Chapter 16 #2
“You what?” She didn’t expect such icy rage to rise in her, darkening the corners of her vision.
“You better be joking.” He clearly wasn’t.
“What were you thinking? Why would you ever go in there?” If they had died, he could’ve just as easily, and she wasn’t sure if she’d ever recover from that. “Did your father make you?”
“No,” Adrien answered with some bite, his lip curling as he rubbed at his wrist. Isla could’ve sworn there had been darkness there—tangible darkness—but it disappeared from one blink to the next.
“I needed to find Raana. I don’t know how she ended up in there.
” Adrien let out a ragged breath, shaking his head as if he were weathering a barrage of memories all over again.
“We hadn’t made it far into the Wilds when we were surrounded by bak, and then Raana showed up covered in blood.
She told me to leave, to leave her. And then when I refused, she—she got me out.
Left Sandrine and Dante to die, but took me.
Said that she told her Raana could only save me. ”
Isla could feel Kai’s fingers tightening on her back, but he remained silent. “She? Who’s she?”
“That’s what I asked, but she didn’t answer me before she shadowed away. I’m assuming back into the Wilds.”
An incredulous laugh came from behind her. “Well, that’s just fucking great.”
Isla turned just as Kai stepped back, pinching between his brows.
“It’s the witch. That has to be where she disappeared to.
As if one who murdered my family and nearly killed my mate wasn’t bad enough.
Now, there’s another one running around that’s half-fucking-fae.
” He snarled, “You Imperials just love screwing up your jobs and dragging them into our territory, don’t you? ”
“Kai,” Isla seethed, trying to get him to back down. Though she understood his point, Adrien was already beaten up enough about this by the look of him.
She hadn’t seen him look at anyone like he did Raana, except Corinne, and he’d chosen her as his mate.
There must’ve been much more to his and the witch’s relationship than having slept together the one time he’d told her it had happened.
And though he’d promised nothing would come of it, because it would never and could never work out between them, it seemed easier said than done.
“Watch it.” The prince bared his teeth, but then something seemed to dawn on him. “You know what she is?”
“She told me, but even if she didn’t, traveling through shadows like that isn’t something a witch is capable of.”
Adrien glanced at the ground. “She never told me you knew.”
“She evidently hid a lot from you.”
For Goddess’s sake, he was relentless. Isla was a few moments away from shoving Kai out of the room. The warning look she gave him now was the last he’d get before that happened.
As if he could sense that he was pushing too far, too hard, Kai softened his voice but only slightly. “Raana helped us, and I am forever in her debt for that, but that witch said she doesn’t want us dead. Maybe Raana has been working with her this entire time.”
“She hasn’t,” Adrien said firmly, though the slightest doubt may have slipped through. “I know she hasn’t.”
Kai looked as if you were ready to say something, something that would cut deep, but refrained. “How can you be so sure?”
“Because she wanted nothing to do with this continent. Nothing to do with the world. She was trying to get away from here, from my father.” In a hush, he added, maybe not for their ears, “Unless nothing was real, I don’t think going with the witch was always her intention.”
Isla caught the undercurrent, though. It could be her intention now.
“Why was she trying to get away from your father?”
“He knows what she is—all that she is—and he propositioned her mother to give her to him so she could work for him.”
Isla blinked. “Like his other witches?”
“He had a special job for her skill set, but she didn’t want to do it.” Adrien’s eyes slid to Kai. “He wanted her to kill you.”
“What?” Isla snapped, not realizing she’d stepped in front of Kai in reflex as if to protect him, until he rested a hand on her shoulder.
Kai let out another loud laugh. “I was wondering how he’d try again. I thought he’d at least have the dignity to do it himself.”
Adrien’s jaw tightened, and for a moment, he paused. Like he stood at the edge of a cliff or had just gone to hurtle himself off it, but now dangled by one last finger. Finally, he said, “He’s afraid of you.”
Isla tried to keep her temper in check. “He admitted that to you?”
“More or less.”
Kai inclined his head. “Why are you telling us? You’re his heir. You should be protecting his plans.”
“Because I’m done,” Adrien said. “He has taken and twisted so much of my life, hoping to mold me into a mindless monster he can control, but I won’t break.
I’m sure there are parts of this plan I’m missing.
He wouldn’t have let Raana go to Callisto after telling her all he did with the risk that she’d flee or come to tell you.
And he would’ve never told me because he hasn’t fully trusted me in years.
The moment he learns I’m here, I’ll lie, but he’ll know I told you.
Even if I truly didn’t, he wouldn’t believe me.
” His tone was thick as he steeled against his emotions.
“I love my pack, and I want my crown, but I only have a few people left. If getting those things means hurting them,” he focused on Isla, “then I’ll fight instead. ”
Isla’s heart clenched, and all she wanted to do was grab him and pull him into a hug, but her shock must have held her back. “You’d challenge your father?”
“If it becomes the only way, it would be better if I were the one to challenge him than anyone else to keep the continent from teetering into mayhem.” Tension settled in the room like a thick, dark cloud, the traitorous words winding around them all.
If this had, in some alternate, messed-up reality, been a setup, she and Kai would be screwed for not refuting him.
Adrien’s eyes slid over Kai. “Did you genuinely kill Brax without touching him? He didn’t lose his mind; it was you. ”
“A little bit of both.”
Fear flashed in Adrien’s eyes. “How?”
“I’m still figuring it out.”
Adrien rubbed at his wrist again. “I think my dad knows a lot more about what it is than he’s letting on. I don’t think he’s just blowing smoke up my ass when he says you’re a threat. He genuinely believes it.”
“Good.” Kai’s voice was a lethal calm. His arm slid around Isla’s waist, holding her close.
“Because the next time he threatens my mate, family, or home, you won’t get a chance to challenge him.
When I see him, I’ll end it. I’m not the Imperial Alpha; I don’t need to be concerned about the rest of the continent. ”
Isla slid her hand over his, feeling that power rising. She stroked her thumb over his skin, reassuring him, I’m here. I’m safe.
Adrien said nothing, seeming to understand, but his eyes betrayed other unspoken words. Isla had pried information from him far too many times to miss it. “What aren’t you saying?” she asked. “What else is there?”
Adrien took a long breath of resignation. “Have you ever heard of the dark moon?”