Chapter 78Arnou lay flat on the bed sleeping with all his clothes on. He looked so tired and cute while sleeping that I couldn't help but feel guilty. He probably hadn't gotten much sleep, not with me being poisoned and randomly passing out.I walked up to him tiredly and gently tugged off his shoes, then I rolled him over and covered him up with the duvet on the bed.I was careful to not touch him for longer than necessary. Once I was satisfied with the way he was resting, I walked up to his bath chamber and washed my face clean with water.Arnou, Alisa, Nikkini, and even the guests were forced to remain in the palace for a ceremony that wasn't confirmed. Everyone was suffering from this entire situation.It needed to end and I was powerless to end it. I kept spending all my time, investigating Herley’s origins even though Alisa was so sure she had been a good person.What if it was all an immense waste of time? I had not made any progress on the whereabouts of the antidote either
Chapter 79Nafira and I are in a cave. It's cold and terribly wet, we've been on the run for three days now, and despite Nafira’s attempt at cloaking us, Mama's men are too good.They keep on finding us because they know if they return to Mama without us, she'll kill them.On the morning of the day, we escaped, Nafira and I had stayed glued to each other in that smelly stable. Too scared to do anything else but munch on moist bread Nafira had stolen from the chef.At first, the fortress had been quiet, then the chef had gone into the kitchen and cried out in outrage.Within minutes the entire Hottigan fortress was in pandemonium. Amid the commotion, we had snuck into the kitchen wagon and hidden between the supplies that left the fortress.I just got chills whenever I remembered the wrath with which Mama had yelled our names.I knew within me that she wouldn't rest until she found us. I think Nafira knew it too but she liked to pretend like everything was fine.Even now, in this cave
Chapter 80Arnou had woken up some time while I slept and had sat beside me working on his table.When I woke up with a scream, he jumped up and tried to confirm that everything was alright with me.He kept asking if I was alright but I was still reeling from the epiphany I just had.“Daciana please just say something. I verbally need to know that you’re fine,” Arnou please be with me.I knew this entire situation must be tasking for him. I mean he can’t even touch me to make sure I’m fine.“I’m fine, I’m fine. I just-“ I reassured Arnou as I trailed off and shook my head in an attempt to clear my thoughts.Arnou let out a breath of relief and balanced on the bed beside me.“Bad dream?” He asked quietly.I blinked at him strangely. I could swear I felt sand on my skin and my sweat-soaked dress must have actually been soaked by raindrops from the trees in the woods.“Arnou I need to tell you something. And please I need you to not interrupt me until you’ve heard everything I have to sa
Chapter 81The door opened and Gabriel walked in followed by a woman. She was dressed in draping skirts and had cowries braided into her hair.I smiled a welcoming smile at her and beckoned them both to come closer.“Good evening Lycan, Queen of queens,” she greeted with a bow.Gabriel bowed before us as well but remained silent.“Thank you, Gabriel, you may leave,” I waved him off.“Hello woman, what's your name?” Arnold asked the lady politely.“Verena, Lycan,” she replied.I could have offered her a seat but I didn't. Arnou and I were both seated while she stood in front of us.It was a simple power tactic I had picked up as Luna of the blood diamond pack.I was being incredibly nice to her but by not offering her a seat, It unconsciously reminded her of her position. “Hello Verena, can you tell us a bit about what you do?” I asked her with a smile.She had no idea why she was here. Gabriel had not briefed her on our questioning. She probably wondered why the Lycan and High Luna
Chapter 82The room door unlocked and Feyre came inside.I let out a sigh of relief when I saw her. I had almost worn a hole in the carpet from how badly I had been pacing about.Arnou had to repeatedly ask me to sit still because of my legs but I refused.I really wanted everything to come together. Herley was dangerous and I felt uneasy about the fact that she spent all her time with Alisa.It seemed her punishment was more of a punishment for me because I was constantly worried.“Yes? It’s been four days now. What do you have to report ?” I asked her hurriedly, the moment she entered the room.She looked a bit surprised by my small outburst and bowed before Arnou and me.“Good evening Lycan and High Luna,”I pinched the bridge of my nose in mild frustration and Arnou replied to her greeting.“Good evening Feyre. Please tell us, do you have any information for us?” “Yes, I do,” She replied with a smile.“It was hard and suspicious for me to constantly tail her on my own, so I empl
Chapter 83I sat in front of Nikkini in my wheelchair listening to everything she had to say.But nothing stuck with me, everything she told me, I already knew.Herley had approached her with the plan which was originally to poison the wedding dress I wanted to wear.But Nikkini in her vengeance had cut up all the dresses save one which she deemed ugly enough for me to wear.However, the fabric of that dress was very different from the fabric of the dress Herley had asked her to poison.Hence It absorbed most of the poison and I didn’t die touching the dress.“Nikkini, do you have no idea where she got the poison from? I just need a name. Who could have sold it to her?”I pressured. I was already tired and frankly, I was up very late.All the investigation I had been carrying out had been secret, but if the wrong person spotted me coming out of the dungeon by this time.Then Herley might know that I’m still on the case.“I really don’t know, she did sound like she was going to pick u
Chapter 84Alisa and Arnou both looked at me in surprise.“Daciana what's going on?” Also asked me confused.“I'll fill you in later,” I said as I got up from the chair and held my room door open.“Everyone, please leave,” I said again as I motioned for them all to leave the room.Granny smiled a bit as she walked up to the door.“I was wondering when you would have enough of us. Bye, darling sees you later,” she chuckled as she glided out of the room.“Yes? What are you waiting for” I asked both the healer and Herley sarcastically.Herley was the second to leave my room with the food tray in her hand.Next, the healer packed up her things and scrambled out of my room.Alisa and Arnou remained behind looking at me with twin expressions on their faces.Gods, sometimes it troubles me how alike they are.“Stop staring at me like twins and please hurry out,” I said to both of them with a teasing smile.“Please let me know what this all is about later okay?” Alisa said as she too left my r
Chapter 85We kept running, and I kept stumbling. I wasn't blind but I felt like I couldn't see because if the thick darkness that enveloped the woods.My legs felt tired but the adrenaline and fear in my blood keot me moving. Nafira held my hand and kept on tugging at me trying to help me run faster.But we both knew it was futile, we had gained some ground but even the both if us could tell that we wouldn't last another night in the woods.Mama's men could track us and they were closing in on us. We had run out of food and even the soggy loaf of bread we had managed was finished.Tears streamed down my eyes at the fear of what Mama would do to us when they captured us and took us back.“Neha wait!” Naira whispered as she came to a halt and held me beside her.She dropped to her knees on the muddy forest floor and began to loosen the belt she had used to tie the clothes around me.That makes sense, she's probably tired of me weighing us down with the pounds of wet clothing I had on.