Aster
We’re back in our room in the East Wing. Noah isn’t pacing although he has scrubbed his hand through his hair enough that it’s standing on end. He stares out the window, down at the line of guards posted on the lawn. I wish he’d say something, but I know what he’s thinking. He’s calculating how many of them he could fight before they stop him from escaping to save his family.
I shiver, rubbing my arms. Since the confrontation with Brick, there are even more guards posted around our room. I sit on the edge of the bed, wracking my brain to figure out what I can do.
I never had much to offer Noah, and it’s becoming clear I’m more of a burden than a mate. I can't really help him. My visions are gone, and I didn't realize how helpless that would make me feel. During the worst moments of my childhood, at least I felt a connection to something beyond. It gave me comfort, made me feel like Fate had a divine plan, and I was being guided. But what did Fate ever give me? My own pack was starving me. My own alpha was threatening me with a fate worse than death: breeding and the future torture of my own children unless I produced credible visions.
But now I don't know what to do. I pick at the bedspread, feeling painfully ordinary. Useless.
A wild thought enters my head. “I could go to them with the moonstone,” I say.
I could trade myself–”
No. Noah snaps his index and middle fingers down on his thumb. He crosses the room, signing with furious fingers. “Absolutely not. You will not sacrifice yourself.” He bares his fangs, his eyes glittering bright. His wolf is ready to pounce on me just for suggesting it.
“Then what are we going to do?” I whisper.
His expression turns bleak. I can’t stand it. I reach for his hand.
There's a knock on the door, and I jump off the bed, miming a knock to Noah to let him know what I heard.
Noah holds up his hand to stop me from answering it. He keeps me behind him as he opens the door–as if he expects whoever’s behind it to pounce.
It's Sully. He must be here to bring us back to an audience with Brick. But something’s off–he's dressed in black from head to toe. The hall behind him is empty, the guards nowhere to be seen.
“Come with me,” he says. “Now.”
Noah
I keep Aster close as we follow Sully down the hall to a small staircase. The guards are suspiciously absent, as if Sully ordered them gone. He might be helping us–but he might mean to do us harm.
Still, I’m desperate, so I keep quiet as he leads us out a back door to a waiting car. Hope flares in my chest, and I snuff it out. Sully gets in the driver's seat and motions us to get in. I stop Aster from obeying, keeping my arm around her in case I need to protect her.
I wag my index finger from side to side in the sign for where?
“I’m taking you to the Adalwulfs. To get your sister and mom.”
Why are you helping us? I sign.
Sully looks straight at Aster. “Moira” is all he says.
We get in the backseat of the car. Sully drives off as soon as we shut the door. The car is electric, so it’s completely silent as it glides down the long, dark road. The moon is high, almost full, and light plays on our faces as we drive through the forest.
Finally, we’re off Blackthroat land, and I let out a sigh. Sully is helping us escape.
Aster asks something–I only catch the second half lip-reading. Something like, “...trouble with Brick?”
I study Sully’s face in the rear-view mirror. For a second, I think I see a flicker of a smile on Sully’s face. I don't know why he would be smiling, and his expression smooths out quickly. “No one will know that I helped you unless I want them to.”
He picks up a container and hands it back to me.
I miss what he says, so I look at Aster, who repeats it, enunciating her lips clearly enough for me.
“This is scent canceling spray.” She mimes spraying a can.
Sully meets my gaze in the rearview mirror. “I can get you to the edge of Moon Hollow.”
I nod.
