Chapter 3
ELODIE
“Come.”
That one word sends a shudder running down my spine.
My hands curl into fists at my sides as I continue to stare at his fortress before me, my mind spiralling with idea upon idea of how I might be able to escape this place, but every time I think I’ve settled on one, it evaporates and spirals into the next.
Once upon a time, it would have been Walker I hoped would save me, but he’s a third of the reason I’m here. Another reason stands beside me, and the last is my guardian asshole, whom I almost believed in.
Was it just him, or were the others involved too?
My eyelids shutter slowly, a flash of Thorne and Rion playing on the back of them, and pain sears through my body. I thought I knew what betrayal felt like when Walker revealed his true colors, but this feels so much worse, and I don’t know why.
Maybe I do and I just don’t want to admit it. It’s too late for that now.
As my eyes pry open once again and I tilt my face to look at my new captor, a thought runs through my mind.
If Thorne was involved, why didn’t he just let Jude and his men take me on the beach?
Was it an act? My gut churns, demanding I pay attention, but before I can assemble all of my thoughts in order, Jude places his hand on the small of my back.
The slight pressure as he takes a step forward is enough to warrant a snarl from my lips. I step forward, attempting to escape his touch as I glower at him.
“Don’t touch me.” My face tingles with rage, or is it fear? My entire body is achingly stiff from head to toe, a sensation I haven’t had to endure in some time.
Because you felt safe when the assholes from across the hall touched you.
Because you trusted them to handle you accordingly.
Because you thought you found your place.
Anger burns in Jude’s eyes as he lifts a warning finger in my direction, but before he can speak a word, Walker hollers from his spot at the top of the stairs.
“She doesn’t like to be touched, Jude. Her abuse left more than physical scars. I told you that.”
Jude purses his lips, desperate to argue back, but to my surprise, he sighs, silently relenting, while I turn my glare toward Walker. He doesn’t bother to meet my stare, knowing how much I hate it when my flaws and vulnerabilities are exposed, especially by him.
“I’m not going to harm you, Little Weapon,” Jude murmurs, an almost soft smile ghosting his lips, but it quickly vanishes when I shake my head at him.
“Stop calling me that.”
Another twist to his lips, another flicker of a tantrum, yet he manages to contain it all into disgruntled words. “She’s spoiling the mood.”
Walker drags his tongue over his bottom lip, tilting his head to the right just an inch, and I recognize it as the look he always pulls when he’s thinking.
“How about you show her everything, so she understands,” he offers, and Jude claps his hands together once, the sound vibrating through my feet.
“Excellent! Walker, you can leave now,” he orders, waving a dismissive hand at him, and he leaves without a word.
It’s surreal watching Walker take orders like that. It’s a true contrast to the man that I knew, or thought I knew. The only thing I have actually come to learn is that I, in fact, know nothing.
I stare at the spot where Walker stood, unsure whether I feel better or worse without his presence.
Once upon a time, I would have crumbled, but he’s no longer the pillar of support I once had, which means I’m facing Jude alone.
Relying on him is something I wish I had never learned how to do, but now, I know it’s not needed anymore.
I’m good at standing on my own two feet.
“Come,” he repeats, the command clear, and this time, I don’t give him a chance to reach out to me. Instead, I take the order and keep a step behind him as he leads me up the marble staircase.
It doesn’t surprise me when he opens the double doors in one swift move, grinning to himself, all smug as though the action fills him with power.
The same marble runs throughout, leading to a grand circular entryway with hallways branching off in all directions.
In the middle of the floor is the most detailed marble mosaic I have ever seen, and even though that’s because I’ve never really seen any, I know the beauty that lies before me.
Tiny pieces are clustered together to form what looks like a snake coiling around the exterior; dark, prominent, and dangerous.
Yet inside are the delicate etchings of two hands laced together, bound and promised.
I can sense the weight of its message without truly knowing it.
All I know is that whatever meaning it holds, I want nothing to do with it.
Jude doesn’t linger as he heads down the left corridor, and I hurry after him, my heart racing wildly in my chest, and despite the obvious, I’m not sure why.
As he opens the door at the far end of the hallway, my eyes widen in surprise at the sheer size of the room that awaits us.
It’s ridiculously big, with a full sized map covering the wall to the right. It’s completely etched in gold.
I instinctively step farther into the room, and as I do, I realize that each wall has a map engraved on it. Each one is different, more intricate than the last, and it makes my head spin.
The wall straight ahead has smaller maps detailed between the four arched window frames that mostly fill the wall.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask what each of them is for, but I get a grip on my curiosity and keep my mouth shut. He’s looking at me expectantly, though, standing in front of a large oak desk by the windows with his arms folded over his chest.
Clearing my throat, I consider pretending he doesn’t exist, but logically, I think the quicker I listen to him, the faster I can be out of here. I just can’t let my curiosity take the lead, otherwise he’ll think I’m interested in all of this, and I’m far from it.
I meet his stare head-on, lifting my chin an inch higher as I speak. “So, what is your mission?”
He grins, rocking back on his heels as he nods. “To overrun The Sanctum and control the supernatural world.”
My eyes widen in surprise, but I’m not entirely shocked. I think I’m more caught off guard by how nonchalantly he says it.
Raking my teeth over my bottom lip, I lace my fingers together in front of me, digging my nails into my flesh to make sure I don’t let my mouth take control.
“What makes you think you’d do a better job?
Why aren’t we just letting the supernatural world be?
” I ask, just to sate my curiosity a little, but not enough to overstep.
Jude scoffs, waving a hand at me dismissively. “There’s no power in that,” he grunts, and I cock a brow at him.
“There’s equal power.” He snickers at my words, the thought seemingly amusing to him, but he doesn’t bother to respond. Clearing my throat, I take an alternate direction. “Has this always been your mission?”
His gaze snaps to mine. “Of course.”
I nod, humming in acknowledgement before glancing around the room as I continue. “Where are your parents?”
“Prison.”
“You don’t seem sad about it,” I murmur, catching him shrugging from the corner of my eye.
“I put them there.”
I gulp at the calmness his voice holds as he continues to explain some pretty heavy facts.
“So this wasn’t their mission too?” I ask, finally turning back to him.
“Overturning The Sanctum? Yes. Taking their place? No.”
Someone got a little power hungry, it seems. Did Kael agree with him and overpower his parents? If so, why is he at The Vale and not standing by his brother’s side?
I shake the tingles of worry from my limbs, refusing to let my opinion of him soften. Offering a meek smile to the current Forrester driving me insane, I take a step back.
“Well, if this is all, I think I’ve seen enough. You can take me back now,” I state, and he slowly shakes his head as his eyes devour mine.
“That’s not how this works,” he rasps, and I roll my eyes, unable to hide the disdain any longer.
Instead of offering him a response, I turn for the door, ready to see myself out, but before I can reach the obstacle blocking my exit, his fingers coil around my wrist.
I move without thinking, spinning on the spot to snarl at him.
His fingers may be wrapped around my wrist, but the hold isn’t tight, so when I shove against his chest, there’s no restraint.
Not from his grasp, and not my magic as it finally makes an appearance, zapping at my palms as Jude freezes against my touch.
The somewhat familiar sensation of magic transitioning between me and another washes over me as Jude’s head snaps back, his eyelids at half mast as his lips part and his skin pales, but he doesn’t drop to his knees like the others.
A groan rips from his lips, startling me as my veins thrum with magic, and it takes me a second to understand what I’m witnessing.
He… likes it. It’s as if he’s relishing in the tingles, the draining sensation.
Startled, I snap my hands from his chest, and his hold on my wrist falls away, allowing me to stumble back a step.
I gape at him in a mixture of horror and disbelief, watching as he runs his tongue over his bottom lip and cups his dick through his pants, making it clear how he feels.
I need to get the hell out of here right now.
With my pulse pounding in my ears, I spin back toward the exit, ready to run for my life, but the door opens before I can reach it, revealing another obstacle in my path: Walker.
“I think it’s best we put my little weapon with the others for now. Hopefully, she’ll see reason soon,” Jude orders from behind me, and Walker nods.
It’s on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t bring myself to turn back and argue with him right now.
Walker takes my silence as acceptance, wrapping his hand around my upper arm as he tugs me into the hallway, returning to where we started without a word.
We cross over the symbolic marble on the floor, cutting straight through the hallway dead ahead, before he leads me down a set of stairs.
After the first two steps, the marble turns to stone, the color, life, and grandeur leaving, and it makes sense why when we reach the bottom and Walker unlocks a steel-barred door.
The others.
There are no windows and I’m standing at the threshold of the only door. There are only stone walls and wooden benches, each filled with people. There must be at least twenty in here, each as drained and exhausted as the last, none of them filling me with any hope as I glance at Walker.
For what, I don’t know, but whatever hope lingers in my gut is diminished when he edges me further into the room before slamming the door shut behind me.
What the fuck?
Disbelief claws inside of me as I return my attention to the room and the people blinking back at me.
“Are you his latest victim?” a blonde girl asks, curling her hair behind her ear as she stares at me expectantly, and I gape at her for a moment before I shake my head.
“What does that mean?”
A brunette woman sitting in the far corner of the room stands, a sad, defeated smile on her lips, nodding at me. “Sweetie, it means, just like us, he wants you for your powers.”