Chapter 28
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
An approaching passenger train appeared in the distance and headed north as I pushed on the screen of the ticket machine. It seemed that this train would pass through San Francisco.
I could get off at any smaller city station before that.
A short fence separated two sets of train tracks going in opposite directions. As I approached the end of the platform, I spotted a yellow line painted at the edge of the track for safety.
A couple slept on the benches behind me. Near me an elderly man fed pigeons crumbs as they flapped their wings at the pedestrians who disturbed their eating.
For most humans, it was another workday. But for me, today was a critical day of my plan.
Once I opened The Book of Banished Souls with my blood, I would have to change trains and figure out where I was going next. I could open the book on the train if Torin didn’t show up. I didn’t want him to manhandle me.
An announcement made over the intercom drew me out of my thoughts. The train cars rumbled, clacked on the tracks, and stopped before me. The jarring thump of suitcase wheels over cracks in the concrete made my body jerk. My nerves were shot, and I was jumpy.
I climbed on board and passed through the train car with three leather seats in each row.
I’d bought the more expensive tickets for a private cabin seating only six people. I hoped to find a seat with no one around, so I kept walking.
I pressed a button on the handle, and the cabin door slid open to the side. No one else was inside, so I sighed heavily as I sat on the window seat.
Maybe today wasn’t such a bad day, after all. I reached into my backpack and grabbed the first book I found, brushing its cover with my fingers.
I smiled as I felt it becoming alive. To open it, I needed to pour my blood over the cover. I hoped it was only a few drops of my blood that were needed.
I looked around the cabin for anything sharp that I could use to slice my palm. Finally, after almost giving up, I lifted the lid of a small trash bin underneath the window tray.
I pulled out a thin plastic cup and bent it hard until it broke. I poked my fingertips to the edge of the material. It wasn’t sharp enough, so I would have to dig harder into my palm.
I had the book in my lap and my left palm ready while holding the dull plastic piece in my right hand, when the cabin door opened.
Torin sauntered inside, sliding shut the door behind him. He drew the door curtains together, blocking us from anyone’s view.
My heart fell to my stomach. There was nowhere to hide or run.
Torin walked up to me and plucked the plastic piece out of my hand. He tossed it back in the trash bin and then sat in the opposite corner of me, crossing his legs and arms as if he was getting ready for the long train journey ahead of us.
He shut his eyes and breathed through his nose. I swallowed hard and finally realized I had to close my mouth.
“So you are about to take a nap?” I asked.
He reopened his eyes and watched me with amused amber eyes. “Do you have any other ideas about how to pass the time?”
He grinned, the same type of smile he had when he thought about doing intimate things with me.
Blood rushed to my head, and I exhaled loudly. “You can get off at the next stop, Torin.”
“I can’t. You were in danger the moment you stepped out of the kingdom. The vampire Queen will look for any chance to hurt you.”
So that was what this was all about. My safety. Just like he showed up out of nowhere in London because it was his duty as my mate to protect me. The thought intensified the tightness in my chest until my heart ached.
“You lied to me, Torin. Then you kissed Layla. You betrayed me every step of the way while I was trying to get the kingdom to accept you.”
“I didn’t ask you to do that. Your efforts are futile.” His eyes flashed red.
I sucked in a sharp breath. No, he hadn’t asked me to do anything, but that was what a mate did for the one she cared for. I took another deep breath.
“And I’m sorry I lied to you. I know I don’t deserve you. But as far as Layla goes, I didn’t kiss her. I would never betray you like that.”
Sincerity laced Torin’s voice. He insisted that the kiss I saw with my eyes didn’t happen. He chased after me for days to tell me the same thing. He could have admitted to kissing my cousin. He could have come up with some excuse for a story.
But Torin insisted on his version of the truth.
I swallowed hard. “But if you’re correct, how did my eyes deceive me, Torin? How can you explain that?”
Torin’s body stiffened, and he stayed perfectly still. “I have a theory, but I can’t explain it.” He paused. “It has something to do with Hayden. He was the only one next to you… He must have done something. As your other mate, he’d have the motivation to destroy me or make me look bad.”
“But on many occasions, he has done the opposite of that. He’s protected your name and didn’t rat you out when you hit him.”
My eyebrows rose. Would Torin go as far as killing Hayden to get rid of my other mate? I couldn’t imagine Hayden going that far. I’d suspected Hayden of hiding things from me, too, though.
“It’s true that he’d be motivated to make you look bad, but I don’t believe Hayden would harm you. If he did, he surely knows I won’t be with him.” I shook my head and wiped my damp palms on my pants.
“So do you believe me now, Princess?” Torin’s crimson eyes searched mine for the answer.
I wanted to believe Torin. I could give him the benefit of the doubt if I were to assume that some supernatural power or magic had changed the way I saw things.
“Are you suggesting that the kiss was an illusion?”
Torin nodded.
“But werewolves or vampires don’t have such powers, and from what I’ve read about witches, they can manipulate the elements, but they can’t create an illusion of our reality.”
Torin looked out the window, and after a moment, said, “I’ll get to the bottom of it, or you’ll never be safe.”
I groaned and didn’t care when Torin’s gaze intensified on my face. I wanted him to love me unconditionally and fully share himself with me.
The train car shook on the tracks in a lulling rhythm that calmed my nerves.
My body sank deeper into the seat, and I sighed. I was so exhausted from running away, meeting with the hunters, and finding another magic book that I was ready to return to the kingdom and sleep in my bed.
“So what next? We’re going back to the kingdom?”
“Everyone is after me, Princess. Your father and the Alphas. The entire kingdom. The vampire Queen. I only have you to believe in me, Anna,” Torin said and gave me a small smile.
A soft ache appeared at the back of my throat as I held my breath. A sense of resolve washed over my body, and I exhaled deeply.
“Why do you even want to be with me, Torin? If it’s because of some false sense of duty to protect your mate, I can tell you it won’t work between us.”
A low growl rumbled from his throat. His pinched expression told me that I had struck a nerve.
“I don’t want to be with you only because of the bond drawing us together. I want to be with you because you challenge me to be better. Because we’re kindred souls. Because I found my home in you, mate.” He stood.
His eyes shone with a deep affection, his face radiating a sense of longing.
Kindred souls—we could not find where we belonged as we struggled with our identities. He hated his vampire side imposed on him while I was a witch with no powers, and I still felt like I was a human.
With one large stride, Torin moved and sat next to me. His body trembled as if he was holding back. Knowing him, he probably wanted to pull me onto his lap and crush his lips to mine. That scared me…because I wanted the same.
Torin was attempting to be gentle and to respect my boundaries. I appreciated his effort, but we still had a problem. We could never be together. The kingdom hated and blamed him for the upcoming war with the vampire Queen.
As if he knew what I was thinking, Torin said, “The only way to be together is for me to kill the vampire Queen. Then she wouldn’t be a threat to me, you, and the kingdom, and killing her would earn me your dad’s approval to be your mate.
The King has wanted to finish the war against that vampire for the last thirty years. ”
“Torin,” I said on a sigh. “I’ve told you before. I don’t want you anywhere near that crazy woman. How do you plan on breaking your sire’s orders?”
“I’ve grown strong enough, Anna. Because I love you, I’ll push against her orders. I’ll get close enough to kill her,” he said with so much conviction that I almost believed him.
But if he couldn’t break through the vampire Queen’s demands, it would be game over.
Torin must have known that I was forgiving him for now. He knew he had to work harder to gain back my trust. But at least I gave him the chance and didn’t push him away this time.
I didn’t speak anymore, and we rode silently for the next thirty minutes. The train came to a halt, and we got off and made our way to the ticket machine to get a ticket back.
Torin was in trouble with the King for stealing his sword that my mother had given Dad, but the King would have to forgive Torin. Dad owed me at least that much. I would advocate for lesser punishment.
Torin and I drove back through the kingdom’s entrance late that afternoon. The guard’s eyes widened at the sight of Torin. He would surely alert Dad about our presence.
“Let me speak to Dad first,” I said as we approached the royal manor.
“I’m ready to face whatever he comes up with, Princess, as long as he doesn’t banish me from the kingdom. I need to be next to you.”
I nodded. Surely, Dad wouldn’t go that far, especially since I’d be next to Torin.
Torin stopped the car at the entrance, and we got out. The manor doors swung wide open, and all four Alphas rushed outside and blocked our way.
A pinch of anxiety stabbed my chest. Where was Dad?
Alpha Mark stepped forward with his stupid smirk on his face.
“Capture him,” he shouted.
Dad’s warriors walked toward us slowly and hesitantly as if they expected Torin to fight them.
My mate stiffened next to me at first but then relaxed and took a deep breath. His easy-going demeanor worried me. Torin never gave up on anything. I always admired his determination and persistence.
“Stand down,” I shouted, and the warriors halted.
“Princess Breanna, we voted to imprison Alpha Torin in your absence. His punishment will be decided at the next meeting. But right now, he’s going to the dungeons.” His grin widened. “To the north dungeons where vampires are supposed to go.”
I stifled the gasp that wanted to escape my throat. The north prison was the worst one—the one where they held the vampire spy, the one with the execution chamber that scared me just to look at it.
I still couldn’t reconcile Mark’s behavior. He must have had something personal against Torin, but what was it?
“Where is the King?” I demanded.
Mark would only listen to his King.
As if on cue, Dad walked from behind the Alphas and came to me. He hugged me, but I was too tense to embrace him.
“Dad, Torin can’t go to the dungeons. It seems excessive.”
Dad stepped back and narrowed his eyes at Torin. “It’s been voted on, honey. After you left, Torin had a disagreement with Hayden and hit him first. I found out he stole my sword. He’s lucky he’s only spending two days in the dungeon. The kingdom people and the Alphas are demanding more.”
My mouth fell open. “Why?”
“Everyone learned that Torin is your other mate, and no one approves.”
Torin must have not agreed to Layla’s fake mate arrangement. So she must have released the secret that Torin was my other mate. No one else knew about it and wanted to cause chaos in the kingdom.
I frowned. “And how did this information start circulating in the kingdom?”
Dad gave me a serious look. “Layla,” was all he said.
She’d made good on her threat because she didn’t get what she wanted from Torin. I let out a heavy sigh.
“Then send me to the dungeon too. I stole the book,” I snapped. “This is ridiculous.”
I stepped closer to Dad and leaned in.
“You’re going to fix this, Dad. Right now. You’ll call an all-Alphas meeting, and you’ll explain that the mind of a witch can’t be compelled. Torin won’t suffer because of you,” I said in a low voice.
The Alphas and the kingdom people feared Torin mostly for his compulsion power over everyone, especially me. If he could compel me, he could rise as a King. But he wasn’t interested in the throne and couldn’t compel a half-witch princess.
Dad grimaced, but I stood tall and looked him straight in the eye to show him my resolve.
If the kingdom feared that Torin could compel the next Queen, and he could have his way with me while he ruled over the werewolf kingdom, only the King could end this fear.
If Dad explained to the Alphas and the kingdom about his little indiscretion with a witch, and that I was half witch, then everyone would calm down.
But if Dad told the kingdom the truth, his reputation would erode. He’d been lying to his Alphas and his people for twenty-six years. He wouldn’t be the beloved werewolf King anymore.
Was Dad also trying to get rid of Torin? I expected that from the Alphas but not the King. Why didn’t Dad like Torin so much? The reason went beyond Torin’s vampire side. It was something deeper—I felt it in my gut.
Dad nodded to the warriors who apprehended Torin. Some shoved him to walk toward the dungeons, and I couldn’t help but shout at them.
“Get your hands off the Alpha.”
Everyone’s eyes widened, but the warrior who had pushed Torin looked down at the ground.
Torin gave me one last glance filled with worry, turned, and marched toward the dungeons surrounded by fifteen werewolves.
I strode toward the boardroom. “We’re having a meeting now.”