Chapter 58
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
Briar
I paced the small confines of my room, seething with every step I took. How dare he! How dare he!
My hands fisted as I restrained myself from battering the walls. How had this day gone so wrong?
I’d thought things were finally getting better between us, that he was finally starting to trust me and maybe we wouldn’t spend the rest of our lives fighting each other. And then BAM, everything went back weeks.
It had all been an illusion because, in the end, he wanted to believe the worst in me. It didn’t matter what I did, how much time passed, or how different I was from the other casters; he’d never move on from my heritage.
I hated him for it, and I hated myself for getting my hopes up.
“What do you think happened to the roses?” Gizzi asked.
“I don’t know, and he won’t give me the chance to find out.”
“He might, once he calms down.”
“I don’t care about him calming down. I’m so sick of him constantly jumping to the wrong conclusion about me. I hate him.”
Gizzi settled at the end of the bed to watch me. I didn’t bother to try the door; Dromon hadn’t locked it after leaving me here. I wasn’t sure if that was on purpose, but even if I could get free, I had nowhere to go. I’d never make it out of this castle without Knox catching me.
My pacing continued until a soft knock brought it to an end. That couldn’t be Knox; he wouldn’t bother to knock. He’d storm in like the overbearing ogre he was.
“What?” I demanded.
“It’s Lyra; can I come in?”
I almost told her to go away, but bit my tongue. The lone female shifter had never come to my room before, and we’d never had a conversation, so I had no idea why she was here.
Curious as to what brought her, I opened the door. Lyra stood on the other side with her hands clasped before her. Her short, golden blonde hair stood up in spikes around her beautiful face.
Like most female shifters, she was tall, but she was leaner than most other shifters. Her lime-green eyes met mine before flicking into the room.
“Can we talk?” she asked.
“Are you here to kill me?”
Her mouth twitched toward a smile. “No.”
“Are you here to accuse me of killing the roses?”
“Are they dead?”
“I’m not sure.”
She inhaled a deep breath as sorrow flashed through her eyes. Her parents were roses in town.
Some of my defensiveness dissipated. “Have your parents been affected?”
“No.” She swallowed before closing her eyes. “Not yet anyway.”
I heard the dread in her voice. They might not be affected now, but until we learned what happened, they were in peril.
“Can I come in?” she asked again.
I stepped aside to let her enter. Once Lyra was inside, I closed the door. It probably wasn’t the best idea to be alone in here with her when I had no idea what she was thinking, but unless Knox ordered my death, she wouldn’t kill me.
And he wouldn’t order my death; he’d carry out the sentence himself.
“I didn’t poison the roses,” I said.
She prowled the room, every bit the black panther she shifted into. She stopped near one of the three walls full of windows. She clasped her hands behind her back while gazing at the browned grass and dead crops.
“I know you didn’t,” Lyra said.
“You… know?”
Shock made it come out as more of a question. How could she know that?
“Did you poison them?” I accused.
A small smile played across her lips. “Do you really believe I’d do that?”
“No. The idea never crossed my mind… until now. How else would you know I didn’t do it?”
“We don’t talk much, but that’s not because of you. When we first met, it was you, and if Knox had allowed it, I would have ripped out your intestines and choked you with them.”
“How lovely,” I muttered.
Her smile widened. “You have to understand that our hatred of the casters will never fade.”
“I know I didn’t experience what the four of you did, and all the other souls trapped there, but I can understand what they did. It would have completely changed me too.”
“That’s true, but what you don’t understand is Knox.”
I emitted a bitter laugh. “Not even a little bit. I’m not sure anyone does or ever will.”
“Hmm,” she murmured as she turned back to the window. “You’re right about that. I understand the twisting, the humiliation, and the hatred that comes from being in the harem. I also understand the loss of our loved ones, our kingdom, and ourselves, but I don’t understand the mate bond.
“I’ve never experienced that, so I don’t know how awful it was for him to endure the harem while loving and being bonded to another. I don’t have a mate, but the desire for one is very alive within me… as it is with all unmated shifters.”
She wanted a mate; that was something I never saw coming from Lyra. She was so fierce and independent.
“I hope I never find him,” she whispered.
“Why?” I blurted.
She rocked from her heels to her toes as she surveyed the land. It took her so long to respond that I began to wonder whether she heard me.
“We’re all so broken,” she said. “And nothing can ever put us back together. I don’t want my mate to deal with that. Neither does Knox, but he doesn’t have a choice; he’s already found you.”
I decided to ignore that last part. “If your mate is a shifter, then they’ll also feel the draw of the mate bond. I don’t think it will matter to them if you’re broken or not.”
“Does that make it any better? They say mates are the two halves of one soul. Why would I choose to hoist my broken half on a man who doesn’t have a choice in the matter?”
“I’m not a shifter. I have choices.”
She looked at me over her shoulder again. “And that’s what makes it so scary for Knox.”
I hadn’t been expecting that at all. “What?”
“Shifters have no choice; they can never walk away from their mate, but you can walk away from yours. If it becomes too tough, if things aren’t working out the way you expect, or—”
“Or if the shifter who claims you as their mate is a complete asshole ninety-nine percent of the time?”
When she lifted an eyebrow in amusement, I smiled back at her. “You think Knox isn’t an asshole one percent of the time? You give him more credit than I do.”
I chuckled, but her words gave me pause. “Once the curse is broken, will you choose another alpha to follow?”