Chapter 35
Right Behind You
Cedar
Snow was falling from the darkening sky above, the cold not touching me. She should be here, but I hadn’t seen her yet.
This was the third scene I’d walked through—all early memories from her childhood. But the adult version, the one I wanted to scream at, was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she was hiding, or simply avoiding the conflict at hand.
Couldn’t say I blamed her.
“I’m going to get you, Cora!” young Silvana screeched with a giggle. They were here with their aunt, chasing each other with snowballs in hand.
Cora laughed, her dark hair in two long braids that whipped around as she spun in the snow, dodging her sister. The scene shifted once more before I could hear any more soft laughs between the sisters.
Now I was standing outside the castle in Whitbourne, just beyond the wall.
My feet planted in the middle of the street.
More people seemed to be here than I’d seen before.
Hoof beats from behind had me turning. He was atop a massive pure white horse.
The animal was dressed in full regalia—the reins, saddle, and everything from the chamfron around his face, to the tail guard down his back, was pure gold.
“Arrogant fucker,” I muttered under my breath.
A click from next to me had my gaze turning to the right, only to see a woman, wide-eyed, rushing her children into the house as she closed the shutters tight. In fact, every person I’d just seen outside on the streets, laughing and speaking, was now gone.
It wasn’t until he was closer, the moonlight reflecting off his dark slicked-back hair, that I noticed her.
A young Cora seated in front of him, his arms around her waist as he clutched the reins. They trotted by, the look on her face completely devoid of any emotion as she took in the castle before her.
I wondered what it looked like from her eyes, especially after growing up in the small village she did.
The towering spires that felt as tall as the mountains surrounding it. The stained glass windows filled with blue and gold designs against the reflective stone. It felt imposing and eerie.
Keres and Cora’s horse crossed through the gate, followed by the males Keres had toted with him. He climbed off the back of the horse, lifting Cora off once he was down.
She was so small, her light blue dress hanging just below her knees and covered in blood.
He hadn’t even grabbed her a change of clothes after killing her parents.
Teeth grinding together, I watched as Silvana came running out of the castle doors, her long silver hair down around her rib cage now.
She wore a thin white dress and no shoes as she dashed out into the snow and snatched Cora away from the male.
Her gaze ran up and down her despondent baby sister.
“What did you do?” Silvana screamed at him. “Are you okay? Cora?” Her tone dropped down as she knelt in the snow to look into her sister’s eyes.
Cora’s hand raised, setting against Silvana’s cheek, and she nodded, still not speaking.
“It took me weeks to finally speak to her.” I jumped, spinning around to see my Cora standing behind me, her gaze on her past self and sister.
“I wouldn’t leave her side. We shared a bed for the first winter I was here.
I never even told her what happened to our parents.
Keres fought with her one day and told her she had no home or family to return to, so her threats to leave meant little to him, because where would she go? I was already there.”
Cora wiped a tear from her cheek and finally met my eyes.
“I know you’re angry, and you have every right to be, Cedar. But I couldn’t stay. Don’t come here and try to get me, please. Just, live your life. Be safe,” she whispered.
I took a step towards her, and when she didn’t back away, I closed the distance that remained between us, my arm circling around her lower back and my opposite hand cupping her jaw.
“When I returned to find you gone, I was so angry I couldn’t speak.
I shifted while the others made a plan and I flew.
Flew and flew and ignored everything anyone said to me, because all I could concentrate on was where my mate was,” I whispered as my thumb ran along her cheek.
“If I could feel her, sense her still. If she was safe, how she was feeling. Do you know what happened?”
She shook her head, tears once more gathering in her eyes.
“I could. It was as if accepting the bond existed beyond any blood magic you may have delved into on our behalf, letting the bond between us flourish and fully breathe. I knew exactly where you were. The feeling of anxiety and fear tasted bitter on the back of my tongue, Cora. Don’t you dare tell me not to come and get you. ”
I leaned down, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
“I know you and Silvana deserve his death upon your hands, but please know I won’t be anywhere but right behind you while you watch the light fade from his eyes.”
She wrapped her arms around my waist and buried her face in my chest.
“I will always do everything within my power to protect our family, Cedar. Please don’t forget that,” she whispered as my hands ran up and down her back.