Chapter 34
MAE
For the last three days, dinner has been served right as the sun begins to dip below the tallest peak.
Today is no exception. The stone door opens right on time and a tray of food is shoved through the opening.
It slides toward me on the gritty floor, dirt underneath scraping the bottom as it comes to a stop before me.
The brown soup looks abnormally lumpy, and I eye the meal with distaste. At least it smells better than whatever they gave me last night. Giving a prisoner soup while their hands are bound behind their back is another level of depravity.
The wound on my stomach protests as I scoot toward the tray, but I don’t have the luxury of missing meals.
I have no clue what’s about to happen to me.
As much as I’d rather kick the meal back to them and scream a hearty fuck you, I lay on my stomach and bite the edge of the bowl.
I shove my disgust away and tilt it back.
It spills over the sides, into my mouth, down my neck, and onto the floor.
It tastes like ass, just like the last few nights’ dinners.
I lay there for a moment, the wound in my stomach pulsing and sending waves of pain through my midsection.
I wrangle my way back into a sitting position and slump against the stone wall once more.
My heartbeat echoes in my ears. My breathing is shallow and the air feels too thick. All from that one bout of movement.
My wound continues to get worse. Laying on the ground and inviting dirt and Mother knows what else isn’t helping it heal. Every time I have to eat, the wound is ripped back open. But I don’t know what else to do. I have to eat. I need every bit of strength I can get.
I rest my head against the stone wall, resisting the urge to bash my skull against it.
The dreams of my mother and the girl with oceans in her eyes have barely left my mind since I woke. I’ve spent every waking hour dissecting them and committing them to memory. Every night, I pray for more. But nothing else has come.
The first dream is clear. If it’s true, then Elle is my sister—my twin.
I wanted to snort when I woke up from the dream.
Of course she’s my sister. She’s the only other female I’ve ever met with antlers.
We have the same eyes. We both share the truth-telling ability.
How could I have missed it? From the moment we met, she felt familiar to me.
But the second dream…The girl told the tale of a world that has begun to come true.
The rabbits hide. The birds are silent. And the moss is soaked with blood.
The ground isn’t soaked with blood yet, but the animals—and the hybrids—are in hiding as the witches spread.
Witches run rampant through the forest, leaving a trail of blood in their wake.
Yes, that one is clear—Asmo and I experienced it ourselves.
She couldn’t rid the world of the dark magic that plagued her creatures. Could this be the Cursed?
If this is all true, then the world is about to die.
And the only ones who can save it are two pairs of mates that the Mother Herself created.
Because the day cannot exist without the night, the Mother crafted the females after the light, and the males after the dark.
Elle, the epitome of fire—of light. Me, with hair as white as the flames I wield.
Asmo and Marik, brothers who control the darkness and flames of night.
If the second dream is true, the Mother has given Elle and me mates who are brothers…which means Elle’s mate has to be Marik. Or Marik is mine, and Asmo is hers.
No.
Although I know very little about mates, I know they are physically incapable of causing harm to one other.
If Marik was my mate, he would never have been able to do what he did.
My first kiss with Asmo was electric, different than any other male I’ve ever been with.
Every kiss, every touch, has been a shock to my system.
Marik’s touch, on the other hand, felt like any other.
If the only way to defeat Cora is for both pairs of mates to work in tandem…
How in the Motherfucking hell is that supposed to work if Marik is the villain and Elle is his captive?
Not to mention, how am I supposed to do anything trapped in this cell?
I have no clue what’s about to happen. Am I about to be walked to my death?
Am I the next one to be hanged? Or will Cora waltz in and finish what she started?
I swallow tears of frustration. What I wouldn’t give to have my old life back, to be stuck in Bound with Cally.
I shake my head. No, that’s not true. That life was a lie.
Hell, before this, my entire life was a lie.
If I had to discover that so that I could truly live, then I would do it all over again.
The sun continues to dip below the mountains. I watch as it goes, leaving me and my thoughts in darkness for the third night.
Whoever opens the door is silent, their footsteps light as they approach me. Two different scents waft toward me—one familiar and one unfamiliar. I lean away, but there’s nowhere else to go. My hands are tied behind my back, which is literally against the wall.
There is nothing I can do.
You have weapons built on top of your head, Asmo once said.
I leap to my feet and bow my head, antlers ready to spear whoever’s come for me. The movement has my stomach and face throbbing, but I won’t go down without a fight. I’m not helpless Mae anymore. I’m the High Queen. I’m a direct descendant of Wrena. I will not be taken. Not again.
“Mae!” a familiar voice whisper-shouts. I stand on the balls of my feet, teeth bared. “It’s me!” the voice says. A ball of light materializes in the air, bathing the cell in a soft glow.
I lift my head.
Koa.
But when I see who stands beside him, I shuffle backward and bare my teeth again.
He stands beside a fucking witch. Her eyes are golden, the color of the sun. Her raven hair is pin-straight. She watches me with curiosity, like she’s a cat and I’m the mouse.
“When did you turn?” I seethe at him.
Koa holds his hands up. “It’s not what it looks like. We’re here to get you out.”
With a sinking feeling, I realize I can’t use my magic to tell if it’s the truth. I narrow my gaze. “And do what? Take me to my death?”
“We don’t have time for this, Prince,” the witch murmurs to Koa, eyes never leaving mine.
Koa casts a glance backward, then turns back to me. “Mae, listen to me,” he says pleadingly. “We have to go. The guards are incapacitated, but they could wake up any second. Trust me. Please.”
Koa was never a liar. He was the first one to warn me about who to trust when I first became High Queen. He’s never given me a reason to be wary of him. Except, of course, for the fact that his House sided with Cora. And that he’s currently standing next to a witch.
“Koa…” the witch mutters as she glances back toward the open door. “Just knock her out and let’s go.”
He winces at the suggestion, and I back up, baring my antlers toward him once more.
“Mae, please. Levana and I are here to get you out. She’s on our side. Just trust me.”
I freeze at the name. Levana. Willa mentioned that name in my dream. I lift my head again. “You helped my mother,” I say to her.
She raises an eyebrow. “Yes,” she says.
Again, I want to pull my hair out because I can’t use my net. Mother, I’m trusting you…
I turn back to Koa. “Fine. But if you’re lying to me, I will kill you.”
He swallows. “I promise. But please, we have to hurry.”
I don’t have any other options. I close my eyes for a moment, then snap them open. “Fine. Let’s go.”
Levana turns and stalks from the room, magic already swirling in her hands.
Koa motions for me to follow her. Before I can think better of it, I do.
I hurry through the threshold of the door and follow the witch down the dim hallway, Koa following closely behind me.
The guards lay unconscious and slumped against the walls.
Levana darts down a hallway to the left. I follow, going as fast as I can with my hands still bound behind me.
“Just a little more,” Koa whispers behind me.
We come to a dead end. Koa steps around me and presses his palm flat against the wall.
It clicks underneath his touch and a hidden door opens, revealing a steep staircase.
He sprints up the stairs and Levana shoves me forward.
I bite back a curse as I catch myself and begin climbing the stairs.
My thighs scream at the climb and every quick movement only opens my wounds further, but I force myself to keep going.
The stairs are dingy, narrow, and dangerously slick from melted snow and ice. I watch my step to keep from slipping and tumbling back to the bottom.
“Ow!” Koa yelps as my antlers collide with his back. He jumps forward, straight into another dead end.
I lift my head and grimace. “Sorry.”
He gives me an exasperated look before placing his hand on the wall and opening another hidden door.
He braces himself and steps onto a roof.
Frigid air whips against me, stinging every inch of exposed skin and sending goosebumps erupting.
It feels like I’m inhaling crisp scents of pine with a side of glass, the air so cold that every breath is a stab to my lungs.
Bouldercrest was a tropical vacation compared to this.
Above us, gray clouds drift past, almost close enough to touch. The moon hangs nearby, its white glow shining upon the snowy peaks of mountains that surround us.
Levana joins us on the roof, sandwiching me between her and Koa. I swallow hard when I realize how high in the air we are. How alone I am with the two of them. With my hands bound behind my back. And no magic.
What the fuck have I done?