48. Chapter Forty-Eight - Leigh
The morning sun casts long shadows across Aurora’s bustling streets.
The scent of roasted chestnuts and spices wraps me in an exotic embrace.
Gianna walks next to me, having reluctantly agreed to go on a walk so that we can talk.
After stumbling on Wilder and Brigid, I needed some fresh air.
I’m not hiding from Wilder, but I can’t face him now.
His words stung.
He said I was an unpinned grenade, which hit home.
I am unpredictable, and I’ve made plenty of mistakes , but honestly, that’s not the real reason I walked away.
Seeing him with Brigid devastated me.
The look on her face was a painful reflection of my own.
She’s in love with my boyfriend, and he knows it.
He never told me about her, a fact that twists the knife of my own deceit.
I lied to him about Alden, desperately trying to uncover Stellan’s mole, appease the Council, and find another way before he learned about the proposal.
I’m running out of time.
Alden expects my answer tonight.
If I’m wrong about Gianna, I might have to marry him to save my country.
And the sickening truth is, it’s my fault.
My lies have backed me into this corner.
My desperation.
My stupidity.
Wilder will forgive me for walking away from him today.
He won’t forgive me for agreeing to be Alden’s wife.
I won’t forgive myself.
Nor will I survive if my actions push him back into Brigid’s wide-open arms.
No, this ends now.
I stride purposely down the street lined with towering date palms, Gianna beside me and Isolde training behind.
I glance at Gianna, but she’s barely met my eyes since we left the garrison, and my jaw hardens.
If she’s Stellan’s mole, I don’t know how I’ll handle it.
After the events of last year and the terrible things I said about her and Fynn at their engagement party, I thought we had moved forward when we both admitted our secrets to one another—her being a Nebula and me being a Lunar Witch.
We have a rocky past, but at the end of the day, she’s my closest friend.
No matter how bad things have been, we’ve always found a way back to each other.
But this?
I am unsure how I can get past it.
It also sucks because part of me wants her to be the mole just so that I can move forward with my plans.
We’ll deal with the aftermath when shit hits the fan.
“What did you want to talk about?” Gi asks.
I release a forceful breath.
I practiced what I would say to her on the train and concluded that if she told me the truth, I would do my best not to get angry.
But dammit, I am pissed.
Gianna’s been through so much, and I understand the lengths a person might go to for information about their family.
I raised a daemon to get Eos to give me the War Letters and almost killed Wilder in the process.
This self-sabotaging dynamic between us needs to stop.
We’re practically siblings, the closest thing either of us has to family, and we need to remember how much we care for each other.
“We’ve been through a lot together,” I begin.
“I understand why you did it, if you did, but I need you to tell me the truth and stop. Please, too much is at risk, and I am running out of time and options.”
Gianna glances sidelong at me.
Color has returned to her cheeks.
I hope her time away from Borealis has been good for her.
“Stop what?” she asks.
I war between needing to sit down and not being able to sit still.
“Have you been telling Stellan stories about me and the Council?”
Gianna halts in the middle of the busy street.
So do I.
“ What? ” she gasps.
“You came here to glean information from Stellan about your father. Did you use me to do it?”
Gianna’s mouth opens and closes.
Betrayal flashes in her gaze, but I hold strong.
I’ve had people lie to my face and smile while doing it.
I want this moment to be different.
“Leigh, are you asking me if I am Stellan’s source?” she asks.
I nod.
“Yes. You live with me. You are friends with several Council members. Stellan has something you want, and I know you are tenacious. So, please tell me because I need to be armed with the truth when I see him in an hour. If Stellan isn’t stopped, our government will remain divided, and?—”
“Leigh, you are my best friend, but sometimes I want to wring your neck.”
“Is that a yes?” The hair on my nape lifts.
“Being queen must not be easy,” Gi says evasively.
She’s about to tell me the truth, and though it’s everything I need right now, I am suddenly afraid to hear it.
“You are the queen, the top of the food chain,” Gianna continues, “yet you are always watching your back, ready for someone to stab you in it, but that person isn’t me. I swear on our friendship. And if that isn’t enough for you, you’d be happy to know I’ve yet to speak to Stellan. The first and only time I saw him was that day in the square before chaos broke loose and Ry dragged me away. I’ve spent most of my time here, alone, being held at gunpoint, or with Wilder.”
My breath hitches.
Did she say gunpoint?
“Please, Leigh, I’ve done some shady stuff, but I’d never intentionally hurt you,” Gi says.
“You’re the only family I’ve known.”
I press my hands against my temples.
Goddammit.
I believe her.
I’ve known her long enough to recognize her sincerity.
But if she isn’t the mole, then who is?
Fear grips my heart like a vise.
Gianna is my last lead.
“But Stellan . . .”
“Stellan has the information I need, but I would never use you to get it. Your friendship and my conscience aren’t worth it,” Gianna adds.
I drag my nails down my cheeks.
“Then who is working with Stellan?”
I see him soon, and my bargaining chip to get him to listen just went out the window.
Gi’s attention drifts up the street.
“Maybe you should have this conversation with Wilder.”
“Maybe,” I say, but how can I look him in the eyes?
Tonight, I’ll likely have to accept Alden’s proposal.
If I don’t, it means war.
But Gods, I can’t lose him .
No wonder my grandmother never remarried.
Love is a weakness.
Gi shakes her head.
“You are so untrusting, Leigh, but neither Wilder nor I have ever faltered in our loyalty to you. Talk to him. He loves you and will listen.”
I open my mouth to offer an excuse, a reason why he shouldn’t love me.
Don betrayed me.
My mother lied to me.
My grandmother won’t even call me back, preferring to hide away in the mountains.
But Gianna, my best friend, has forgiven me even after I thought the worst of her.
Maybe Wilder will, too.
Maybe he can even help me figure out a plan B with Stellan.
Swallowing, I square my shoulders.
“So what do you think of Brig?—”
Cold metal bites the flesh between my shoulder blades, exposed by my strapless dress.
Gianna’s eyes go wide.
She throws up her hands as she takes in whoever is behind me, holding me at gunpoint.
She whimpers, barely audible over the ambient noise of the city.
“Keep quiet, start walking, and don’t stop until I tell you to,” a woman’s voice hisses in my ear.
“Move, now.”
I try to glance behind me for Isolde.
But the blue-haired Blade is nowhere to be seen.
Gianna walks first, her steps hesitant.
I follow.
To an outsider, it must look like we are out on a stroll.
A few people walk past, their faces a blur of indifference or hidden behind scarves to block out the ever-present sand and dust.
No one bats an eye.
“I’m so sorry I brought this danger to you, Leigh,” Gi whispers.
Somehow, she believes this is her fault.
But I know it’s mine.
Whoever attacked me at the kelpie races must have followed me to Aurora.
Fuck, Janus was right.
Being out here in a new city without the entirety of my guard, I’ve thrown myself into the lion’s den.
“Turn here,” the abductor commands.
Gianna and I obey, turning down a narrow street that must double as a weekend bazaar.
Empty wooden stalls line the sides, leaving a walkway in the middle.
“Stop here. Now, slowly, face me with your hands high so I can see them. Any funny business, one or both of you will have a bullet between your brows.”
I swallow hard.
When I turn, I come face-to-face with a woman dressed head to toe in black, a scarf covering obscuring her features.
But her eyes—a striking midnight blue—pierce through me.
“You attacked me at the races,” I say.
It’s a guess, but this person and my attacker have similar strong builds.
The kidnapper nods.
“I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”
“You two know each other?” Gi squeaks.
“What do you want?” I ask.
“Isn’t it obvious? She’s here to murder us,” Gianna says.
“Who are you?” I ask.
The abductor uses her free hand to unwrap the covering around her face.
I gasp.
Marlowe Wilkes, the former Borealis Blade Commander and current fugitive.
She’s wanted for attempting to blow up the capitol to liberate the Nebula people in Nyx’s name.
Her face is gaunt, her opalescent skin now suntanned and drawn, but her red hair and sharp features are unmistakable.
A wry smile twists Marlowe’s chapped lips.
Gianna’s jaw drops.
“Wilder’s been looking everywhere for you,” I say.
But of course, she already knows that.
Marlowe shrugs.
“It’s easy to evade arrest when you taught the people hunting you all they know. And it’s good that I found you first because I have vital information about the wolves’ strategy.”
“What strategy? You mean Prince Alden’s proposal or the prints breaching our borders?” I ask.
Gianna glances at me, but now isn’t the time for an explanation.
“Their plot goes much deeper than a simple proposal or border control issues, Your Majesty,” Marlowe says.
I blink.
Sunlight reflects off the gun’s barrel.
“What do you mean?”
Marlowe narrows her eyes.
“First, I need your word that you will pardon me for my crimes. I made a mistake with Nyx, but I’m trying to make up for it. To do that, I need your word you won’t send me to prison.”
I laugh.
“You have a gun pointed at my head, blackmailing me by withholding information vital for national security, and yet you want me to believe you’ve changed?”
“Yes.”
My face tightens.
“You betrayed Wilder with that bomb. He would despise me if I took away his chance to arrest you.”
Marlowe’s grin falters.
They were close.
Closer than commander and subordinate.
She was a friend.
Her betrayal gutted him.
Before he left for Aurora, he’d been tearing himself apart trying to find her and get answers about her betrayal.
“My offer is final. And I promise you want to know what I know. Your grandmother’s life depends on it.”
Time stops.
“My grandmother is in Glaucus.”
“Is she?” Marlowe taunts.
“Leigh, what the hell is going on?” Gi asks, with her arms still overhead.
“Talk, Marlowe,” I growl.
My patience is wearing thin.
“I’m supposed to be somewhere, and if I don’t show up, Wilder will come looking for me. When he finds you, he will arrest you. If you want me to pardon you, you better speak fast. I’ll judge whether what you say is worth your freedom and Wilder’s ire. Is my grandmother in danger?”
“You need me on your side. I can help, but I need that pardon. Wilder will understand.”
“Don’t trust her, Leigh,” Gianna says, glaring at Marlowe.
“Wilder hates her.”
The former commander grits her teeth.
“Leigh, forget about Wilder for a minute and take a second to consider how you need me. Snakes surround you, and the longer you don’t see that, the closer you are to being bit,” Marlowe says, and my stomach hardens as if she doled out a punishing blow.
She has me backed into a corner.
If my grandmother is in danger, I can’t risk her life.
I take a deep breath.
“Fine. What do you know?”
“The wolves have your grandmother. Prince Zeus breached the northern borders and has Queen Jorina as his hostage. He’s in Corona along with a sizable army.”
Gianna grabs my arm.
Her long nails—needing a manicure—dig into my skin as I gasp.
“Zeus is here. And he has my g-grandmother?” My mind races, connecting the dots.
Were his footprints the ones Janus was referencing last night?
The thought of my grandmother in the clutches of that monster sends a chill down my spine.
I can barely process the information, my mouth going dry as I imagine the horrors she must be enduring.
My grandmother is at the mercy of a ruthless prince.
The fear is paralyzing, but I know I can’t let it consume me.
I must save her, to get us out of this mess.
“Tell me everything. Did you see Zeus?” I demand.
“If he is on the move with an army, that means Alden has given them the order to invade. The troops from Lua answer to Alden, the younger prince and enforcer. However, I am convinced that people would have noticed a foreign army crossing into our lands.”
Marlowe sighs, her expression grim.
“Alden’s armies can transform into wolves. Under the cover of night, they could have easily slipped past our patrols undetected. But to pull off an invasion of this scale, it must have been in the works for a long time.”
I’m staring without seeing.
For the wolves to have entered Corona, Alden must have orchestrated this invasion behind the scenes.
He’s been lying to me from the start.
A scream bubbles up my throat.
Alden’s proposal, his charm offensive—it was all a ruse to keep me distracted, to prevent me from noticing the signs of the impending attack.
And like a fool, I fell for it, too caught up in my feelings to see that Alden’s talk of invasion was not just talk.
“He played me,” I whisper.
I clench my hands into fists at the shakiness in my voice.
How could I have been so easily manipulated, so willing to believe in a future that was never meant to be?
I should have trusted my instincts and seen through his deception from the beginning.
“We need to inform the Council immediately. Zeus could be heading straight for them,” I say.
“They aren’t,” Marlowe tells me.
“The wolves are on their way to Aurora. Stellan’s been working with them. He is nothing more than a puppet. They are backing his campaign and money-rolling his enclave. In return, he’s letting them establish their war camp outside Aurora before marching on Borealis.”
“Stellan is working with the wolves?” I ask, but several shouts steal Marlowe’s attention.
I follow her gaze, seeing an altercation among several men at the other end of the bazaar.
They are yelling at each other, and it is evident by how they get in each other’s faces that they will go to blows.
Soon, the Blades will arrive.
“Time to go.” I face Marlowe again, who has put her face covering back on.
Gi gapes.
“Leigh, your meeting with Stellan started five minutes ago.”
I groan, grabbing her hand.
“Come on, we need to get to Furies.”
“What are you going to do when you see Stellan?” Gi asks.
I grind my molars to dust.
Stellan has some serious explaining to do.
Until we talk, though, I can’t jump to conclusions.
I need his information, the details about Zeus and Alden’s army, and confirmation of their arrival time.
Only then can I formulate a plan to notify the Council and negotiate my grandmother’s rescue.
“Marlowe, are you coming?” I ask.
She nods.
“Go ahead. I will meet you there.”
I’m looking forward to telling Janus and the others that a wedding with Alden never would have protected us.
We’ve always been vulnerable.
It’s time we face the truth and take action to defend our kingdom.