I had to find out how she got in possession of the Nightshade potion. That meant I’d have to meet her.But I wasn’t ready to see her. I didn’t know if I’d ever be.Rex gave my shoulder a pat before leaving my wing. .This was the last place I wanted to be.I came to a stop before her cell. She wasn’t on the bed. She was seated at the darker corner of the cell.“Wraith.” She gasped the moment she spotted me, and inside, my heart clenched. No, it bruised, like it had been torn out of my chest and dragged across a tarred road.She stepped into the dim light, and I clenched my jaw, trying to hold back the strange emotion settling over me. She was considerably thinner and pale, her eyes red from crying, and her hair so tangled I considered sending for a brush.I unlocked the cell-door, intentionally leaving the key in its locks before walking in.“I’m so sorry, Wraith.” She pleaded.“Stop. Stop apologizing. Now I need an explanation, one that makes sense.”She nods and takes a seat on the
WRAITH’S POVI hated her with every fiber of my being.But hatred was an emotion, and it only meant I still cared enough to feel something.I could have killed her. That was exactly what was expected of me, and yet, I didn’t.Killing was second nature to me; the sight of blood had never fazed me. But watching her drop to the ground—that scared me. I might have made a clean shot, but she was human, and I feared I’d killed her.Even after everything, I still cared. And the thought of her down there while I was up here was enough to drive me insane.There was a section in the dungeons reserved for traitors like her. They called it the Devil’s Hole—and rightfully so. Most who ended up there lost their minds, waking over and over in a four-foot metal box with nothing but darkness.That was the cost of betrayal.But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t send her there.So instead, she was being held in a secluded cell at the first level.More than once, I’d wondered if I'd made a mistake… But the pr
I woke up gasping, everything that happened rushing back all at once like some horrible nightmare.It took minutes for my eyes to adjust to the dim light.Where was I?Barricades, a single bed, and a stainless-steel toilet bolted to the wall—this was a cell.A cell in the dungeons.I tried lifting my hands when I felt the ache. The gunshot.I’d faintly remembered the healers working on me, but I’d thought it a dream.“Wraith?” I called, but there was no response.gods, I was tasty, my throat so dry it hurt to speak.Outside the cell, all there was was a walkway that seemed to stretch on and on. The dim bulb flickered, then went off, plunging me into darkness. And I panicked, but it came back on after a few minutes.The cell was too small—too tight. A claustrophobic feeling settled over me, and suddenly it felt too hard to breathe. I staggered to the cell door, banging on it.“Let me out!” I scream at the top of my lungs, ignoring the pain. “Please… let me out!” “I’m sorry!”My throa
“Where did you get this?” I asked Natasha. Maybe I just didn’t want to believe it—the truth was standing right in front of me, and yet I couldn’t bring myself to accept it.“I’ve been doing my own digging. I found this a month ago. But I couldn’t place it, and I didn’t think it was proof enough, but then...”She slipped out a phone from her jacket, and I watched Tessa’s eyes widened in fear.Right in front of me, the proof was right in front of me, and I still couldn’t accept it.“This phone belongs to the human. While you were in a coma, she asked Angelina to get her a phone. I overheard the conversation... and, well, I got a little curious. She’d only contacted one person with this phone—a private number linked to one of the Callisters. She left this person a message, requesting a meet-up, by 7:00 pm at the garden.So, I’ll advise that before you make any rash decision, you run a check to discover who’s on your side and who isn’t.”Natasha dropped the phone on the table before tur
WRAITH’S POVI’d always known Rex never trusted Tessa. It made sense, considering her connection to the Callisters, but today he had crossed a line.I led Tessa back into my wing.“Wraith—”“You don’t owe me any explanation.” I cut in. “I don’t believe a single word he said. I trust you, Tessa.”I leaned down and took her lips in mine. She kissed me back, just as desperately. Tears streaked down her face, and I tasted them on her lips.I caused this. I shouldn’t have taken her down there. I knew it, and yet I did it anyway. I’d never stop hurting her, not if I remained here in this pack. She wasn’t safe here; damn, I’d seen the look on Rex’s face, and I knew she was in more danger than I’d ever realized.I took her delicate hands in my blood-stained ones. “I’m so fucking sorry. I have a lot of things to apologize for. You deserve better than this—you deserve to be happy, and all I’ve done is the opposite of that.”“I’m happy.” She cuts in. “You’re all I need to be happy.”But she does
TESSA’S POVToo late.That was my first thought the moment I laid eyes on him—Rafaele Callister. A smirk played on his split lips. Beaten and battered, yet somehow, he still held the power to change everything.He knew.I could tell from the look in his eyes that he knew the truth.“This was a fucking mistake. I never should’ve brought you here. I’m sorry, Tessa.” I could hear the desperation in his voice—that could only mean he was still unaware. Rafaele hadn’t told him a thing. That was why he interpreted my reaction wrongly.“Take me to him.” I said, and he paused, the pleading look on his face morphed into surprise.“What?”“Take me to him,” I repeated, this time louder.“I’m not taking you anywhere near him.”“Please, I need—”“No.”My gaze once again met Rafaele's, but I noticed someone else present. Rex. And through the glass, he watched me, gauging every expression on my face, his eyebrow rising in question. He knew something was off.And then Rafaele spoke up.“Hello… sister