Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 129912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
“She lied to you,” I rasp. “Have you learned nothing?”
“I know that so far she has attacked every single territory but mine,” he counters matter-of-factly. “She hasn’t done anything to Whisper Grove, and that must be for a reason. She chooses us. I’ve learned that the best way to beat this is to join the winning side. She’s a lot stronger than the other two. I’m sure you can sense that.”
“But she’ll never be stronger than what I become,” I tell him.
I clench my jaw and tap in with Willow.
Willow, tell Korah to meet me near the forest behind the tavern. I found our traitor.
You did? Who is it?
Conan.
I throw up my mind’s wall. I don’t want her hearing what comes next.
As I keep my gun pointed at him, I feel a familiar buzz on my skin. Korah appears out of thin air, standing a few steps away and glaring down at Conan.
“Search him,” I say, and she doesn’t hesitate to rush him and grip his head, digging deep.
Conan cries just as Alora did, possibly louder, until Korah snatches her claws away. With a step back, she looks at me and nods.
“He watched Maeve in the gardens for a while. Waited before he spoke to her,” Korah says. “He took her hand and shook it before he departed and forced Selah’s energy onto her. Maeve assumed he was making a casual visit to prepare for the war.”
And he did all this right under my fucking nose. Tainted my aunt. Nearly killed her, Willow, and Juniper.
I was wrong about Alora.
Wrong about Danica.
Wrong about Valden.
All of these were people ready to help me. None of them asked me for a damn thing, and I broke their trust. Even if we survive this war, my alliances with them will never be the same.
I’ve been wrong so many times in the span of hours, and I feel like I’m failing. I feel like I’m losing my fucking mind, and it’s exactly what that evil bitch wants.
She wants me to lose my trust, to lose my faith. She wants me to lose myself.
She and Conan hit me where I was weakest. They forced my hand on the people who were only willing to assist.
The rage courses through me, and I swear the silvery moonlight bleeds red the longer I stare at him.
Korah shifts closer to me. “Caspian, allow me to handle hi—”
The blast of my gun ricochets through the hollows of the forest. With a bullet in the middle of his head, Conan’s body thuds to the ground.
I drop my arm, still staring at the space where he kneeled before.
Korah says nothing, but I feel her looking right at me.
I turn away from her to face the forest.
“Tell Willow I’ll return soon.” I leave before she can ask where I’m going.
The prickles appear, scraping the inside of my head. She already knows where I’m going, and it won’t take long for Willow to figure it out too.
Regardless, I need to be alone right now because if I face or commit another betrayal, I’ll break.
SEVENTY-THREE
WILLOW
Onyx’s hooves clomp through the forest as daylight breaks. I fill my lungs with the scent of damp dirt and leaves.
Korah told me after Caz dealt with Conan, he needed to be alone. I tried tapping in with him right after, but his wall is up.
As much as I wanted to leave Blackwater Manor to find him right away, I kept still. He needed time alone to process, to think, to form new plans.
I like to think all leaders have to take time for themselves to organize their peace.
He’s hurting, and I can feel that—the raw aching in his chest, the burning in his throat to avoid crying. He’s angry too, but this feels like he’s angrier with himself than anyone else.
I tried to give him time, tried to catch some sleep. I got maybe an hour of rest before I woke up again, ready to find him.
I swat a thick bundle of leaves away, glancing at Silvera as she walks along Onyx’s side with a slight limp. As if she senses me looking at her, she turns her eyes up.
“Yeah, I know.” I sigh. “The world is a mess right now.”
She whimpers, facing ahead again.
It doesn’t take long for a familiar cabin to appear. A streak of sunlight is spread across the mossy roof, making it appear like something out of a fairytale. I expect to see a fire burning or to at least smell the remnants of smoke, but there’s nothing.
A heavy panting comes our way along with a blur of black. Cerberus dashes to us with his tongue hanging out and stops in front of Silvera. She sniffs at him as he does her, and I release a steady breath.
Where there’s Cerberus, there’s Caspian.
I hop off Onyx’s back and tie his reins to the nearest tree before taking a winding trail toward the cabin. When I open the door, it’s dark and cold inside. There’s no sign of him here.