“No,” I said. “I will not take your poison.”
“Diora,” Dion said, taking my arms. “Please my darling, don’t make it harder…”
Lady Skol held out the tray, and when it became apparent that I wouldn’t take the cup, took it in her own hands. Dion pinned my arms to my sides.
“Lady Diora, please…”
Lady Skol pushed the cup towards me. Dion held me tight. I couldn’t move. I was bound. The cup was closing in. Dion pinched my nose. Lady Skol’s eyes flashed with evil–
I woke with a jerk. My hands and feet were bound. I fought them in the darkness.
Agatha came into my vision, shushing me and caressing my cheek. It was dark, but I was beginning to see more. We were in a tent. It was night and the cool air coming in under the sides were relaxing. But why were we in a tent?
“Fey,” Agatha said, bringing my awareness back to her. “It’s okay.”
I stilled myself, my breaths came from my nose in bellows. A gag was over my mouth. I couldn’t move and my heart was pounding in my chest. I was shivering suddenly, anger rising in my chest. Why were they doing this? Why was Dion doing this to me? We were fated. We were–
“Everything has gone wrong,” Agatha whispered. Tears had been running down her cheeks and she looked about urgently, checking the silhouettes outside. “They’ve betrayed us.”
My eyes bulged.Betrayed?I looked at the shadows on the tent wall. Two men sat near a fire.
“They’re going to sell us to the guards and take the money. After you changed…” Agatha stopped, a sob pulled from her. The shock of the memory. “You changed and Dion had to shift too. He said you were too dangerous. Too dangerous to keep alive, or near them. They said the deal was off. That they would trade you in at the next town that had an outpost.”
It made no sense. My face must’ve asked the question, because Agatha answered.
“I don’t know,” she said. “They just, they–” she looked back at the silhouettes, then leaned closer. “After you said you had a letter for Jebra, they made a copy of it. While we were asleep, or at least, thoughtIwas asleep. I had no chance of overpowering Dion, who would? You’ve seen him, you saw how he killed that man.”
I wished that I could hug her. Take her in my arms and make her feel okay—but then I saw her wrists. They were raw and bloodied. She saw me looking and turned away.
“They’ve kept me bound. They didn’t… they didn’t trust me after you became what youare. They tied it so tight.” Agatha wiped tears from her eyes and refused to look at the ropes in the corner.
I couldn’t believe it. Why were they doing this?
The letter.If they’d found the letter to make a copy, and seen the map on the back? They would’ve seen the seal. And if Roman had seen the seal? He would know who I really was. Not that the old seal of royalty meant anything under Lady Skol, but it meant that we werevaluable.
Maybe all that stuff Dion said about rewards could be true? Maybe we were runaways…
But another thing twinged in my mind. My dream. Lady Skol had been in it. But she wasn’t Lady Skol, she’d been someone else. In another time…
It was just a dream.
Agatha leaned closer, watching the silhouettes, She was shaking. She looked afraid to even speak louder than a whisper. She was breathing heavily, perspiring despite the cold.
“We need to escape,” she uttered. “As soon as we can. As soon–”
One of the men rose, Dion from his shape, but then the two were so similar, it could’ve been either. He walked out of the light and away. Where was he going?
“He keeps doing that. He talks with the wolves,” Agatha said. She was pale now, and so close that our cheeks were pressing together. “He also listens to us. The first night I was talking with you and he got so angry he threatened to gag me too.”
My blood boiled. I couldn’t believe what these two were doing. Why had we gone with them so quickly? Was it some stupid reason I believed I had to go with them because of a mind trick that Roman used when approaching us after the square? He’d looked at me with awe for a while, but maybe it was lust…
My rage kept growing, and I allowed it to take over me. I allowed it to fill every pore and muscle. To take my mind and break free. I willed my wolf to come out and let me transform. I willed it to howl. Iwantedto howl…
But nothing happened. No wolf came.
It couldn’t have been a dream. It couldn’t have been a one off. I’d shifted! I’d shifted for the first time in my life and I’d run on my pads for real. I’d run along with Dion. With him chasing me and–
I remembered his roaring face. The power in his eyes and the way his surge penetrated my soul. Fear had erupted in my heart at the very thought of him dominating me, and I–woke up only now. What had happened? He hadn’t been looking at me with love then. He’d been looking at me with hate, with anger, with evil.
