I continued to plunge the dagger into her body, feeling the blade pierce through organs, the slick resistance giving way with each thrust. Warm, metallic blood splattered my face, but I didn’t care. She couldn’t threaten me and Kaius anymore. I would never be controlled by her again. My movements grew heavy and slow as the dagger became slick and crimson with her blood. Slowly, I let her body slump to the floor, a dark pool blooming beneath her. I stood over her, breathing hard, my hands sticky and dripping.
I couldn’t leave her here. I needed to be certain, needed to dispose of the body where it wouldn’t be found. I would explain everything to Kaius tomorrow. The power gifted by the turned one surged through me, strength far beyond anything I’d possessed before. I dragged her body to the balcony. I breathed–deep, calling upon the power the turned one gave me. My ash–white wings sprang forth, shimmering under the moon. Then I launched into the air, heading for the depths of the forest.
I landed deep in the southern part of the forest, the trees here dark and silent, standing like hulking shadows. I had brought a shovel, stolen from the gardening shed. When I was far enough from anywhere she could be found, I began to dig.
When the hole was deep enough, I rolled her body in, still wrapped in the bloodied sheet. I stared down at the shrouded form for a long moment.
Was it really over? Could it be this simple?
I began to fill in the grave, each shovelful of dirt feeling like a weight lifting from my shoulders. By the time the ground was level, I felt lighter than I had in weeks.
Freedom. I was free.
The blow came from behind, sudden and vicious, sending me sprawling face–first into the freshly turned earth. Before I could rise, à boot pressed between my shoulder blades, forcing me down.
“I must say, I’m disappointed,” a familiar voice said from above me. I thought you were smarter than this.”
I twisted my head, disbelief washing through me as I made out his silhouette in the darkness. “Kieran?”
“Hello, Elowen.” His face was expressionless as he stared down at me. “That wasn’t very nice, what you did to Thalia.”
Pain exploded in my skull, and darkness claimed me.
I woke to the sensation of cold water being thrown in my face. Gasping and sputtering, I tried to wipe the moisture from my eyes, only to find my hands bound behind me. Panic surged as I took in my surroundings–a dim room with stone walls, no windows, a‘ single door. Underground, perhaps.
“I guess the water did the trick,” a voice said–a voice that sent ice through my veins.
Thalia stepped into my line of sight, looking perfectly alive and unharmed. No blood, no wounds, nothing to indicate I’d stabbed her repeatedly through the heart just hours before.
I guess you’re wondering why the blood seemed so real,” she said, a soft, mocking laugh escaping her lips. “And why the earth you buried me in felt so fresh. How pathetic. Have you forgotten I can manipulate your mind, you poor turned one? You are destined to serve the Elder. Everything that just happened, every sensation you felt… it was all what I wanted you to experience. Now do you understand?”
My gaze shifted to the figure standing beside her. “You.”
Kieran smiled coldly. “Yes Elowen. Me. I am the reason you were not successful with your little burial and, of course, why you are
here.”
1/2
Chapter 247
The betrayal cut deeper than could have imagined. After everything we’d been through, after he’d transformed me, proposed to me,
claimed to care for me…
“Why, Kieran?” I demanded, voice cracking with emotion. “Why would you do this to me?” A thought struck me. “So you’ve got him compelled too?”
Thalia laughed, the sound like shards of glass raking across my skin
“No one has me compelled,” Kieran said, his expression hardening. am here because I want to be.”
Disbelief warred with the evidence before my eyes. “You are working with her?”
“Yes, I am.” He crouched down to my level, his eyes cold and distant It might hurt, but I need to reveal one more secret to you, one I should have told you.” He paused, watching my reaction. “Another reason I turned you was to help the elder get her revenge; I hadn’t lied about the other reasons though; I thought you would be good partner for me, but that was not the main reason for turning you.”
The world seemed to tilt beneath me. “So… everything, it was all an act?”
“What else did you think?” His casual cruelty struck like a physical blow.
“No.” The denial was automatic, instinctive. This couldn’t be real.
I struggled against my bonds, desperate to make sense of this nightmare. “What did she promise you in exchange?”
“Nothing.” His expression hardened. “I was ready to do anything to bring the Alpha King, who is also the last Lycan, down. Also, as a turned one, it is my duty to serve the elders, and so I made you feel at home back at my pack, and then I attempted the ritual on you, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it to be, you were more than willing. You almost died, and it would have messed up our plan, but well, you didn’t, and turns out the game is still on.”
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