54. Chapter Fifty-Four - Leigh
Seated on the floor in Wilder’s dark bedroom, I gaze at images from his past.
Charcoal drawings of his friends—Brigid, the Erinye sisters, and a smiling Ry—adorn his walls.
These people were a considerable part of Wilder’s life before he met me.
They all supported Stellan’s plans to liberate the Nebula from Epsilon rule—my rule.
The realization stings.
You haven’t lost yet , Aradia’s ghost reminds me.
She’s right.
I haven’t.
I close my eyes, block out the world, and focus on breathing.
I will astral project to Ravi and compel him to reveal what he failed to tell me all those days ago inside my throne room.
He may not tell me anything, but if the mutual understanding we’ve built over these past few days means anything to him, he’ll tell me the truth.
How do I defeat Alden’s armies?
With adrenaline coursing through my veins like liquid fire, I picture Ravi—his dark stubble casting shadows across his soft jaw, his haunted eyes holding untold secrets, and his tense physique.
Pain sears my chest.
We’re more alike than I thought.
Ravi’s voice meets my ears.
“Leigh?”
I open my eyes to find myself in a drab tent with lumpy rugs underfoot.
It’s spacious, if not stifling.
Outside, the sun is setting, and its orange rays filter through my astral form, causing me to emit a ghostly, translucent emanation.
It worked.
I stalk toward Ravi.
“You let Alden deceive me. Why?” Hurt thickens my throat.
“I thought you considered yourself my family.”
Ravi’s expression tightens.
“Leigh, you shouldn’t be here.” His dark eyes dart toward the closed tent flap.
Muffled sounds of conversation and laughter filter through from outside.
“What if I hadn’t been alone? You’re taking a huge risk.”
“An inescapable risk,” I say.
“I need answers. What game are you and Alden playing?”
“Alden and I are not friends,” Ravi says.
My mouth snaps shut.
I didn’t expect him to be so willing to talk.
“While Zeus prepared the invasion, Alden agreed to distract you while he familiarized himself with Borealis. Alden doesn’t care about conquering Corona like Zeus does. He wants vengeance.”
I hesitate.
Vengeance for what?
Alden wasn’t alive when the wolves last invaded Corona and failed.
“I never meant to hurt you, Leigh,” Ravi says.
“And I hate the part I played in Alden’s deception, but I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice,” I bite out.
“Not when family is involved.” He rubs his eyes; they glint with unshed tears.
“My sister is Zeus’s prisoner.”
I gasp.
“How?”
Ravi’s voice is heavy with emotion.
“Sama and Zeus were intimate, and she falls in love easily, always seeing the world through rose-colored glasses. She thought her heart was safe with Zeus and that she’d have a second chance of being a princess with him. So, she confided in him about our ancestry. But, as I knew he would, Zeus betrayed her and told his father, who ordered Alden to take Sama as their prisoner to jumpstart his war.”
“I went to Nocturn Castle, searching for her, but they apprehended me, too. They told me they would free Sama if I helped them deceive you.”
Ravi’s gaze meets mine.
“I agreed only because I thought I could deceive them instead. I hoped that if I told you my identity, you might help me save Sama. But you hated me from the moment we met. I realized I would never win your trust. From then on, I decided I couldn’t risk Sama’s life by betraying Alden. I gave up trying to convince you, but I didn’t give up wanting to know you.”
Gods, I made a terrible mistake.
A prickling starts behind my eyes.
If I had been more trusting when I met Ravi, all this could have been avoided.
I had fixated on Alden, thinking I could handle the Wolf Prince while weeding out foes within my Council.
Ravi warned me about him, but I didn’t listen.
I had focused on Janus as the traitor after that dream, but my inability to reenter her dreams now casts doubt on everything.
And Gianna .
.
.
how could I have suspected her ?
The biggest misstep was closing myself off to Wilder, when being with him is all I truly want.
If I hadn’t been so guarded, so consumed by my fears and insecurities, I could have shared what I saw in that nightmare.
I could have collaborated with others, uncovering these plots before they took root.
Instead, I isolated myself, choosing the path of most resistance, convinced everyone around me would eventually betray me, just like my uncle.
“What does Alden’s invasion have to do with vengeance?” I ask.
Ravi rubs his eyes.
“You remember Tanith?”
“Alden’s mate who died?”
“Zeus is responsible,” Ravi says.
I cover my mouth to quiet my gasp.
Alden left out that part of the story.
“Zeus and his father had their eyes on Corona long before the king fell ill. They watched as your father and brother died, and when you disappeared for a year, only to return after President Sinclair’s death without claiming the throne, they sensed weakness.”
Shouts erupt outside the tent.
Ravi brings a finger to his lips, then cautiously opens the tent flap just a crack.
I hold my breath as he peers outside.
Satisfied to find nothing, he lets the flap fall back into place, then resumes his position on the cot before me.
“Zeus urged Alden to make a move on Corona, claiming it was their father’s dying wish to expand their territory. But Alden, wrapped up in love with the gentle Tanith, refused to leave her to go to war. Enraged, Zeus lured Tanith into the woods and had her ambushed by rogue vampires to remind Alden of his place.”
I shake my head, horrified.
“Did they . . .”
“They didn’t kill her, but they turned her into a vampire,” Ravi states, his voice tinged with regret.
“Unfortunately, werewolf DNA rejects the vampire gene. They don’t maintain an ounce of humanity. Tanith might as well be dead. Zeus convinced Alden that Vyvyan was to blame, since the vampires who attacked Tanith slipped from her control. Alden came to Borealis to find Vyvyan and enact his revenge.”
Chills erupt through my body, goose bumps prickling my skin.
I think of that first night at Little Death.
Alden claimed he had gotten lost in the tunnels, but now, I see it was a lie.
He was scouting for Vyvyan.
“But if Zeus is the one who set the vampires on her, why wouldn’t Alden blame him?” I ask.
“He doesn’t know,” Ravi says simply.
“Zeus threatened to kill Sama if I told him.”
“We need to tell Alden the truth.” My mind drifts toward the cure, hope fluttering in my chest.
Chiara received the funding she needed to continue her research.
If I asked for a favor, could she expedite her research?
“The truth won’t change that Tanith is a vampire. She might as well be dead.”
“What if there is a way to change that?”
If I can convince Alden that there’s a way to save Tanith and prove to him that Zeus is the one to blame for her attack, then we might avoid war altogether.
“Where’s Alden now?” I ask.
“Sleeping,” Ravi says, though the sun has barely set.
“It was a long journey.”
“I have an idea.”
Like an invisible lasso tied around my waist, a sudden tug yanks my spirit back to my body before I finish.
I gasp as if taking my first breath, finding myself back inside Wilder’s room.
“Leigh.” Wilder hauls me into his arms, sagging against the bed, and drawing me down with him as if terrified to let me go.
My heart clenches at the intensity of his care, so different from the emptiness in his eyes when he looked at me back at Furies.
He expels an audible breath before adding, “I couldn’t wake you, and . . . fuck, I feared the worst.”
I clutch him back, wanting to soothe the lines above his brow.
He didn’t lose me; I am still here, and if he still wants me, I will tell him everything.
“I’m sorry for scaring you.” But I am not sorry I did it.
“Where did you go?” Wilder asks.
I pull away from Wilder’s embrace and notice we aren’t alone.