Ness cleared her throat. “My mother has fae ancestry—”
“Do you really think that little droplet of fae blood was enough to make you into what you’ve become, darling?” Beryl gave a slow shake of her head. “No. That’s not what brought you into existence. It was Alvin’s own doing that summoned you.”
Ness’s nails dug into my skin. For a moment, the sting was so sharp that I thought she’d partially shifted. No, her grip was just that tight as Beryl spoke.
“Alvin is a monster. He hurt human women, hunting them for sport as you found out not too long ago. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he’d been tormenting your pack for decades—long before you were even born, darling.” Beryl stood and glided over to Ness.
I instinctively tugged Ness away from the fae queen. Beryl slid an amused smirk at me. For a moment, I thought she would transport me elsewhere. I waited for that red veil to wrap around me and dump me far away.
Instead, Ness stepped forward before Beryl could play any games. “What does Alvin have to do with any of this?”
Though I wanted to pull Ness away from the trickster queen, I had to let Ness do this. Ness needed answers. It wouldn’t be right of me to stop her. My dragon rose to the surface like a shark in shallow water. The beast kept an eye on Beryl.
Ness
My heart thunderedagainst my sternum. I knew what Beryl was hinting at, but I didn’t want to believe it. The idea that Alvin was responsible for my very existence bothered me more than any other truth I’d ever come across.
“That sniveling excuse of a man is not the reason that I exist,” I said through clenched teeth.
Beryl put her hands up, palms out. “Oh, certainly not. You have your parents’ libido to blame for that.”
I tried not to gag. That wasn’t something I wanted to think about either.
“What I’m saying,” Beryl continued, “is that your Alpha committed so many atrocities that fate sent someone to deal with him. That witch who visited your pack didn’t leave a prophecy behind. She delivered an omen after seeing what kind of man Alvin was.”
“Me? I’m the person fate sent to take care of Alvin? That’s not fair, not at all.”
Beryl rolled her eyes. “Fate and fair can never be used in conjunction with one another. The two are barely even acquaintances. However, fair and Barghest are almost synonymous, if that makes sense.
“You see, fate made you to deliver judgement. Everything that you have witnessed, everything you’ve endured, it’s nothing more than evidence for you to use to make your decision—which I’m sure you’ve already done.”
I swallowed.
“I did my research, darling. You were nothing more than a puppy with a dark cloud over her head not long ago. That dark cloud has become a storm that no one can protect against. It is all at once terrifying and beautiful. I had to make sure that I was on the right side of fate, of course.”
“Are you?” I asked. “Are you on the right side of fate?”
She smiled, her secrets safe behind her lips. I wasn’t going to get any answers out of her, and to be frank, I didn’t want to deal with her. Saving my pack from Alvin was hard enough. I doubted the fae court wanted to dispose of Beryl, even if she was a cruel queen.
This was an Unseelie court, after all.
“I came to ask another question. Since you did your research, can you tell me why I…” I struggled to find the right words.
I didn’t want to put myself in debt to her. That smile told me that she might have a use for me.
Was it so bad, though? If Beryl wanted the best for her court and the territory that came with it, then that would be good for the pack, too. Working for Beryl wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen to me.
My breath shuddered as I made a decision. However, Beryl’s attention had already moved on to Ryder. I stiffened, my hound crashing into the surface like a wild beast breaching water with teeth already gnashing. The impact inside me sent me reeling.
“If you want more from me,” Beryl purred, “then I have a deal for you. I know that you’re preparing yourself to become the next Alpha of the Lakesedge pack. That means you and I would be equals, Ryder.”
He growled. The sound was a mild threat, just enough to warn her that she was getting on his nerves. I pressed close to his side. Beryl’s syrupy sweet voice was cloying. I could tell from Ryder’s stiffness that he could tell she was up to something, too.
Beryl snapped her fingers and a piece of paper materialized in her hand. She set it on the nearby table and pushed it towards Ryder with her fingertip.
He immediately shook his head. “I will do everything in my power to keep Lakesedge safe. You don’t need me to sign a contract to know that.”
“Oh? I don’t need your promise? I didn’t get one from Alvin Combs and look what happened there. He dedicated his life to horrors that put everyone in Lakesedge at risk. His little hunting hobby could have ruined everything.”