22
NESS
Iwent home to wait out the last few hours before Alvin’s hunt. Ryder had promised to hold up his end of the plan. After that, he would leave. Though my hound was ready and willing to beg him to stay, I wasn’t going to fold. I had bigger problems on my hands.
Thankfully, Cerri had stopped by and dropped off a bag of potions. She explained how to use them. Most were to make me harder to find. There were a few that I could throw to protect myself, but that seemed difficult to manage in my hound form. I just told Cerri that I would do my best.
When I closed the door behind me, I found my dad waiting in the foyer. He looked worse for wear. There were dark circles under his eyes. If I wasn’t mistaken, he looked as though he’d lost a few pounds, too.
I wrapped my arms around Cerri’s backpack and waited for Dad to say something.
“That man shouldn’t be able to leave you now,” Dad said.
I slowly narrowed my eyes. “What does that mean?”
“He made a deal with Beryl. The Unseelie Queen isn’t going to let him go anywhere, now. Your dragon friend should be stuck here. So…so, you’ll be safer now.”
“Dad!” I caught the backpack before it could slide out of my grasp. I did not need the contents shattering on the floor. “Did you tell Ryder to meet with Beryl so that Ryder wouldn’t be able to leave? Is that why you did that?”
He met my eyes and nodded. “You needed someone to protect you. That dragon is more than capable of keeping you safe. So long as Beryl is interested in him, then he’ll have to stay. She can’t resist collecting fae and shifters. I knew he would fall for it.”
I took a step back. Ryder would hate me even more now. My lie had kept him here, but my father’s machinations had trapped him. I couldn’t help but feel as though I’d somehow destroyed Ryder’s life. I hadn’t done it myself, at least I’d had no intention to do so, yet his world had crumbled all the same.
Ryder was a good man. He didn’t deserve this.
“Fuck,” I whispered. “Shit.”
I ran up the stairs so I could have a moment alone.
“You’ll thank me for this, someday!” Dad called up to me.
I stopped at the top of the stairs and glared down at him. “Sure, I’ll thank you when Ryder betrays us all for what we’ve done to him. You should be ashamed of yourself. You’re better than Alvin, yet you sunk to manipulation just like him.”
Dad’s face drained of all color. He looked as though he would argue for a moment. Then his gaze dropped. I left him to consider what he’d done.
Outside, the sky slowly darkened. Night was coming. There was nothing I could do to stop it. The hunt would begin soon. I leaned into my bedroom window and craned my neck to peer up at the sky. The full moon hung, pale and steady, in the sky.
I wished the sight filled me with anticipation. Instead, I felt dread.
Cerri had given me the tools to survive tonight. Vi had promised to wait at the edge of Alvin’s territory, just in case I needed her. My friends had my back tonight. I just had to hope that Ryder didn’t completely loathe me.
If he could do this one thing for me, then I wouldn’t need him anymore. I would be able to convince the pack to work together. They would understand, once and for all, that Alvin had never been a good man.
I just had to survive.
Ryder
Night had set.My dragon wanted nothing more than to get out and kill Alvin. It took everything in me to hold the beast back. The dragon refused to listen to me when I told it there would be no more bloodshed. It cared about Ness’s safety and nothing else tonight.
I didn’t know why the damned beast was so fixated on her. She’d lied to me. I couldn’t trust her ever again. Because of her, I’d wasted too much time. Morgan would catch up, soon. I wondered if he’d found where I was already. Would he hesitate to confront me? Or, would my brother face me head on?
The pack’s howls echoed in the dark. They’d gathered, at Alvin’s request. How many of them were ready and willing to hunt Ness? The beast pushed me in their direction, but I held my ground. Now wasn’t the time to break away from the plan. Besides, Ness had her friends on her side.
Alvin’s house was dark save for a few lights glowing dimly from deep inside. I guessed they hadn’t left the porch light or the entryway lights on since their shifter eyes would need to adjust to the light first. I would have appreciated a porch light as I knelt in front of the door and pulled a lockpick set from my pocket.
The beast whispered that I should break the door knob. That would give away my presence, though. I wanted to leave no trace. Alvin didn’t need to know that I’d been here. That was why I’d called on Beryl for another gift.
The memory of greeting her again made my stomach churn. I had a sinking feeling that the deal with the Unseelie Queen had not been a good idea. What was done was done, though. I couldn’t take it back right this second.