Chapter 32 #3
A surge of panic bloomed in Bridget’s chest.
He’s mad at me, Bridget said, half-hoping Cade wasn’t there to talk to her. Even though she knew he was.
Vega let out an unbelieving hum. Yes, he looks positively enraged.
Bridget fought to pull herself forward, to take back one limb or a breath. But her body didn’t move. All she could do was watch through her own eyes as Vega tilted her head and turned to face him.
Cade stood at the end of the hall, one hand still gripping the bannister. The firelight from below flickered across his face, shadowing the line of his jaw and the storm building in his golden eyes.
For a heartbeat, he didn’t speak.
He was watching her.
Watching them.
Bridget didn’t dare try to speak again. Didn’t want to tip Vega off to how close she was to breaking. But Vega must have felt the spike of fear, because she smiled wider.
“You know,” she said aloud, Bridget’s voice soft and sweet, “you really should stop sneaking up on people. It’s unnerving.”
Cade’s eyes narrowed slightly, flicking down her body, then back up again.
Suspicion bloomed at the edges of his expression.
He didn’t move, not at first. But Bridget could see the moment he shifted into something quieter, more dangerous.
His shoulders relaxed, but it was the wrong kind of relaxed. It was tense beneath the calm.
“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked. “Although it seems like you didn’t try for more than a minute.”
“Too much on my mind,” Vega replied easily, tilting Bridget’s head to the side with a faux-casual shrug. She took a slow step toward him. “And I thought I heard something strange upstairs. I went to check it out.”
Cade nodded once. His gaze moved to the closed door. “Really? That’s strange. I didn’t hear anything.”
He didn’t say it accusingly, but it was still a little too casual for Bridget’s liking. And then she wanted to scream as she watched her own body inch closer to him.
“You’ve been avoiding me.”
He said it so quietly, Bridget almost missed it.
Vega tilted her head, feigning a frown. “Only because you’ve been impossible to talk to.”
Cade let out a single, short laugh.
“Maybe,” he said.
His voice was strange now. And there was something behind his eyes that Bridget couldn’t quite read. She couldn’t tell if it was hurt… or doubt.
Vega must have sensed it too. She closed the final step between them and touched his chest.
“Why don’t we stop fighting?” she said gently.
And then she kissed him.
Rage shuddered up Bridget’s spine. She wanted to shove Vega out of her skin. She wanted to scream. To claw her way back to Cade. But her limbs remained still. Her lips pressed against his.
Cade didn’t move. Not at first. Then, slowly, he kissed her back. Just for a moment. Bridget’s world spun. The betrayal cut so deep she could hardly breathe. But then he pulled away.
His eyes had changed.
He does kiss you differently than he ever kissed me, Vega mused. But still, not bad.
Bridget wanted to throttle her. But she was too busy trying to see if Cade realized she wasn’t her.
“Are you sure you’re alright?” he asked softly.
Vega blinked, masking the hesitation with a smile.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
Cade didn’t respond. He stepped back instead, putting a bit of space between them.
Bridget’s breath caught in her throat. Not because she could finally breathe, but because something in him had shifted. She couldn’t name it, but she felt it.
He knew.
But Vega didn’t seem fazed. She turned from him with a hum and moved back down the hallway, murmuring something about heading outside to the fire and needing rest.
Bridget felt herself walk away.
But Cade’s eyes stayed with her, burning into her back the entire way down the hall.
If he knew, why was he letting her walk away?
The door creaked softly on its hinges as they slipped out of the tavern.
Cold air slapped Bridget’s cheeks. The fire had burned low in the center of the camp, its embers flickering like dying stars.
Most of the soldiers were curled in their cloaks, faces half-hidden, unaware that anything was wrong.
Bridget scanned the camp with Vega’s eyes. The horses shifted in their sleep, steam curling from their noses into the chill. Shadows clung to the trees.
I guess he doesn’t know you as well as you thought, Vega said with a fake pout.
Bridget said nothing, but the ache in her chest pulsed sharper with each step.
It’s almost disappointing, Vega continued, trailing her fingers along one horse’s mane. I expected more of a fight. And yet… She gave a soft, venom-laced laugh. He let you walk away.
Bridget clenched inwardly. Vega was testing her, pushing on every bruise she knew how to find. After glancing at the unassuming soldiers behind her, Vega’s fingers curled around the reins, her boot slipping into the stirrup.
Bridget felt it… the tension in her own muscles, the way her limbs didn’t belong to her. Her body was tired, sore, her bones aching from fighting what she couldn’t control. But Vega didn’t hesitate. She moved with purpose.
She was going to run.
And then Cade’s voice shattered the night.
“Don’t let her leave.”
Vega froze mid-motion. Slowly, she turned her head. Cade emerged from the tavern’s shadows, his golden eyes seething and glowing with power. Behind him came Deckard, Castor, Archer and Stellan, fanned out like a warfront. Every face was taut with fury.
Bridget’s heart stuttered. He knew.
A pulse of magic burst from his palm, a shield-breaking blast meant to disarm, not kill.
Vega whipped around and threw out a hand of her own, meeting his spell with one of her own.
The force knocked Vega back from the horse.
Her heels skidded against the snow-packed ground.
Pain tore through Bridget’s body like knives in her ribs.
A pulse of raw power exploded from Deckard’s hand, followed by another from Stellan. The air around Bridget crackled as their magic converged into a shimmering dome of force rising around her, locking her in.
The wind howled in protest, slamming into her like a wall. Her knees buckled. Then another blast hit her. It felt like her lungs had collapsed. She couldn’t scream, couldn’t breathe.
Cade lunged forward, but then he stopped. Bridget knew why.
Vega’s hand trembled now, her other arm wrapped around her middle. She coughed once. Then twice. Blood dripped from her mouth. Bridget’s own blood.
“You want to try that again?” Vega rasped. “One more hit like that, and she’s gone.”
The camp stilled. The guards reached for their weapons, but Cade threw out a hand, commanding, “Stand down. Don’t touch her.”
His voice broke on the last word. Vega straightened slowly. Her body swayed slightly with exhaustion, but Bridget felt the smirk on her face.
“You can’t be serious,” Deckard hissed. “Take her now.”
Swords lifted and bows creaked. But Cade’s fingers twitched and with a whisper of power, every weapon flew from the guards’ hands and clattered to the snow.
“No one touches her,” he said, barely audible. His eyes never left Bridget’s face.
“Let me go,” Vega hissed. “You might get to say goodbye this time. Or you might not. But if you take me out now, no one will find poor little Nylah.”
The thought had Bridget wanting to scream.
Cade’s hands curled into fists. “You’re bluffing.”
“Try me,” Vega whispered. “Let me go now and I’ll make sure Nylah makes it to Cavamyne in one piece.”
The pain seared again through Bridget’s chest. Her body ached. Her vision blurred. Somewhere in her skull, she could feel Vega digging deeper, cementing her place like a root cracking through stone.
But even through the haze, she saw Cade step forward anyway. “Take me. I’m the one you want,” he said, voice steady now, gaze locked on Vega. “I’m the one you need to break the curse.”
Behind him, his father paled and gripped his dagger tighter.
“Tempting,” Vega purred, licking the blood from her lip. “But I’m afraid I’m not done with my little sister just yet.”
She stepped back toward the horse, blood still dripping. And though she smiled, Bridget felt it. Vega was weakening. The hold was breaking. Slowly. And definitely painfully. But it was happening. She just needed to hold on a little longer.
“Cade.” Stellan’s voice came from the edge of the firelight. He stepped into the circle of flame-glow, eyes fixed, not on Vega, but on Cade. “Let her go.”
Cade whirled on him. Fury flared in his golden gaze. “Are you out of your mind?”
“We’ll find another way,” Stellan said, calm despite the storm brewing around them. “Let her go for now. We’ll follow. She’s burning through Bridget’s body to stay tethered. Push her any harder and we won’t get Bridget back at all.”
His eyes flicked toward Vega—toward her—and for one breathless second, Bridget swore she saw it. Desperation. Not for himself, but for her. Especially with their secret hanging between them. They couldn’t risk Vega killing her. Not yet.
A crack split through her chest, invisible but deep. She wanted to scream. Or beg. Or reach out. But she was trapped in silence.
“It looks like you both don’t have what it takes,” Deckard snapped, raising his hand to strike, but Stellan lifted his palm first, summoning a wall of force between the king and Vega.
“You’ll have to go through me,” he warned, magic humming in the air.
Cade’s jaw clenched. His hands shook. “I can’t just let her—”
“You have to,” Stellan said. “You’ve done everything you can. Trust me now.”
Those words finally landed. Because for one breath, Cade’s face cracked. But then he exhaled and stepped back.
Vega smiled. Blood still on her lip, dark and drying. “Smart boy,” she said.
She swung herself onto the horse and turned toward the trees. No one moved as they vanished into the smoke-laced trees. But then Bridget heard Cade whisper, so low she wasn’t sure Vega even noticed: “I’ll find you.”
And somehow, she knew, even as every part of her screamed for him to stay away—
He meant it.