Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
ASHER
A sense of unease shivers down my spine, echoing through the connection I feel to Isla. Even though we’re not bonded, I’ve felt the draw to her ever since that first night of her return. Now, it trembles, unstable and fleeting, sending a pang of dread through me.
My wolf reacts with a threatening growl, breaking the silence of the ongoing meeting. Rising swiftly, I only manage a brief nod to Malimorte. “Carry on without me,” I command, my voice edged with urgency.
Malimorte nods in understanding, seamlessly continuing the discussion about trade terms that Declan and Noen negotiated. But Noen’s observant eyes follow me as I exit, his gaze sharp and knowing. He’s smart enough to know there’s only one reason I would leave so abruptly right now.
“Asher,” he calls out, catching up to me with a few long strides. His voice carries a blend of respect and reproach. “You know I respect you as my king, but after all we’ve been through, I’d appreciate some respect in return. ”
I don’t have time for this, but he’s right. Noen has been there for me for years, and I’ve treated him poorly. Regardless of what I once thought, he deserves to be kept in the loop now. At least as far as I’m letting anyone else in.
“I need to check on Isla,” I confess, pressing a hand over my chest, where the bond pulses weakly. “Something’s wrong. I can feel it—” Pain clenches my heart, sharp and sudden. “ Fuck .”
“I’m coming with you,” he states and instead of telling him no , this time I let him because something is wrong and I’m not sure what I’ll find when I get to my mate.
“She went to Lunara Academy with Estee and my mother,” I explain as we head toward the stairs. The moment the ache in my chest recedes, we’re running through the castle, toward the back exit.
When the high noon sun touches my face, I shift, needing the speed and sense of my wolf to get to our mate faster. Bones break and reform within an instant and then we’re running at full speed toward the academy.
Noen is right on our heels, keeping just behind, as is his place. Something he’s always respected and I hate that I let my jealousy from all those years ago get the better of me. He didn’t deserve for me to keep Isla’s return a secret nor did he deserve the way I treated him in my office this morning.
So long as Isla remains comfortable with him, I won’t stand in his way of getting to know his friend again. Though as I think that thought, my wolf doesn’t seem to agree. There’s a rumble in his chest and I’m reminded that I wasn’t the only one concerned with their friendship .
Regardless, I’m going to do my best to give Noen the benefit of the doubt until I have a logical reason not to.
Within a few minutes, we arrive at Lunara Academy and I shift back to human form. Noen, however, stays as his mahogany-coated wolf, ready to act at my command.
I turn to Noen, nodding at him as I use mind speak to communicate with him. “I’m going to go check inside. You do a loop and contact me if you sense anything off.”
“She’s going to be fine , ” he states confidently. I can’t tell if he’s saying that for me or for himself. “Let me know when you find her.”
Just as he takes off, I sense Isla’s scent wrapping around me. “Wait,” I call back to Noen. “She’s coming out.”
He circles back around, eyes on the door just like mine are. Estee runs out first, eyes red and not paying attention to us. I call her name, but she turns sharply, running as quickly as her long strides will take her on two feet.
I’d go after her, but I’m more concerned with Isla and just as my attention goes back to the academy, she’s coming through the doors with my mother holding her up. My heart nearly stops when I see how pale my mate is. Her hands shake and I’m not even sure if she’s breathing.
Running to her, I take her from my mother. “What happened?”
“I don’t know,” Mom says. “Isla was stuck in a memory and Estee ran off in tears. Isla hasn’t said a word since.” She hands me a book. “This is the one that brought the memory on.”
Origins of Reincarnation.
Interesting, considering something went wrong with hers .
“I’ll get her to the carriage,” I say, assuming my mother is going to join us.
“I need to go speak with the headmaster,” she says with a frown. “I don’t want to bring Isla back here if this is going to be so triggering for her. We’ll bring what we can to the castle. The school will just need to be okay with that.”
“Thank you, Mom.” With Isla in my arms, I nod at Noen before speaking to him. “Follow us to the castle and keep an eye out for Estee. Someone needs to figure out what happened to them both.”
“I’ll go after her as soon as the two of you are behind closed doors,” Noen replies, his sense of duty clear in his voice.
I tell the coachman to take us back before I enclose the carriage, keeping Isla tucked into my side. Stroking her cheek, I look down and am relieved to find some of the color coming back to her face.
“What happened, Issie?” My voice is half a plea and half filled with rage. I don’t know what memory caused this sort of reaction, but if I can do anything about it, I’m going to.
Her entire body shudders and I hold her tighter as she rubs her fingers over the center of her chest. “So cold.”
With a few tugs, I pull my dress shirt over my head with my hand, then turn to cover her with it. “We’ll be home soon and I’ll start a fire for you to rest in front of.”
I want to know what she saw, but I don’t push. Instead, I hold her tightly, hoping the warmth of my body and the extra layer of my shirt will make her stop shaking, but even as we pull up in front of the castle, she still trembles.
Lifting her into my arms, I don’t bother letting her walk. I spot Noen’s wolf go around back and he lets me know that he’s off to find Estee.
People stare as I walk into the castle with Isla in my arms, but I don’t say anything to them. They can think what they want for now. My mate is more important than quelling any rumors that may get started from seeing their king walk in shirtless.
“Mali,” I call through our mind link. “I’ll be in my room for the remainder of the day and I’m not to be disturbed unless a war is about to start.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” he responds promptly. “I’ll be around should you need anything.”
All I need is for Isla to tell me how I can fix whatever is happening to her.
I go straight to my quarters and settle Isla onto the couch in front of the fireplace before grabbing a few logs and kindling to light. My movements are quick, but even so, when I turn back around, hoping for Isla to appear better, she looks worse.
Her paling face and labored breathing are beginning to chip away at my calm. Being helpless to do anything to make this situation better is going to drive me to insanity.
I grab a blanket from the closet and wrap it around my mate, then I kneel in front of her. “Isla, love. Please talk to me.”
She blinks several times, her gaze wide but almost empty at the same time. I reach a hand up to cradle her face and the moment my palm makes contact with her skin, an energy passes between the two of us, lighting up the connection I feel to her.
Isla shudders again, but this one almost seems like it’s a sense of relief. Her eyes flutter closed and she leans into my touch. “I remembered.”
“Remembered what?” I plead, trying not to get my hopes too high. I’d actually prefer if she didn’t remember us if this is what the memory did to her.
She looks at me again, a longing in her eyes. “My room when I lived with my parents, being at the cave with you, knowing that there was nowhere I’d rather be than with you, and then…the moment someone took that away from me.”
I don’t speak for several seconds. Words are lost on me and I don’t want to frighten her, but she’s just confirmed what I perversely hoped for all along, causing rage to build behind my eyes, a storm ready to break.
Someone stole my mate from me. She didn’t willingly leave me.
My heart fills with relief unlike I’ve known in far too many years, yet at the same time, there’s a shadow growing within me that desires vengeance and won’t settle for anything less than the death of the person who wronged us.
“Who, Isla?” I beg her. “Who hurt you?”
She shakes her head, confusion and sorrow mingling in her expression. “I don’t know, but I could tell that I knew them. Whoever was on the other side of that door, they weren’t a stranger to me before they stabbed me in the chest.”
The words cut through me, sharper than any steel as a growl builds in my chest. “Someone stabbed you.”
Her nod barely registers with me as she speaks and I try to stay calm for her. “The blade immediately took me down. I don’t know how or why, but the memory ended right after I fell to the ground.” She grabs my face and holds me gently. “All I could remember was this soul-deep grief of being forced to leave when I knew you needed me most. I’m so sorry, Asher. I never would?—”
I kiss the words right off her lips because this woman will never apologize for something she had no control over. There isn’t a single part of me that blames Isla for what happened. Yes, I was an asshole when she first returned, but I was confused and overwhelmed. That combined with becoming desperate for answers and to have my mate back made me not handle those things very well. Everything is different now.
She kisses me back, then she starts to shake. At first, I fear she’s crying, but then when I pull back she starts to laugh. “You haven’t changed at all.”
My body tenses, hope threatening to overflow within me. “You remember me, us?”
“Enough,” she says with a wink. “Not all the moments, but the connection came to me. It was so strong, like something tangible that I never had to fear would go away.” Then she frowns. “I just don’t feel it now. The bond, it’s not there, but the memory of what once was… No wonder you were so desperate to keep me here before. I never would have left you willingly and I hate that you’ve had to hurt all these years while I’ve been ignorant of everything.”
“None of that matters now,” I tell her because it’s true. “We just need to figure out who stabbed you and make sure not only that they don’t attempt to do so again, but that the last thing they feel is my hand tearing out their heart.”
She closes her eyes briefly and shakes her head. “The memory was so shrouded in darkness. Even now, it’s hard to remember the details.”
“My mother is going to bring whatever might help you here,” I explain. “You won’t need to worry about leaving the castle until you’re ready and now that we know you were hurt in your room, I’d prefer if you’d stay in here with me. I can’t lose you again, love. I won’t survive it a second time. Hell, our entire world wouldn’t survive my wrath if someone took you from me again.”
She reaches for my hands and squeezes them tightly. “We’ll figure this out, but I’m going to need to rest for a day or two before I pick another book.”
“As long as I know you’re safe, you can have all the time you need,” I promise her. Though it doesn’t escape me that she doesn’t readily agree to stay with me. If I have to sleep outside her door to know she’s safe, then that’s what I’ll do. Either way, I’m not leaving my mate’s side until I know there is no longer a threat lingering in the shadows of this castle.
At least not if I can help it.