Chapter 60 #2
A spark of reason worked through her mind. If Lord Redfield was behind this, if Yvette was trusted enough to know his intentions…. How else could she have known what he’d done with her? Why would she look so afraid of her unless…
“You,” Keira’s voice sliced through the air. “You did this!”
At her will, branches sprouted from the oak paneled wall, twining around Yvette’s frame.
Florian looked back in horror as Yvette struggled against them, shrieking in panic.
“Keira, stop it!” Florian shouted, whirling on her.
“Tell me she didn’t do this to me!” Keira ground out, fighting against her own mind as it threatened to cave to the darkness.
Florian grabbed Keira’s shoulders with a harshness so unlike him, it was almost enough to sway her from her fury. “We never would have found you without her.” He shook her. “Let her go!”
Stubbornness clung to her, despite his rare insistence. Everything she had suffered could be drawn back to this person, and suffer she had. Beaten, humiliated, imprisoned, and all the while, Caspian was slipping away.
When the vines receded, it was not because she had reached a decision.
They loosened as the last reserves of her strength faded.
No matter how hard Keira fought to stay above the surface, she was falling further within herself.
The last thing she knew was Florian’s arms catching her before she hit the floor.
The next time Keira woke, it was dark. The library was lit by a single oil lamp on the desk.
A small table had been dragged out beside her with a plate of food and a pitcher of water.
Keira looked at it dispassionately. Days ago she would have gorged herself in a heartbeat, probably made herself sick.
Now the idea of eating anything made her want to gag.
“It’s not poisoned.”
Keira’s eyes flicked to Yvette, who was sitting in an armchair that had once been by the fireplace but had been repositioned to face her. She froze, fighting between the urge to finish what she’d started and curiosity as to why Yvette would give her the chance.
“A meal might do you good,” she said, “especially if you intend to go on another rampage.
Keira snorted as she lifted herself up on shaking arms. It was almost humorous, the guts it took to taunt her this way, especially after she’d seen what she was capable of.
“Caspian didn’t abandon you,” Yvette said, her tone turning from sarcasm to sincerity.
“He’s marrying her,” Keira countered. Her throat was so dry her voice cracked.
Yvette shook her head. “I’m like you, you know. My magic, it’s not born from nature as yours is, but from the mind. I used it to alter his memory. He thinks you left on your own. He doesn’t know-”
“You did what!” Keira snapped. Caspian thought she had left him?
Again? It was like a lance through her heart to imagine the pain he must be in.
The torment they had both suffered, and he didn’t even know why.
The impulse to wring Yvette’s neck flared once more, but in her wretched state, even her anger was draining.
“Whatever I did, it didn’t stop him from loving you,” Yvette explained. “I know that I… I ruined your happiness, his too. But that’s why I left. I risked everything to be here, to make things right.”
Keira stared her down for a moment more. “It isn’t right until this wedding is put to a stop. If he goes through with it…” his fate would be tied to another, forever.
“It’s in less than two days,” she said, looking her over pointedly.
Keira could hear what she was implying. She could barely move. But by the Fate she would be strong enough for this. There was still a whole day to recover.
“There’s no way to get there in time,” Yvette pressed. “It took us days to travel here.”
Keira’s brow raised. “You think I’m going to walk there?”
“How else?”
“Magic,” Keira said. It was obvious, wasn’t it? Yvette claimed to have the gift. “A teleportation circle can get us there in a moment.”
She did honestly look surprised.
“I can teach you,” Keira continued.
“How many can the spell transport?”
She frowned. “Ordinarily only the caster, but I can lay down a fixed portal for the others. The magic I would need… might be beyond me. But at least I could go there alone.”
Yvette nodded slowly, thinking. “What if I helped?”
Keira sat up fully and guzzled the water.
A plan was forming in her own mind, and it started with getting herself back on her feet.
As soon as Knox came to, she would see what he was brewing.
That is, after she apologised for antagonizing him.
She knew how much he hated his wolf, hated losing control.
Once he was back on his feet, they could make something that would restore her, at least enough to see this through.
With Yvette’s help, she could open a sustained portal, even if she wasn’t trained.
Her power would lighten the burden… she could only hope it would be enough.
“I can trust you, can’t I?” Keira asked. Everything hinged on being able to trust this stranger, who had apparently been instrumental in creating this disaster in the first place. Not ideal, but she’d use every tool at her disposal, as long as she could trust it not to stab her in the back.
“I want to make this right.”
“If you care so much about doing the right thing, why did you help him do this?” she accused, not caring if her tone was harsh and heartless. The sting of it couldn’t compare to a fraction of what she’d endured.
To her credit, she did not shy away from the accusation. “Because he asked me to, and I loved him.”
She decided not to ask her how on earth she could love such a clearly demented person. “And if I decide to slit his throat for what he’s put me through?” Keira posed.
Yvette’s eyes narrowed. “Would that really fix anything? Hurting him won’t rewrite the past.”
Her brows raised, but she offered no reply. She was clever. Keira could respect that, and killing Lord Redfield wouldn’t fix anything, except for ridding the world of a truly despicable person. That didn’t mean that Keira wouldn’t squash him like a bug if he tried to stand in her way.
Whatever it took, she would stop this wedding.