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I breathed a pained laugh and twisted back to face her. “Too late, Mom. Way too late.”
“Everything ok?”
I glanced up at the sound of my brother’s voice as I walked back into the cabin, my mind and gut still swirling.
“Yeh, fine, just lost in my head,” I answered simply as I saw the three of them sat at the table, waiting for an answer.
Cordelia smiled at me and gestured at the pile of food. “Come and eat.”
My heart thumped oddly as I suddenly struggled to meet her gaze, shaking my head as I headed towards the stairs.
“Uh, no thanks, I need to finish packing.”
I sank down heavily onto my bed when I reached my room, scrubbing a hand over my face as my thoughts churned. The problem was, Mom wasn’t completely wrong. The Queen was a danger that we couldn’t ignore, and the pack needed us all to be strong and protect them with everything we had. I had no doubt in my mind that my pack would always be a priority for me, but that didn’t mean Cordy couldn’t be a priority too.
We could protect her, even from her own reckless tendencies. Anyway, we didn’t have much choice but to walk into danger right now. Was it a risk to search for these stones? Yes. But it was a necessary evil. We needed this prophecy to be fulfilled; the pack needed freedom from the threat and oppression of the Queen.
Not to mention the fact that I craved vengeance. I could feel the desire for retribution humming through my veins every day. Noah’s death, the years she stole from my mother, and the abuse she had put her daughter through, were only the start of my list of reasons why I needed to see that bitch of a queen fall.
The risk was high, but worth it.
I had to rely on the fact that this was our fated path. Finding these stones was the priority because it would give us all the safety that we were so desperate for. The Queen was so eager to get her hands on her daughter that she’d only come looking here anyway, so the further away we were the better.
I needed to try and push these doubts away. I knew my mother meant well, that she really believed that sending Cordelia away was the answer, but she didn’t know everything.
A knock of the doorframe caught my attention, and I glanced up to see Liam stood there with a concerned look on his face.
“What’s going on, brother?” he asked simply, getting straight to the point as usual.
I shook my head. “Nothing, I’m fine, honestly.”
He quirked a brow at me and waited, clearly not believing me for a second.
I sighed. “Mom still has a lot to understand about everything, that’s all. She’s convinced Cordelia is a problem and it wasn’t an easy conversation.”
He held my gaze for a steady moment before giving me a firm nod. “Fine, but I hope you shut that shit down.”
I breathed a frustrated laugh. “Of course I fucking did.”
He moved to leave, but quickly turned back to face me. “Cordelia is worried about you. Don’t let her carry your shit as well as everything else she’s dealing with. Sort your head out.”
I released a heavy breath as he walked away, knowing he was right. I was supposed to be protecting Cordy, not adding more to her load. Part of me wanted to talk this all through with her, to ask her thoughts on everything my mother had said, but I knew I wouldn’t do it.
Because when it came down to it, Cordy held my entire heart and soul in her hands. And while the pack was undeniably a priority, at the end of it all I knew that I’d protect her above all else.
Chapter One
Cordelia
Myleatherbootsscuffedalong the floor, the laces loose and trailing as I kicked and struggled against my captor. It was pointless though. The guard was at least twice my size and the weight of a ten-year-old girl was nothing to him, his grip on the back of my collar firm and unyielding as he dragged me down the dungeon steps.
“Let me go!” I screamed, reaching out with clawed hands in an attempt to scratch at him.
I gained nothing though, not even an inch of freedom or a single sign that he was aware of my fight, and as we descended into the eerie darkness beneath the castle my heart began to pound. I hated this place. The dark belly of the beast which sat silent and waiting beneath the elegance of the castle rooms above. The place that had swallowed so many of my screams and haunted my nightmares.
I began to pant in fright as I was pulled through the large door at the bottom of the stairway, the sound of the ancient wood scraping against the worn stone floor sending a familiar chill of dread down my spine.
I screamed in defiance again, renewing my struggles so suddenly that the guard’s grip on my clothing loosened just a fraction. But it was enough. I lifted my feet fully off the floor as his hold slipped, tugging free and falling to my knees on the hard stone with a wince. Refusing to let the pain stop me, I bolted into the darkness ahead without a pause, knowing full well that trying to get back up the steps would be pointless in that moment. The guard had longer legs, was naturally faster than me, and had magic on his side. I was just a child, and my only hope was to hide in the darkness until it was safe to run for it.
