Chapter 42 All She Wanted #2
“Oh, she probably has,” Damien said lightly.
“I’ll have to do some apologizing, but showing up with Arleen will earn me some grace, I hope.
Mother never wanted her sent to the Darkened One in the first place.
” He chuckled, the corners of his mouth lifting.
“Once she has her daughter back, she’ll probably never let her out of her sight again.
I’ll have to rescue Arleen from that next. ”
His eyes lit up with amusement, warm and unguarded as he spoke about his family—and it only made the ache inside Luna sharper.
She missed hers. Missed them so badly it felt like a wound that hadn’t even begun to scab.
“Is there any way to send a message?” she asked, quietly. “Just to let them know I’m safe. That I made it.”
Damien’s gaze dropped to the floor. “I’m sure we could arrange something.” But his voice lacked conviction, and she heard the hesitation buried beneath the words.
“If it’s too difficult, we don’t have to,” she said quickly. She’d made peace with the possibility when she crossed the barrier. But still—hope had flared, foolish and bright.
“We will,” Damien said more firmly. His eyes lifted to hers. “Even if I have to go against the Council to do it, I’ll figure out a way.”
She tried to smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “You don’t seem like you’re scared of anything.” It wasn’t a question.
“There are things that scare me,” Damien corrected, rising from his seat.
“Like what?”
He sank to his knees before her, his hands cradling her face gently. Tilting her head forward, he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.
“Many things, little swan,” he whispered.
What had he just said? A flutter of warmth rose to her cheeks, her ears perking, wanting to hear it again.
She remembered how unicorns treasure swans, but before she could ask him what the nickname meant, he stood, rising to his full height.
His gaze shifted towards a set of wooden doors carved with demonic symbols, the same ones that were on the floor.
“It’s late. I should let you sleep. Your room is through there,” he said, gesturing.
“There are doors inside that connect to mine, so if you get lonely . . . Come find me. I don’t mind midnight visitors. ”
He waited a moment, eyes searching hers, clearly hoping she’d ask to join him.
But she didn’t. Instead, she said, “Good night, Damien.”
He blinked slowly, as if her dismissal surprised him, but gave a curt nod. “Good night, Luna.” The doors to his room closed behind him with a click.
After several long heartbeats, she rose.
A voice in her head told her this wasn’t a good idea, but she ignored it as she walked back down the hallway.
She had contemplated telling Damien of her plans, but she knew he’d only stop her.
Better to leave him in the dark and ask for forgiveness later.
Quietly, she inched along the hallway, until finally she made it back to the door leading to the green glowing room. She turned the knob, and opened it.
No one was there.
Hustling now, she made her way to the basement.
Marion sat at the bottom of the stairs, keys resting in her hands, staring up at Luna with wide eyes.
The soft curve of her lips formed a delicate ‘O’ shape as she shook her head.
Clearly, she hadn’t been expecting to see her.
“This isn’t a good idea . . .” she commented, a soft warning in her voice. “Does Damien know you’re here?”
“She can’t use magic, right?” Luna said, getting right to the point. “I’ll be fine. I just want a word alone with her.” Luna made sure to emphasize the word; the last thing she wanted was Marion interrupting her plans.
For a moment, Marion was quiet, seemingly mulling over her words.
Finally, she said, “All right . . . But only because I feel bad about the way you transformed after I stole your necklace.” She stepped off to the side, hanging a set of keys on the wall.
“I need to stretch my legs. I should only be about five minutes, but when I get back, you won’t be here, right? ”
“That’s correct.”
Marion nodded before slowly turning and walking up the stairs, leaving Luna as promised. Without wasting another moment, Luna hurried over to where Nina was kept, her steps soft against the stone.
Inside, Nina was lying on her side, one arm curled beneath her head as if she were simply napping. Her hair spilled across the stone floor, dull and tangled, her wrists still bound in cuffs that kept her tethered to the wall.
“Hi, Mom,” Luna said, the word tasting as odd in her mouth as if it had been the first time she’d said it. Angie was her mom. Nina was . . . Well, she wasn’t sure what else to call her. Her birth giver, perhaps?
Nina’s eyes lazily cracked open, her gaze moving beyond Luna’s shoulders, scanning the empty corridor.
“You’re alone,” she murmured, her voice low—amused.
“I’m surprised you disobeyed your little master.
” She cocked her head, a smile curling her lips.
“Perhaps you’re more like me than I thought . . .”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but we don’t have a lot of time.” Luna moved closer to the cell, wrapping her hands around the bars that separated them. “I came down here because I have to know. Is what he said true, that the Darkened One would free you once you’ve paid your debt?”
Nina shook her head, the light glinting off her shortened, damaged horn as she did so. “There is no paying your debt off with the Darkened One. He is too full of hatred.”
“That’s what I thought,” Luna said, eyeing Nina’s cuff.
She must have noticed because she smiled sweetly and said, “Don’t worry. I can’t do any magic with these things on, and even if I didn’t have them on, I wouldn’t hurt you—”
“I’m here to release you.”
Nina went still. Surprised. Then her smile changed; it warmed with something like pride. She gestured to the wall where Marion had been sitting. “The key with two left notches opens my cell.”
Luna quickly fetched the set of keys from its hook.
Marion would be back soon, she had no time to waste.
She found the notched key and slid it into the keyhole, fingers trembling as she did so.
“I don’t believe anyone should have their lives traded for another.
We will find a different way to get Damien’s sister.
” She turned the key twice, and the cell door swung open.
“Now what?” Luna asked. She got the door open, but what about those cuffs?
“Now, you come here!” Nina exclaimed. Her voice was pure joy, her arms opened wide for a hug.
Luna stepped closer, accepting the invitation without any hesitation. There was no way she was going to turn down her first hug ever from her birth mother.
Nina’s arms wrapped around her, the best they could given the constraints.
Her hold was nothing like Damien’s strong one; her grip was weak, the pressure faint on Luna’s back, but Luna felt whole.
It was like a missing piece of her identity was being filled in.
She returned the hug, squeezing Nina tight like she was her lifeline.
Nina stepped back, lifting her hands in front of her. “The key,” Nina urged. “It’ll unlock these as well.”
Luna nodded and stepped forward. She fitted the key into the first cuff—click. The lock sprang open, then she did the same for the second.
The metal fell away with a soft clatter.
Nina exhaled slowly, rubbing at the raw skin on her wrists. She rotated them in slow, deliberate circles, as if testing their freedom—or savouring it.
“We have to hurry. Marion said she’d only be gone for five minutes.”
Nina nodded. “All right, but first things first.” She snatched Luna’s hands in hers, clasping onto them as if she couldn’t bear to let Luna go, even for a moment.
It was a feeling Luna understood completely, and she squeezed her hands back.
In one swift motion, Nina slipped off the golden vine ring that Luna had been wearing—the one King Hendrix had given her, though it had originally belonged to Nina. The word why lingered on the tip of Luna’s tongue. If Nina wanted her ring back, she could have just asked.
Without warning, Nina smashed her ring against her horn, shattering one gem.
Green shards of crystal fragmented into a glittering dust that burst into blinding light.
It engulfed Luna’s vision, rendering her temporarily blind.
Confusion swept through her mind, trying to make sense of what was happening.
The shimmering dust coated her, settling like a light mist, making her skin tingle, but not in a painful way.
Then Nina’s hands were on her, and with a quick shove, Luna hit the wall. Without her sight, she was left disoriented. She whirled around, reaching through the air to grab onto Nina.
There was a distinct click of the cuff’s mechanism as it locked around one of Luna’s hands.
Panic surged through Luna. “No,” she yelled.
Betrayal cut into her like a sword through her heart, or a knife to the back.
She, again, reached through the air, trying to shove Nina away from her, but Nina was quick, her grip surprisingly strong.
With ease, she grabbed Luna’s free hand and locked it into the other cuff.
Luna smashed the cuffs on the wall, trying to break free. This couldn’t be happening. Her heart beat wildly in her chest and she blinked rapidly, trying to regain her vision; it didn’t help.
“I kept you safe,” Nina said, her voice a haunting whisper.
“I gave you up so you’d have a normal life, free of running, free of danger.
I performed every protection ceremony to keep you away from magic and its messiness.
” Her tone hardened. “And look who you aligned yourself with.” She scoffed, the sound hollow.
“There’s truly no one you can trust, Luna.
Everyone will use you for their own gain. They already have.”
Luna’s blood roared in her ears. Her heart thundered in her chest so hard she could feel her pulse in her throat. But still, she could see nothing, do nothing, but listen.
“And I can’t risk going back to the Darkened One,” Nina continued. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t.”
The light vanished then, like someone had reversed a billowing plume of smoke, and Luna’s vision gradually returned. She was inside Nina’s cell, cuffed to the same wall she had been. Luna called out, her voice echoed against the walls, unanswered. Where had Nina gone?
Utter disbelief swirled in Luna’s mind as she tried to make sense of this situation. Nina, the person who had given her birth, whom Luna had decided to risk everything for, had tricked her. And now, she was left to face the consequences of her own naivety.