Chapter 20

MISTY

I was awake long before Chelsea or Tanner stirred. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, with lit candles surrounding me and a bowl of water, I placed the grimoire in my lap and chanted quietly.

~“By the light of the candles, and the power within, I call for protection, let this spell begin. Surround me with safety, a shield strong and true, protect me from harm, in all that I do.”~

I repeated it three times but didn’t feel any different. There was no surge of power, and I wondered if I was witch enough. Maybe it was a rite of passage…

“Moon Goddess? If you can hear me, then help me free Lloyd,” I said, but that was as unsatisfactory as the protection spell.

Extinguishing the candles and throwing the water out, I lay on the bed and studied the map. The palace was enormous, and the hallways were long. I was glad I’d been there before and had an idea of what it looked like.

~“Should we wear a wig?”~ Cammy said. ~“The king saw you in the throne room…”~

~“I don’t think he runs around the hallways. He probably has a wing all to himself.”~

I showered and dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, stowing the items Tanner had given me, and walked into the kitchen to make coffee.

My stomach roiled, and I hoped coffee would do the trick. Eating was out of the question. I sent my mom a quick message while waiting for the water to boil.

I opened the sliding door and sat on the beach, coffee in hand, watching the waves. I smelled Chelsea before she plopped beside me with a chocolate cake.

“Cake for breakfast?” I asked with a frown.

“Yes, you ninny. Happy birthday.”

“I completely forgot…”

Chelsea and I had celebrated every birthday together. Missing her eighteenth had been horrible, but this birthday felt insignificant. I’d celebrate if I managed to get in and out of the palace.

“I know, but your mom called me last night to remind me—as if I would forget,” Chelsea scoffed.

My phone started buzzing in the kitchen, and Tanner grabbed it. “Happy birthday, Misty.” He ruffled my hair before handing me the phone.

I nodded my thanks and answered. “Hi, Mom,” I said, sniffing emotionally.

“Happy birthday, my angel girl.” I could hear her crying, and that set me off. “You be careful today. Okay? I love you.”

“I will. Love you too, Mom. I’ll call straight after,” I promised, my voice barely above a whisper. I would save them all. I had to save them…

I cut the call, and Chelsea handed me the knife. “Cut the cake, witch.” She grinned. “Instead of bitch I’m now calling you witch.”

We ate cake for breakfast, and surprisingly, my stomach settled. Chelsea handed me a present, and I looked at her in surprise.

“What’s this?”

She cocked her head. “It’s not a real present, but I saw it in the store next to the Holistic one and thought it would be cool—but given the situation, it might be handy. Open it.”

I tore the paper, and at first, I thought she’d bought me crayons until I realized it was hair chalk.

“Tanner thinks it will make you noticeable, but if we use red and just do a few strands…,” she trailed off.

“Do it, just the shorter pieces,” I instructed.

Chelsea wasted no time coloring the shorter pieces, and I ran to the mirror. The red wasn’t in your face; the black blended with it perfectly. However, it didn’t change my appearance.

“I like it,” I said, running my hands through my hair.

I checked the time on the phone. Half an hour had passed, and every minute felt like a second, and my anxiety rose exponentially.

By noon, Tanner had driven us closer to the palace and stopped before a taxicab stand.

“Okay, Misty. You have to act like you belong,” he advised, handing me money. “We will stay in the vicinity. Fuck, maybe you should have let Karl accept you into Monolith because if something happens, you can’t link either of us, but I will stay in touch with Frieda.”

“Act dumb if they catch you,” Chelsea said, but I could see how worried she was.

This may have been a bad idea.

“Why can’t I take my phone?” I asked.

“Because that might lead them back to us and everyone at the Monolith Pack,” Tanner explained.

“But can’t they track your phone?”

Tanner nodded. “I always had a second phone and destroyed the SIM card issued by the palace.”

“Good luck,” Chelsea said tearfully.

I swallowed my fear, exited the car, walked to the first taxi, gave the driver the address, and slipped into the back seat.

~“Courage, Misty,”~ Cammy said.

It didn’t take long to get to the palace. I paid the driver and walked up to the guard. He was young and looked friendly, with chocolate brown eyes and his hair in a bun.

“Hi, I’m here to visit Frieda,” I said, smiling, but my stomach was tied in knots.

“Yes, she told me. I’ll call her.” His eyes glazed over, and I waited, staring at the entrance with its pretty fountain. Everything was so beautiful on the outside and inside but didn’t reflect the atrocities that went on.

“She’ll be here shortly,” he said. “By the way, I’m Adam.”

Oh fuck. I didn’t want to introduce myself. “Nice to meet you, Adam.”

He nodded briefly and probably wondered why I didn’t give him my name, but then I spotted a she-wolf walking toward me with a net covering her hair. She had green eyes and a friendly face and didn’t look like she was in her sixties.

“Hello, sweetheart,” she greeted, and hugged me. I hugged her back, even though it felt weird.

“Hi, Frieda,” I said nervously.

“Let’s go. I made an apple pie this morning because it’s your favorite.” She wound her arm around my middle. The minute we were out of earshot, she said, “Hi Misty. So, here’s what I’m going to do. I’ll take you close to the alcove and wait in my room.”

“Tanner said I’d have to find my own way back,” I whispered.

“Yes, that was the case, but as luck would have it, one of the she-wolves asked me if I could swap shifts with her, which was perfect.”

“That’s great. Thank you so much. Won’t this put you in danger?”

“Don’t you worry about that.”

She turned into a hallway that seemed to run the length of the palace and was quite busy.

Many of the wolves greeted her, which made me even more anxious. They would all be able to testify that I was with her. Frieda didn’t look worried and joked with them.

I lost count of the number of turns until she stopped and gestured to a smaller hallway. “Down here. I will come back here every hour, okay?”

“Thank you so much.” I leaned forward and kissed her cheek.

“Hurry,” she said and pushed me toward the hallway.

I felt blatantly exposed, even though the hallway was practically deserted. I followed it almost to the end.

~“There,”~ Cammy said.

I ducked into the alcove and hid behind the vase to catch my breath. It looked precisely as Tanner had described it.

You couldn’t see the outline of a door in the wood paneling, but I pushed on the paneling with shaking fingers until I heard a click, and the panel opened a crack.

Behind it was a steel door with four dials. I turned them in sequence as Tanner had instructed. There was no handle, but once the tumblers were released, the door creaked open, and pitch blackness greeted me.

I stepped onto a small landing and hauled out the mini flashlight before pulling the wood paneling as close as possible without closing it. Stone steps led down to the chamber, and I couldn’t see the end.

Splaying one hand against the damp wall, I slowly descended, counting the steps.

~“Goddess, how far down does this go?”~

~“We’re on step fifty-eight, but I think we’re close,” ~I responded.

I was close to hyperventilating by the time I reached the chamber. I swung the flashlight around, and my heart nearly stopped. Lloyd was lying flat on his back on a slab of stone.

I rushed to his side, laid my hand on his chest, and recoiled. His body was cold and hard.

“Lloyd?”

~“He can’t hear you,” ~Cammy said.

~“I know, but just in case…”~

When the lights went on, I squinted. Had I triggered something? A crude power cable with bare light bulbs looped from the chamber to the stairs, and I looked around.

The chamber was small with smooth walls, and the crystals were placed at regular intervals.

“So, little sneak,” a voice echoed down the staircase, “did you think I wouldn’t take precautions after Lloyd removed you from the throne room?”

I froze in horror. I knew that voice. The king stood on the landing, and now I saw the lights had been crudely fitted up the stairs. How had he known?

“A little sensor fitted to the wood panel was all I needed.” He pointed to his temple to demonstrate his intellect. “I surmise you are his mate. Congratulations, he’ll discover your rotting corpse the next time he wakes. Happy mating.”

He threw his head back and laughed gleefully.

“No, please,” I whispered and ran up the stairs while he smirked.

“Oh, and don’t expect Tanner to save you. I found the phone and power bank when I had the lights fitted. The phone wasn’t even locked, and Tanner’s number was the only one on it. It couldn’t have been easier to track him. See, patience~ is~ a virtue. He’ll be dead before sundown.”

He grinned and closed the steel door before I was halfway up the stairs. A second later, the lights went off.

A wail of despair left me, a million thoughts running through my brain, but only one stuck with me.

I was trapped.