Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Violet
The steps echo down the corridor, heavy and deliberate. I lift my head from where it rests against the cold, stone wall, my body bracing automatically. Every instinct urges me to run, but the chains hold me in place.
My stepfather appears in the open cell doorway.
His expression is controlled, but rage simmers beneath the surface. I can see it in the tight line of his jaw, the way his hands flex at his sides.
“Where is she?”
I don’t answer. Don’t give him the satisfaction.
He steps closer, and the torchlight catches the gold in his eyes. Wolf eyes. Predator eyes. “Where did your mother go, Violet?”
My lips press together. Blood is crusted at the corner of my mouth from the last beating, and I taste copper when I swallow.
“I asked you a question.” His voice drops lower, more dangerous. “Who helped her escape?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The words grate my raw throat.
His hand shoots out, gripping my jaw so hard, I think vaguely that it might break. “Don’t lie to me. Someone broke her out of this cell. Someone with access to keys. Someone who knew the timing of the guard rotation.” His fingers dig even deeper. “Tell me who it was.”
I meet his gaze, holding it even though everything in me wants to look away. “Even if I knew, why would I tell you?”
“Because I can make your death quick”—he releases me and straightens—“or I can make it last for days. Your choice.”
A bitter laugh escapes me. “Days? That’s generous. I figured you’d want me dead by morning.”
“Answer the question.”
“I don’t understand.” I tilt my head at him, ignoring the way the movement sends pain shooting through my skull. “Why can’t you identify who took her? Surely you can pick up on their scent.”
His jaw tightens. For a moment, he doesn’t respond, and I see a spark of frustration cross his face. Maybe even a hint of defeat.
“Whoever helped her used a scent blocker,” he finally says. “Very rare. Very expensive. Not something just anyone has access to.”
I don’t let myself smirk at this piece of information. A scent blocker. That’s why they haven’t found her yet. That’s why he’s here, demanding answers, instead of dragging her back in chains.
“Tell me who it was.” His voice turns cold, commanding. His alpha voice, meant to compel obedience.
I look up at him through the blood and swelling. “Why?” The word comes out sharp. “So you can kill my mother like your son killed my father and my brother?”
Alaric goes completely still, and the air around him becomes thick and dangerous.
I should stop talking. Should keep my mouth shut and my head down. But rage bubbles up from somewhere deep inside me, hot and uncontrollable.
“You know what?” I lean forward as much as my injuries and the chains allow.
“My mother must be a saint. She saw Zion kill Trevor. My brother. Her son.” My voice rises, cracking.
“And she lived with you for years. Years! Right under your roof. She could have gotten revenge at any time. She could have slit Zion’s throat while he slept.
Could have poisoned his food. Could have done a thousand different things. ”
Alaric’s hands curl into fists at his sides, but I’m beyond caring.
“But she didn’t.” The words pour out of me like poison.
“She never touched him. Never hurt him. She just survived, day after day, living with her son’s murderer.
And look at you now.” I bare my teeth painfully, not quite able to smile.
“So desperate to torture her and execute her. All to cover up your bastard son’s crimes. ”
“Watch yourself.” His voice is deadly quiet.
“Or what? You’ll kill me?” I laugh, and it sounds unhinged even to my own ears. “That’s already going to happen. We both know I’m not walking out of here alive.”
I don’t know the full story of what happened that day. Don’t know all the details of the massacre. But I know one thing with absolute certainty: Zion was the real perpetrator. Zion wanted something. Someone. And people died because of it.
Alaric bends over, and his fingers wrap around my throat. He lifts me slightly off the ground, the chains straining against my wrists as they straighten.
“Where is Lillian?” His face is inches from mine, his breath hot against my skin. “Tell me where she is. Now.”
I gather what moisture I can in my mouth and spit directly in his face.
The glob of bloody saliva hits his cheek and slides down slowly.
For a heartbeat, he doesn’t move. Just stares at me with those cold, wolfish eyes. Then, he lets go, and I fall back against the wall, gasping.
“You want to play games?” He wipes his face with deliberate slowness.
“You want my mother to die so your secret doesn’t get leaked, don’t you?” The words come out hoarse but clear. “That’s what this is really about. If she talks, if anyone finds out what Zion did, your precious legacy crumbles.”
His expression darkens.
“She told me everything.” I’m lying, but he doesn’t need to know that. “About the girl Zion wanted. About how he massacred an entire settlement because they wouldn’t give her to him. About how you managed to cover it up for so many years.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t I?” I hold his gaze steadily.
His face tightens, telling me I’ve struck a nerve.
“Where is she, Violet?”
“You’ll never find her.” I say it with complete conviction. “She could be halfway across the ocean by now. Long gone. Out of your reach.”
I don’t actually know where Ryker took her. Don’t have any idea if she’s safe or captured or already dead. But I need Alaric to believe she’s far away. Need him to think she has run for her life and won’t be coming back.
“You know what else?” I lean my head back against the wall, exhaustion creeping in again.
Alaric’s eyes narrow. “What?”
“She won’t come looking for me. You know how much she hates me.
” A resentful smile tugs at my lips. “You’ve seen it.
Everyone has. She can barely stand to look at me.
She sent me away for six years because she couldn’t deal with having me around.
” I shake my head. “So, you’ll have to make do with me, I’m afraid.
She’s not coming back to save someone she can barely tolerate. ”
He studies me for several seconds. Then, his hand pulls back and strikes me across the face.
My head snaps to the side yet again. Stars explode across my vision.
“I will beat it out of you,” he says calmly. “One way or another, you will tell me where she is. Who took her.”
I slowly turn my head back to face him again. Blood drips from my split lip. “You’re welcome to try.”
“Brave words for someone in chains.”
“I’ll bite out my tongue before I tell you anything.” I say it flatly, without emotion. “I’ve already accepted that I’m going to die here. You can’t threaten someone who has nothing left to lose.”
For the first time since entering the cell, uncertainty flashes across his face. He’s realizing I mean it. That torture won’t work because I’ve already given up.
“We’ll see about that.” He turns and stalks toward the cell door.
“Alaric.”
He pauses, glancing back at me over his shoulder.
“I hope she lives long enough to watch your legacy burn.” I hold his gaze. “I hope she’s there when everyone finds out what kind of monster you raised.”
His eyes flash gold. Then he’s gone, the cell door slamming shut behind him.
I sag against the wall, my body screaming in protest. Blood trickles down my arms. My face throbs. My ribs ache with every breath.
But my mother got away. That’s all that matters.
I close my eyes and let my head fall back against the stone. My wolf whimpers deep inside me, trapped and frightened. I try to reach for her, to offer comfort, but the magic in the chains keeps us separated.
Time passes in a blur of pain and exhaustion. I drift in and out of consciousness, jerking awake whenever my body slumps too far forward and the metal chains dig deeper.
I’m not sure how long I’ve been sitting here when I hear voices. Familiar voices. Then silence, then footsteps.
My head lifts slowly. I must be hallucinating. There’s no way…
“Oh my God.” Anne appears at the cell door. Her hand flies to her mouth, her eyes wide and anguished as she takes in my appearance. “What have they done to you?”
I stare at her. At her face, which looks too real to be a dream.
“What are you doing here?” The words come out slurred. “How did you get in?”
“Sienna and I flirted with the guards.” The shock has left her voice. “Slipped a little something in their drinks. She’s keeping an eye on them.”
I shake my head, trying to clear it. “You’ll get caught.”
“We have maybe ten minutes before someone checks on them.” Anne grabs the bars of the cell door, pulling hard. The metal doesn’t budge. She pulls again, harder, her face straining with effort.
“What are you doing?” I watch her struggle, but it’s futile. “Stop. You can’t—”
“I’m getting you out.” Anne grunts, still pulling.
“You can’t break them.” My voice sounds hollow. “You need a key.”
She pauses, breathing hard, then looks straight at me. “We have to try,” she says fiercely.
“Don’t you know what I am?” The question is out before I can stop it. “I’m a hybrid. They’re going to execute me.”
“You’re our friend.” Anne’s eyes blaze with determination. “That’s all we care about.”
Friend. I’m overcome by a sudden warmth. They came here, risked everything, because they consider me a friend.
“Does Darius know?” Anne shakes the bars, looking around frantically. “Does he know where you are?”
My throat tightens. “I’m not sure.”
“I’ll tell him.” She reaches through the bars like she might be able to touch me, as if that will help. “He’ll save you. He’ll—”
“No.” The word comes out sharp. Desperate. “Don’t tell him.”
“But he’s your—”
“He hates my kind.” I look away. I can’t take the pity in her eyes. “I don’t want to see him happy when they execute me. I don’t want to watch him stand there and do nothing because finally, finally, the hybrid problem is solved.”