Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
ASHER
N othing so far this morning has gone how I expected. Hell, the same applies to pretty much every moment since Isla arrived. I’m trying to control my rage for her sake because I don’t want to be angry that she has this incredible heart, and yet I struggle.
Every step I take toward my office to speak with my mother is heavy, as if my boots are filled with lead. My wolf wants to go back and tear Noen to shreds. No longer does learning the truth hold priority for him.
Noen is a risk to my mate. Whether he killed her or not, the fact that someone may have used him as a pawn is enough. At least for my inner beast.
Isla was right, though.
The human part of me, the one I’m barely holding on to right now, would have regrets should we find out that he’s telling the truth. That he was blindsided by Declan last night and knows nothing of the attack on my mate.
I wanted so badly to have found the person responsible for ruining my life that it was easy to take the little bit of information that Malimorte overheard and make it fit what I wanted to hear, what I wanted to be true.
So easy to hope that this nightmare is almost over, that Isla will no longer be at risk. At least once we find Declan.
And maybe that can still be the case, but something tells me that whoever did this hasn’t been working alone. Plus, Declan doesn’t fit the bill. He wasn’t on the island the day that Isla disappeared.
Yet there’s no denying that it was his wolf I nearly killed to save her last night.
Fuck! I don’t know what the truth is, and I haven’t been this frustrated since I was scouring every inch of this world looking for my mate, hoping beyond all reason that she was somewhere out there, waiting for me.
Isla’s steady grip on my hand keeps me grounded as we walk side by side toward my office. I don’t know what my mother wants and if I weren’t also worried about her and my father, I wouldn’t be giving her a second of my time. Though I have no intention of leaving Isla’s side or bringing her with me to search for Declan myself, so I guess, at the moment, I have nothing else to do until new information surfaces.
We enter my office and my mother is already settled in the chair in front of my desk. Isla tries to release my hand, but I hold on tighter, leading her toward my seat. As I take my place, I grab her hips, putting her on my lap.
She arches a brow. “Is this really necessary?”
“Yes.” The singular word leaves no room for argument before I put my attention on my mother. “Have you and Dad worked out your issues since yesterday?”
“I’m not here to talk about that,” Mom states in a no- nonsense tone. “But to answer your question, no, I haven’t forgiven him for being a stubborn old wolf. He chose to give up the crown and he’s regretted that choice for too long now. I’ve taken his moods lightly over the years, knowing he means well, but after what I learned, it’s time for me to step in.”
“What did you learn?” I ask, hoping I’m not about to have more problems thrown at me.
“That you have no idea this castle houses dark objects,” she says with a huff. “I overheard your father muttering something about them last night with someone. And if you’d been properly informed of their existence, we might have figured this out sooner.”
A growl grows within me as my annoyance for my father grows. “Figured what out?”
“That the vault where they’re kept has been compromised.”
As the words leave her mouth, even Isla tenses above me as she asks, “ The vault? How many of them are there and how many are missing?”
I don’t miss how my mate rubs at her chest and seems to be struggling to breathe. I’d be raging myself if I weren’t so concerned with making sure she’s okay.
“Yes, the vault has been hidden within the castle since this place was built,” Mom explains, hands folded over her lap. “There are at least a hundred various objects. I’m not sure how many are missing, as I don’t have access to the room, but Asher should be able to get in as the Alpha King. Though considering Gideon never ended up sharing access, I don’t know. I didn’t ask when I found out he failed to do so after promising he would. If you don’t, at least one person on your advisory council should have access.”
My father. Sometimes I love that man and sometimes I want to strangle him. He very rarely does anything that makes sense on the surface and this is another one of those times.
“What do you mean?” I ask, doing my best not to hold too tightly to Isla. “You knew about this before your recent fight?”
“Of course I knew.” Her lips flatten as if I’ve insulted her. “I was the queen. I knew everything that happened in this castle”—she points at me and Isla—“including the way you two used to sneak around. But when Gideon explained that he was worried you’d use those objects to find Isla, I understood why he kept them secret at the time.”
“I could have found her with something in that vault centuries ago?” I roar, removing Isla from my lap, then slamming my palms on my desk. “I’ll never forgive him for this.”
My mate rests her hand over my back, pushing a sense of calmness through me, but there isn’t any amount of love that could quell the ire storming within me right now.
We lost so much fucking time. So many years and moments that we’ll never get back, not in this lifetime.
I start to go around my desk, intent on finding my father, but Mom gets up from her chair and moves into my path. “He was protecting you, Son. We can’t destroy those objects—it’s impossible. Locking them away was the only solution. If you’d used them, even with good intentions, your soul would have been tainted in ways you couldn’t come back from. Even for your mate, we couldn’t let that happen. I just didn’t realize he never shared their existence with you once you began to move on.”
“I never fucking moved on, Mother,” I seethe, my chest pounding and fist clenched so tightly, I can smell the blood from where I’m cutting into my palm. “But I’m also not a child. I wouldn’t have risked my soul, and a future with my mate, when I still had hope that after I died, I would find her again. That is something the both of you should have known.”
She visibly shakes as my voice raises, but her fear has no effect on my rage. There is nothing that can allow me to forgive this betrayal. If I’d known about this vault, I might have understood?—
“Where are you?” Grayson’s voice cuts through my thoughts.
“My office. What happened?”
“Don’t leave. We’ll be right there.”
I don’t want to find out if this day can get any worse, but I have a feeling I don’t have a choice in the matter.
I point toward the door and glare at my mother. “Unless you have something useful to share, you need to go and tell my father that I’ll deal with him later. He also better be ready to show me that vault and tell me everything that’s missing so we figure out what we’re up against. Anything less is unacceptable and that’s coming from his king, not his son.”
She nods respectfully, casting her eyes down. “Of course.”
As she slips out of the room, the smallest part of me feels bad for treating her that way, but too much shit has been thrown at me in the last twelve hours. I can’t weaken now, not even for my mother.
“Asher.” Isla says my name sharply, but when I turn around, she’s holding her arms open.
I walk into them without a second thought. “What the fuck is happening around here? I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.” I shudder within her strong hold. “If I thought you’d forgive me, I’d take you and run away, leaving all this behind, if it meant keeping you safe.”
“I know, my love,” she says quietly. “But we’re not going to do that and one way or another, this is all going to sort itself out. I just need you to be strong a little longer without killing anyone who may not deserve it. Now, tell me why you kicked your mother out?”
“Your father, and I would assume sister since he said ‘we,’ are headed here.” Gods, please don’t let what they want to talk about be anything other than something that gets us closer to the end of this mess. “I knew I needed a minute to calm down before they got here. That wasn’t going to happen with her in the room.”
She pushes me back until she can see my face. “Just remember, your mother loves you and you love her. You can deal with your father in your own way, but give your mom some grace. She came to you as soon as she could.”
That’s easier said than done, but Isla is the only light in my life right now. I have to try harder to believe in her and her newfound faith that everything is going to somehow work out.
I press my forehead against her, soaking up her strength and trying to steady my breathing. Our bond pulses between us, easing my tension ever so slightly. I really would be okay if it were just me and her, for the rest of our lives. There is nothing more I need in this life than to feel her warmth and love, giving me a reason to live.
All too soon, my door crashes open. As soon as Grayson and Estee slip inside, they close the door behind them, and just like that, the sliver of peace I was attempting to grasp on to is ripped away.
“I remember how I died,” Estee announces. “I went to Elyn and asked her to kill me like she did Isla?—”
My mate cuts her off. “Why didn’t you tell me before? Are you okay?”
Estee waves a hand in the air. “There isn’t time for that. I remember. I saw everything .” She trembles with palpable fury. “We need to get to the basement now.”
“You know who killed you?” Isla demands before I can.
“Yeah. Declan, but that’s another problem to deal with after we’re done,” she says, reaching for her sister’s wrist.
I step between them, my chest letting out a warning growl. “Why? What did you see?”
Grayson pulls her back to his side. “I told you to explain everything before you rushed them. He needs to know.”
“And I want to make sure I don’t get sent back to Earth,” she snips, rolling her eyes. “Excuse me for being concerned with being lost for a few more centuries.”
“Estee, what are you talking about?” Isla says, clinging to me. Though I’m not sure if she’s holding so tightly to my arm because she needs my presence or because she doesn’t want me to unleash my simmering wrath on her sister.
“Declan is just a pawn,” she says. “Just like I was. He killed me, but it was as if he wasn’t in his right mind. His eyes were black just like you said mine were and he didn’t speak a word. He found me at the falls and stabbed me in the chest, then drug me back to the castle.”
My eyes narrow, glancing between Estee and Isla. “How do you remember that if Isla doesn’t?”
“I fought back.” She shrugs. “Well, sort of. I remember seeing the glint of the blade under the sun and trying to dodge out of the way. I went down quickly, and my body felt paralyzed, but my mind was still aware until he dumped me in the basement. More importantly, until we get down there and remove the daggers from our bodies, we’re still cursed.”
Fucking hell. While this isn’t more bad news, we’re still no closer to figuring this out. Though at least Isla will be a little safer with this information.
Estee was right. We need to get to the basement now.