Cole
Misty shivers in my arms as I stare at Lavender. “What did you just say?”
“The Umbra Mortis just arrived,” she says slowly, her eyes wide with panic. “He’s coming here–to the castle. Any minute now.”
My life flashes before my eyes. He can’t see Misty like this. He can’t find out Misty just broke the curse in Lacey, either.
“Fuck. Fuck, fuck–” It takes all of my strength to lay Misty in the bed gently instead of tossing her like a rag doll. Lavender quickly takes over redressing her in a nightgown while I run around the room, opening closets and pulling drawers from the dresser, searching for anything to throw over her nearly frozen body. I rush into the bathroom and swiftly change into dry clothes.
“What happened?” Lavender hisses as we hurriedly tuck several blankets around Misty. Misty shivers uncontrollably, her teeth chattering so loud I’m worried they’ll break. I fish in the blankets for her arm and take a deep breath before going completely still, my fingers locked on her pulse.
If she were in a hospital right now, I’d be running into her room, chasing down a nurse with a crash cart. Anyone else would be dead with a heart rate this low.
I grip her wrist, watching her eyes as she fights a dead kind of sleep trying to pull her under.
Then I crash back to reality. “She cured Lacey. Completely.”
“What?” Lavender whispers, stepping to my side. “How is that possible?”
I tuck Misty’s arm against her side and stuff the covers around her, laying the back of my hand over her freezing cold forehead. Her breath puffs with frost, and her eyes are totally glazed as she looks at my arm, going a bit cross eyed.
I ignore Lavender’s murmured question and command, “Bring Georgia and Luke here, immediately. To say goodbye.”
“Is Misty dying?”
“No, I don’t believe so, but Georgia, Luke, Orion, and his family are leaving now. For the border. You, too.”
She grabs my arm. “I’m not leaving you, Cole.”
“I’m not giving you a choice. You have to go, right now. Don’t pack anything. Don’t bother with goodbyes. Take Marcella–and go.”
Lavender’s jaw works, but no words leave her lips. She straightens her spine and brushes a few tears from her eyes before giving me a curt nod.
I send commands to Orion through the mind-link. I have no idea where he is, or where he’s taken his mate, but Lacey can’t be seen by anyone right now.
I sit on the edge of the bed and hang my head in my hands as Lavender leaves the room, her rapid footsteps echoing until the door shuts with a firm snap. After a few seconds, I turn to look at Misty, leaning over her body to rest my hand on her forehead again.
Her eyelids flutter.
“Why are you fighting it?” I ask softly, as gently as I’m able to despite the nerves ricocheting through my body. “Just sleep.”
“I cured her, didn’t I? I broke the curse.”
“You did.”
She licks her lips, sucking in a shallow breath. “I’ll cure you next. In a little bit.”
“No, not when this is what happens to you–”
“I can’t let you live with it anymore. It hurts me, too. I feel–I feel like it’s in my own body.” Her eyes meet mine in a haze. “Alarm bells in my head. That’s what I heard the night you kissed me at the party, and I accidentally touched your back. I heard it–again, when you brought us our things at the fortress, and I threw that book at you. It was my healing powers telling me something was wrong.”
Close. She’s close to the truth.
“I will help you.”
“No, Misty. I have to get you out of this.”
“So you’ll just–what? Die?”
“An Alpha doesn’t leave his pack behind.” I smooth my hand over her forehead, into her hair. I can’t tell if she’s warming up, but she sighs under my touch, her eyelids fluttering again.
“My family could help.”
I nod, chewing the inside of my cheek as she slowly submits to the darkness pulling her under. I run my fingers through her hair until she stops leaning into my touch–asleep.
She’s right. Her family could have helped–years ago, when Richard first started coming into power. It’s far too late now, now that he has the Book of Whispers and has unlocked the magic he’s wielding–turning my homeland to a barren, cursed underworld. Turning my people into monsters. Using those monsters as his puppets, his army.
And his army is coming. The attack on TU was the last phase of his plan. Now, he has Serpentia, and Serpentia has the Gate of the Gods.
If he gets it open without Misty’s help… it’s over.
I listen to the mind-link as I walk through the castle. Orion has Lacey hidden. Lavender just brought Georgia and Luke to say goodbye to Misty, who’s dead asleep and has no idea I’m separating her from her friends. Luke is going to take the cryptex with him when he crosses the border into the Deadlands with instructions to find someone in the royal family and hand it off.
He couldn’t figure it out. I don’t blame him for that. It’s disappointing, but that’s just the way it is.
Minute by minute, the last wave of my people are moving toward the border. My warriors–those who’re still untouched by the curse–are herding the last holdouts–the last Alphas who’d refused to leave–toward safety. Then, my meager forces, my loyal warriors untouched by Richard’s magic, will return to Oasia and we will… fight until there’s none of us left. We’ll beat Richard down until he’s weak, and Misty’s family can sweep through with their massive armies and unlimited power, ending what I couldn’t.
There will be nothing left of Tarsian when it’s over.
But I can’t just abandon it. My home, my people….
I locate Orion a few minutes later, stepping into his family’s private quarters in the castle. Lacey’s shivering, barely awake, on a couch with Declan kneeling beside her, talking in low tones.
Orion turns to me, pale and flustered. “Is Richard here yet?”
“No, but I’m sure he’s on his way.” I glance at Lacey before stepping closer to Orion. “Get them out, now. Don’t wait. Use the tunnels.”
The tunnels date back to King Kane’s era–when people were escaping his wrath, trying to reach the Roguelands, to reach freedom.
Funny how things never change.
“Declan and Luke are going to carry her,” he says under his breath, motioning to his mate.
“You’re going–”
“I’m not. Neither is Commander Abernathy. Neither is Lavender.” He holds my gaze, daring me to argue.
“You realize this is a death sentence, right?”
“I promised your father I’d have your back through this.”
“I’m the king now,” I remind him, but he shakes his head.
“I made a promise to my friend to protect his son.”
A tingling sensation coasts through my brain, similar to the mind-link–but painful. A deep ache spreads through my body, making the scarred symbols roar to life. I resist the urge to pitch forward, to brace my hands on my knees.
“Richard’s here.” I hold Orion’s gaze. “Get them out, now. We’re out of time. I’ll make sure he stays busy.”
I go on to tell him Declan, Luke, and Georgia will be traveling with at least six maids making their escape tonight during the storm. Flooding in the tunnels is going to be a problem if the rain is torrential, but we’re out of options.
They’ll swim to the border before I let more people fall into Richard’s hands.
I head to the throne room. Like clockwork, the high ranking court members funnel out of their lairs, their eyes glowing green–summoned by Richard’s magic.
These men and women were once friends of my parents. People we could trust, who we loved.
Now they… simply don’t exist anymore. They stare at me with blank, green stares as I pass them, refusing to look into their familiar, yet wholly changed, faces.
I reach the throne room in a haze. Blood stains cover the once white mosaic tiles. I imagine Lavender on her knees scrubbing her own daughter’s blood from the floor like it’s happening again, right now.
But I’m alone, left with only memories of that horrific day.
I sit on my father’s throne–my throne–and wait.
The room begins to fill with green-eyed monsters. Alphas trapped here, their Lunas, their adult children and heirs. Maids and male servants. Warriors who hadn’t been able to escape Richard’s clutches. They stare, and wait, in silence.
Several cloaked figures appear. Richard leads his pack–his order of demons–his loyal few with their normal, uncursed eyes flanking him.
Nathan has the audacity to smirk as he stands a few feet behind Richard when the monster comes to a stop below my throne.
“I thought you were in Serpentia,” I drawl in a bored, uninterested tone that betrays my rapidly thundering heart.
Richard smiles, chuckling under his breath. “I had some business to take care of here before sending my forces to Serpentia. I’m sure you understand why.”
I tilt my head. “Would you care to explain?”
Richard doesn’t fully trust me. He shouldn’t. I don’t blame him for hesitating before he admits, “You’ve put me in a bind, Alpha King Cole. You have something I need.”
“Well, I’m using her, so your master plan is going to have to wait until my heir is born.”
“You think the Allied Kings are going to wait to attack?”
“I think they want their princess protected, especially since she’s with child.” I smile cruelly even though my heart is shattering in my chest. I haven’t given myself a single second to accept, let alone think about what Misty told me in her power haze. The idea that she’s actually pregnant is horrifying. I tried–I tried to stop this from happening but… I’m out of control around her.
“Then you’ve succeeded,” he says with marked disappointment.
My fake smile widens. “Yes.”
Richard purses his lips, motioning Nathan forward. “Well, now that that’s done, you can come to Serpentia with me as planned.”
I watch Nathan step beside Richard. My blood simmers, my vision filling with red.
Richard continues, “Brother Nathan will ensure the little witch is taken care of in your absence.”
Nathan smirks again, and I rise. “If you think I’m allowing the princess out of my sight, you’re delusional. She’s carrying my heir.”
“Don’t worry, Your Highness. You have a few days to continue playing with your little pet. It’s her birthday soon. I’ve already started planning her… party.”
“What?” I growl under my breath.
“Her birthday party. She’s turning twenty-one!” Richard barks a laugh, looking at Nathan, who nervously returns it with his own laugh. “I’m dying to see what kind of wolf she becomes. Brother Nathan had the honor of meeting her family last spring and learned so, so much about them. Did you know they come into their powers in full at twenty-one?” His smile is sick–twisting his gnarled old face. “I wonder, King Cole, if you’ve seen what else she can do? Especially since you’ve been the one holding her down…. I wonder, does she fight it? Or does she writhe when you’re between her pretty little legs?”
“Enough,” I snarl.
“What can she do, Cole?”
I walk toward him, balling my hands into fists. He pulls his cane from his cloak, pointing it at me in warning.
“You’re not allowed to remain in the castle. You know you’re unwelcome here,” I growl. I look at Nathan, edging toward him with every intention of tearing his head from his body. “And you,” I snarl, leaning down so we’re face to face, “you had the honor of meeting her family–the possibility of joining their ranks. Was it worth it, I wonder, to break her heart like you did?”
Nathan pales, leaning away.
“Oh, don’t tell me you’ve caught feelings for that stupid whore,” Richard chuckles.
I turn my wrath on him. “Get out of my castle. Get out of my city. You camp on your precious highway.”
He smirks, tapping Nathan with his cane.
I look down, noticing the outline of symbols beginning to fade into view on Nathan’s hands.
“You fool,” I tell Nathan, knowing that he asked for this, to be cursed, to be part of whatever world Richard promised him.
Richard begins to turn away. “We’ll be back in a few days for the party.”
“There will be no party.”
“Let’s not forget who’s in charge here, boy,” Richard grins.
I hold Nathan’s gaze until he finally turns away, and the group falls out of sight. The rest of the cursed onlookers fade into the shadows, going back to pacing their rooms, trying to think past the curse to remember who they are and why they’re here.
The rain starts to fall when I find Orion again. He tries to ask me what happened, but I silence him with a hand, saying, “I need Declan to carry a message for me to the border. I have an idea about how to get Misty out.”