AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sebastian’s eyes had gone so wide that Isla could find flecks of brown in the pine green as if he’d truly been crafted for the forest. “And how do you knowthat?”
“The witch told me, more or less, when she took me. Mom had been…captured.”
Isla swore she could see Sebastian’s heart pounding through his bare chest, beating straight through his rib cage. He paced a few steps back from her, his eyes glossing.
“Seb—” Isla started, but he cut her off.
“She’s alive, isn’t she?” he breathed, a broken and hopeful smile sliding across his face. “She’s alive.”
Isla went rigid, her jaw going slack. There was an understanding in his voice like he’d known for a while.
But still, he said, “Say it,” like he needed her to confirm the impossible. To make it real.
Isla swallowed a sob, her eyes stinging as she nodded. For a moment, she couldn’t get the words out. “She’s alive.”
And just like that, the ghost that had once stood between them for a decade vanished.
A single tear slid down his cheek, and he didn’t bother wiping it away until it nearly reached the stubble of his jaw. His body shook as he laughed or cried in disbelief. She couldn’t think of the last time she’d seen him like this…if she’d ever.
Isla wiped the tears from her eyes, remembering her mother in that cave when they were finally,trulyface-to-face again. How broken she had been, how much she’d gone through. She didn’t know how much it would matter to her, seeing their relief and how much they missed her.
“Fucking hell.” He paced a few steps away, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I knew it.”
The words struck her like a lash. “You knew?”
“I figured,” he corrected, closing the distance between them again. “That's another reason why I stayed: to track her. I felt her in Abalys that night with Daisy, or I swear I did. I didn't know what to do. I thought I was going crazy and wanted to make sure before I talked to you or Dad…Dad.” Sebastian let out a breath and took a few steps towards the hall. “We have to tell him.”
Isla’s stomach pitted when his face lit up at that.
“Wait, slow down.” She put her hands up to stop him. There was still so much more that he didn’t know. “You have to let me finish.”
“Finish once we get Mom.” He ran a hand over his hair, shaking his head at himself. “Goddess, I’m not even asking the most important question. Where is she? Are you hiding her somewhere or something? How—how long have you known? Where did you find her?”
“Let me finish,” was all Isla could answer, and the softness and moroseness of her tone spawned another frown on her brother’s face. Nausea bubbled in her stomach, and now, she paced. “She’s been through a lot, Seb. When the witch captured her, she held her for years, tortured herfor years.”
Sebastian blanched, his fists clenching at his sides. She could’ve sworn she felt his wolf rising to the surface.
Isla couldn’t pause. “She made her into—”Monsters are made.“She went through hell, and now, she’s not the same. She did something…really, really bad.” That felt like downplaying it. Isla swallowed, bracing for another truth that would shake everything between them. She wouldn’t let her voice drift above the gurgling river. “Shekilled the Alpha and Heir of Deimos.”
Sebastian’s body locked up, his eyes blowing wide. His mouth opened to speak, but he said nothing.
Isla continued, “The witch uses her like a weapon like she used the rogues. She basically stripped her of herself and used her to kill Kai’s family, to almost kill Kai.”
The tan leached from Sebastian’s skin. “You're lying.” Not an accusation but a plea.
“I wish I was," Isla said. “I haven’t seen her since the night of the challenge; I haven’t heard from her either.”
“You saw her?” Sebastian’s voice broke.
Isla nodded, her lower lip trembling. “She saved me,hassaved me, more times than I ever realized.” Apolla’s face flashed through her mind again, and she winced.
She’d gone through all of that and given up on finding her.
Isla’s expression and fracturing of words seemed enough for Sebastian to gather just how bad she’d looked. His features curled in ire and disgust. “Where is she now?”
“I don’t know. She’s really good at remaining hidden, and—and I’m not sure she wants to be found.” She didn’t want to believe that truth.
Sebastian went quiet as he pondered the words, breaking them down. “Does Kai know it was her?"
