âWe thought you died.â
My head snaps back to Fio who went on and on unceasingly.
âDraxyn said he got to you. You and that-that little girl. Said he threw you two along with the Alpha and Luna. We sent another letter after that. I help write it, you know?â
Her face brightened, âI was the one who helped Xeneron send out the threats to Duskfall. Told your father you died with that girl. We were tying to guilt him you see⦠Didnât work though⦠Draxyn must be so angry youâre still aliveâ¦â
She blinks and then her face voids of emotion. All traces of her joy are replaced by this blank canvas.
Itâs unsettling. The switch of her personalities puts me on guard. She cracked.
âWhereâs Val? You said youâd bring my mate.â
Thereâs a struggle now as she tries to swivel her head from side to side. She wants to get a better look around the cell. Perhaps she thinks her mate is here, just not in eyesight. Fio whines as she tries to pull free from the straps. Burns from the silver embedded into the harnesses marks her skin but she doesnât care. If anything it encourages her behavior.
âVal!â
She shouts, aggravated.
âVal! Iâm here! Val!â
She turns her venomous glare at me, âBring him here you dead b itch! Itâs all your fault, all your fault! You shouldâve stayed dead! Shouldâve burned like the lot of them!â
She continues to screech and shout but none of her words mean much to me. The descent to her instability is awful to watch, but is isnât something I can feel guilty about. As cruel as it sounds, I canât imagine anything more fitting for her. Sheâs unrepentant about what sheâs done. She only regrets being caught. I sigh, shutting my eyes for the briefest seconds.
Thatâs how Benicio knew I was close to Lila. He mustâve connected the dots when he read the letter of my attempt to escape with her. But Draxyn⦠he ldnât handle the humiliation of being bested by me. So he told everyone he killed me offâ¦
âYour confession is appreciated, Fio.â
Itâs the calm of my voice that lulls her back from her berserk episode. She sniffles, eyes teary and face pale. She licks her lips in consideration. The expression on her face twists once again to something more pensive.
âAnd Val?â
I can only offer her a nod, âOf course. I keep my end of the bargain.â
Her body sags in relief. I could feel her rage simmer and quell. Sheâs at peace again.
13:14 The Female Alphaâs Sanctuary 99.7%
âThank you⦠thank youâ¦. thank youâ¦â
She keeps saying it as I turn to leave her behind. She doesnât stop even as I shut the door on her.
I never tell her about Valâs awaiting fate.
That his actions, and conspiracy with Xeneron had cost him his life. That he was going to be doomed regardless of her confession. That she shares the same fate as him.
I donât tell her, but sheâll feel it all the same.
Sheâll feel the snap, the disconnect of their bond and sheâll know what it means. Sheâll feel it and itâll be the final thread that kept her from completely snapping. In the end, sheâll beg for death.
Sheâll feel the exact way I felt that night at Duskfall.
Helplessness.
Rage.
Heartbreak.
But sheâll still feel that hope. Hope that she was misunderstanding something because I promised. I promised her sheâll see her mate. I swore.
Itâs that hope thatâll keep her breathing. The hope that will be mercilessly crushed.
Sometimes, hope is far more lethal than any kind of punishment.
***
The day we visited Duskfall was deceptively quiet.
When Raizel and I petitioned to claim the land, one of the biggest issues we needed to oversee was whether Duskfall was inhabitable. Four years of isolation and the prior attack on it wouldâve been damaging to the area beyond repair. It wasnât the buildings that held importance. Those could be rebuilt or replaced with little to no issue. The priority was whether or not the land was fertile enough to prosper on.
The stress of realizing that we werenât completely out of the woods regarding Duskfallâs condition doubled the concerns I had over what Fio had said about the gift. I couldnât say for certain I was the one Fio was talking about. I wasnât entirely sure it was a person they were looking for either. Looking at it from an objective standpoint, between Hestia and I, I found myself caught up in more trouble than anyone should ever have to be involved in. It would only be natural Iâd also have a homicidal psychopath trying to hunt me down.
Keeping all of this to myself would be unwise. I knew that. On the off chance I was right about Xeneron, I needed as much people as I could on it. Itâs why I decided to speak to Raizel about my guesses after we visited Duskfall.
I didnât want to risk anything going wrong pre-visit.
âAre you ready?â
(000000ooooo I know you see me standing here-)
I blinked up at the gated entryway and tried desperately to stop the shaking of my hands. No matter how much I told myself to breathe, calm down, I couldnât. Every single memory I had of this place flash through my mind like never-ending film strips. The happy, the content and then the absolute horrors of flaming houses and sc aattered bodies.