, as she watches her mate squeeze the paper in his fist, her eyes remain dry and emotionless. I know that inside she’s falling to pieces.
I can’t imagine how they feel.
Isaac takes a deep breath and looks up from his hand just as Sarah walks into the sitting room.
She looks around, her cheeks flushed and eyes heavy with worry. “The boys are playing in the library with Cosette and Hanna.”
Sydney gives her a quick, tight smile that she returns as she moves toward the center of the room. A man I haven’t been introduced to yet, who goes by the name Cassian, leans against the wall by the window, tapping the fingers of his mechanical right arm on his thigh.
Silence settles as we all look at Isaac for some semblance of a plan.
He looks at his mate, though, with glassy blue eyes full of grief and vengeance. “I’m leaving for Eastonia–immediately.”
Maddy nods, sucking in a breath as she looks down at her hands. Isaac looks at Sydney, then at… Sarah.
“You and I will go within the hour. We’ll travel with Ryan and Aviva.”
Sydney’s head whips to his mate, then back to his father. “What are you talking about?”
Sarah’s lips part in surprise. “Me?”
To the group, Isaac says, “Sarah is going to scry to give us a better idea of where Misty’s being held.”
“Isaac,” Sarah pleads, shaking her head. “I can’t–Tarsian is too far away for me to see anything clearly–”
“That’s why we’ll be staying in the Deadlands, in Silverhide.” Isaac’s gaze sweeps over my face before resting on Ryan. “You’re going to meet with each patriarch in the Deadlands and have them prepare their warriors.” He turns his gaze to Evander. “You’re going to gather your Ghost army and be prepared to meet us in the event Misty is closer to the border with the Deadlands.”
Sarah looks at Sydney, confusion blurring her features. Sydney shakes his head, straightening as he turns to his father to argue, but Isaac beats him to it, continuing, “Sydney, you will be staying here and preparing our army for war.”
War. The word echoes around the room, burrowing into each of us and burning into our minds.
“You’re not separating me from my wife,” Sydney growls, but Isaac holds up a hand.
“Every capable warrior in Crescent Falls will be dispatched to the border within the next day.”
Maddy stands abruptly. “Isaac, you’re getting ahead of yourself.”
He licks his lips. “Ella has already declared war on Tarsian. It’s done. Their forces are already being gathered in the Roguelands in preparation for an… invasion.” Even Isaac chokes on the word.
My own mind spins. We’ve just gone to war. My hands shake as I clutch the back of the couch, imagining the blood of rogues oozing between my fingers. Ryan holds my gaze with hooded eyes. He’s thinking what I’m thinking. We’re tired.
“Our troops can’t invade until we know where our daughter is,” Maddy argues through gritted teeth, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Misty will get caught up in the violence. You read the letter–you know what he’ll do to her if they–if they cross the border into Tarsian!” Maddy starts to shatter, trembling as she wraps her arms around her stomach. “That’s our baby, Isaac. You can’t let them do this yet. We need time to find her first!”
Isaac swallows hard, closing his eyes as he says, “Everyone out.”
None of us move right away. I make a single step toward the doors when he shouts, “Out, now!”
I scurry out of the room, Sarah mere inches behind me. Sydney continues to argue with Isaac as Cassian, Isaac’s Beta I’ve gathered, grabs Sydney by the rough of his neck and drags him out into the grand foyer of their beautiful castle. The doors slam shut behind my mate, who’s the last to leave the room, but Maddy’s soft cries echo through my veins, slicing me into pieces.
I resist the sudden urge to wrap my arms protectively around the tiny flicker of life resting in my belly. We haven’t told his family yet.
Sarah grabs my arm and walks me down the hallway in silence. The heavy tread of Ryan, Sydney, and Evander follow, but a glance over my shoulder shows me that Cassian is heading upstairs.
Closeted in a kitchen in the very back of the house, I turn toward the windows overlooking the back garden while Sydney and Ryan lock the doors, closing us in.
“What,” Sarah says harshly, turning to the men, “did the letter say?”
Ryan runs his hands through his hair, shaking his head. His lips part, but he can’t bring himself to say it. Even Sydney looks green as he drops his gaze to his feet, rolling his lower lip between his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut.
Their little sister is caught at the center of this madness.
I turn to Sarah instead. I’d rather this news come from me instead of either of them having to find the strength to say the words out loud.
“Misty was taken by Cole, the new Alpha King of Tarsian.” I lick my lips, finding them dry and cracked from anxiously gnawing them raw over the last day. “He’s said that as long as the Allied Kings stay out of Tarsian, she’ll live. If the Allied Kings invade, he will kill her.” I swallow past the lump forming in my throat.
Sarah scoffs, looking wildly around the room. “Then why the hell are Ryatt and Ella planning a full invasion–backed by Isaac’s army?” She settles wild eyes on her mate who can’t bring himself to look up from the black and white tiled floor.
Ryan speaks, his voice low and calm despite the words I know are about to fall from his lips. “In the meantime, he’s using her as a… breeder. She’ll be returned to the family once their child is born but only as long as our armies don’t cross the border. That’s why it’s imperative we find her and stop that from happening.”
The word breeder bounces through the room, echoing like a death knell.
“No,” Sarah whispers, shaking her head. “No, Misty’s so young. She’s not–she hasn’t even come into her wolf yet. This isn’t… that can’t be what the letter said.” Her mouth continues to move, but words don’t come out. “No, Sydney.”
“The deaths from the attack on the university spanned three kingdoms,” Ryan says painfully. “There were students from Crescent Falls, the Roguelands, and even Celestoria studying there and they…. Ryatt and Ella don’t have much of a choice. Alpha King Cole knew exactly what he was doing. He wants this war, for whatever reason.”
“Then why try to make deals?” Sarah argues through tears. “Using Misty?”
“I don’t know,” Sydney whispers, shaking his head.
“Will he kill her?” Sarah looks murderous as she sweeps her gaze around the room.
“This man killed his own father,” Ryan says, “to take over as Alpha King. None of us should doubt what he’s capable of.”
“So Misty is going to die because our kingdoms are going to war?” Sarah looks horrified and broken as she gestures to the door of the kitchen, like Misty is standing just beyond it, out of reach.
“No,” I say softly, shaking my head. Something clicks in my head. Ryatt was adamant that I came here, with Ryan, to see Isaac. “No, because you’re going to find her, and I’m… I’m the one that’s going to go get her, aren’t I?” I look from face to face.
“No–” Ryan rushes out, but Evander sighs and cuts him off.
“Yeah,” he breathes. “You and I are going to Tarsian, Aviva.”
“She can’t,” Ryan cuts in, shaking his head. “I won’t allow it.”
“None of us have a choice about the roles we’re about to play,” Evander says sharply.
Ryan looks at me with fury flashing through his deep, blue eyes. He’s about to say it… to say I’m pregnant.
What would we do if this was our daughter trapped behind enemy lines, forced to be a monster’s breeder?
We’d be going after her, hell or high water. We wouldn’t question a single decision we had to make. We’d find her.
Into his head, I whisper, ‘Don’t.’
Ryan holds my gaze for several seconds. Mingled anger and resignation flare behind his eyes before he finally sighs and looks down at his hands, which curl into fists.
Resigned to the reality of our situation, Sarah looks at Sydney with a heartbreaking expression. “But what about the boys?”
Sydney looks like he’s about to break at any given second. Their family is about to be split up for Goddess knows how long–with him dealing with the royal army, and Sarah in Eastonia with us, trying to find where Misty’s being kept.
I don’t realize Ryan’s suddenly right by my side until he knits his fingers in mine and tugs me toward the door. We follow Evander out, leaving Sarah and Sydney to discuss what happens next for their children.
“Where do you think she is, right now?” I ask Evander as we walk down the hallway.
Evander sighs, “Your guess is as good as mine. Tarsian is huge. It’s bigger than the Deadlands and Roguelands combined. She could be anywhere.”