Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Lyra’s POV

When I'd decided to stop listening in on Xander's conversation and plan to march into Blackwater, I did so because I already had enough, enough of listening to a grown man, that was more than ready to lead an entire pack to war, just because of a mere mistress. While Xander's obsession with Emily was concerning, I couldn't help but think that I needed to act fast, and that's what I told myself, even as I walked back to my room. What I didn't expect, was for my little journey to be cut short, and by someone who appeared to be visibly angry too.

I barely had time to brace myself before the sharp grip on my arm yanked me back into the present.

“You!” the girl hissed again, her voice a blade laced with fury. She has her lips turned upside down in a frown, and believe he when I said it wasn't pretty. “Where the hell do you think you're going?”

I blinked at her, while I forced my brain into working overtime, just so I could figure out if I knew her or not. She was tall, with a lean frame. She had a deep navy cloak wrapped around her body that matched the shape of her face perfectly, with strands of dark hair plastered to her forehead from the heat. Her face was painfully familiar, like a faded memory I couldn’t quite place.

“I'm sorry.” The words tumbled past my lips before I could catch them. “Do I know you?”

“Is that a joke?” She scoffed, a mean sound that eerily resembled iron being scraped against stone. “Look at me one more time and tell me that you don't really know who I am, bitch.”

Maybe it was the not so endearing term that she added behind her words, but somehow, I found myself doing what she'd just asked me to, and then it clicked.

The same jawline, the same heart shaped lips, the fierce blue eyes burning into mine.

Emily.

No, not Emily. There was no way it could be here, this was someone who looked just like her.

“Wait…” I murmured, confusion rippling through me. “You’re….”

“I’m her sister,” she snapped, eyes narrowing. “And before you ask, no, you don’t get to be surprised. Not when you've done nothing to help her.”

Her words sliced clean through me, leaving a small streak of guilt in its wake.

“I didn’t even know you were here,” I admitted, stunned. I was still staring at her, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't really bring myself to come to terms that there's another Emily. Was she anything like her?“No one told me—”

“Of course they didn’t,” she interrupted coldly. “They know you’d hide behind protocol. Behind your little title as Luna.” She said it like a curse. “If you had acted when the raven came, when that bastard sent her hair, you could’ve done something. Anything. Instead, you did nothing.”

“That’s not fair.” I stiffened. “I'm doing everything I can to bring your sister back. I'm not your sister's biggest fan, but you can't deny the fact that I'm trying everything I can to…”

“You are?” She cut in, her voice aching with sarcasm. Her eyes were trained on me, and I didn't miss the fury dancing in her eyes. She threw her arms wide, before stepping closer, and I didn't miss the slight shift in her voice. “You shared his bed. He sent you a lovey dovey message, and you let this happen? My sister’s out there, gods know what he's doing to her, and you’re lurking in the shadows, eavesdropping on war councils?”

I flinched. She wasn't entirely wrong, but I didn't expect anyone else asides the maids and the guards to see me.

“I’m trying,” I whispered. “I didn’t know you were…”

“Spare me,” she spat. “You think because you wear a crown you get to be the victim? You think it’s hard watching Xander chase after my sister while ignoring his own wife? Imagine being her blood and not being able to lift a single finger because I’m nothing here. You have power. You have choices. And still you're doing nothing.”

“I tried,” I snapped, my patience thinning. “You think this is easy for me? Xavier sent a letter to me too. You have no idea the weight of that—”

“Oh, boo hoo,” she snarled, her voice dripping with mockery. “You think that makes you special? You’re not the one being tortured. You’re not the one who screams in her sleep because he’s ripping her hair out. You have a choice. My sister doesn’t.”

Silence bloomed between us, thick and sour. Then her voice turned low, venomous.

“Here’s the deal, Luna.” The title dripped with disdain. “If you don’t bring her back, if you even hesitate again, I will make this palace hell for you. I will drag your name so deep through the mud, no councilman will ever look at you without spitting.”

“You can't be serious.” I shook my head slowly. “You seriously can't mean that.”

“Try me.” The corner of her lips lifted up in a sly smirk. Right now, she didn't just look like she was delivering an empty threat, she looked like she was going to go all in with the promise she'd just made. Shit. “But for your sake, I really hope you don't.”

My mouth opened, but she was already walking away, disappearing down the corridor like a storm passing through.

Even after she'd gone, I still couldn't wrap my head around what had just played out here. It was all too sudden, too intense, and just like that, I was left gasping in the wreckage.

It took a while, and a series of inhales and exhales, before I finally summoned the courage to walk back to my room. As opposed to how frantic my footsteps were before, they were more calculated and it felt like I had a shit ton of lead pressed under the sole of my feet.

By the time I got back to my chambers, my body was trembling, not just from the confrontation, but from the undeniable truth in her words.

She was right. All of them were. Perhaps this was why none of them actually took me serious. I was the Luna yes, but in name alone. All I did was try to put up with appearances, and what not. I did have power, but I just never used it.

Until now.

I tore open my wardrobe, before yanking out whatever I could pack quickly. Pants, a cloak, a dagger hidden in the folds of my travel robes. I wasn't sure the last time I held up a weapon to fend for myself, but right now, desperate times did call for desperate measures. I didn’t know what I’d find in Blackwater, and I wasn't ready to take any chances. I didn’t know if I was walking into a trap, or if Xavier’s idea of “negotiation” involved chains and a collar. Or worse, something more sexy.

A thrill ran down my spine at the thought of it. Knowing the kind of man Xander's step brother was, it was easy to deduce that he wouldn't do anything ordinary when it came to me.

For the quickest moment, my mind couldn't help but picture a scene with me and Xavier in it, and a very particular way of negotiation. I had no idea what he was thinking or could probably be up to, but I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to seduce me into joining forces with him. While that might be disgusting to some, my stomach churned at the fact that perhaps, I was ready to fuck with that twisted idea of his.

Stop it, Lyra. I knocked myself out of that stupid sexual fantasy. He might have taken me to cloud nine and back, but I knew one thing.

I couldn’t stay here.

Not while Xander prepared for war, not while Emily suffered, and not while my heart still burned with questions only Xavier could answer.

I bent to tuck the letter into my satchel, just in case, when the door creaked open behind me.

“Ma'am?” I froze at the familiar voice. She must have caught sight of my bag and the rest of my items strewn across the bed,p because she hesitated, before speaking up again. “Are you going somewhere?”

Ophelia.

Shit.