Chapter 13 Thirteen
Theron's POV
When I stepped inside the cell, his head lifted. The silver eyes locking with mine were at once relentless and full of such pure hate I could almost feel the hatred emanating from them.
"Where is she?" he demanded. "Is Rhea safe?"
So this was Cassian Morwen. The one who'd betrayed her. The one she’d trusted more than any other.
My jaw clenched. “You’re in no place to be asking questions.
Cassian pulled at the chains, and they hissed against the silver that sliced into his flesh. He didn’t seem to notice the pain, even.
"I need to know she's safe. That’s the only reason I am here.”
I circled him slowly, assessing. He was a muscular guy, I’d grant him that. And the fact that he didn’t even pay attention to the silver burning him was damn good pain tolerance.
"Why should you be concerned about her safety?" I asked coldly. “You’re the one who knocked her out and dragged her back to daddy like a disobedient dog.”
Cassian flinched. "I had no choice."
"There's always a choice."
Not when someone is dangling your mother’s life above your head. His voice cracked slightly. "Alaric is holding her life ransom, told me if I wanted Rhea back he would kill her.
I had wanted to discount it as a lie. But the anguish in his voice sounded real.
“This is why you came here for what?” I moved closer. "Finish the job? Take Rhea back to Alaric?"
"I came to warn you." Cassian met my eyes steadily. "Alaric has sent assassins. They're coming for Rhea. They will hit you when you least expect it.”
I scrutinized his face and scene signs of cajolery. “And I’m supposed to take your word for it? The man who betrayed her once before?”
"Believe me or don't." Cassian's expression hardened. “But if she gets hurt because you’re too proud to listen, that’s on you.”
Before I could answer, footsteps sounded on the stairs. I glance over and see Rhea walking into the dungeons, her face pale but set in determination.
"Rhea, no," I said. "You don't need to see him."
But she nudged past me, her gaze on Cassian.
Cassian shifted with his gaze locked onto her the moment he laid eyes on her. Her hardness melted and was replaced with something raw and desperate.
"Rhea," he breathed. "Thank the goddess. You're alright."
Rhea halted several feet in front of him, her expression wary. “What are you doing here, Cassian?”
"I came to warn you. Alaric is planning something. He assigned me to penetrate the zone, but I just couldn't do it.” Cassian’s words tumbled out. "There are assassins coming. Real ones. They'll try to kill you."
"Why does my father want me dead?" Rhea asked quietly.
Cassian paused before going on, “ Because you are hybrid. He knows what you are now. What you're capable of. And he's terrified."
I saw Rhea sway slightly. I went to support her, but she stopped me with a hand.
“He did the same to my mother,” she said, more to herself than to us.
"Yes," Cassian confirmed. "Your mother was a shifter. Alaric married her as part of a political alliance but when he caught on to what she actually was, he murdered her. He's been holding your magic down as long as you've lived. But now you’ve woken it up, and you’re a threat.”
I saw Rhea try to parse this, watched the anguish flit across her face. I took her hand without thinking. She allowed me to take it, holding down firmly.
“How do I know you’re not lying?” Rhea asked Cassian. "You betrayed me once."
"I know." Cassian's voice broke. “And that’s something I can never forgive myself and I’ll regret to the end of my days. But here I am, risking it all to warn you. I mean that has got to count for somthing.”
“Take him away,” I said to Marcus – who’d been guarding the door. “Plop the son of a bitch in the holding cells upstairs. More comfortable, but still secure."
"My lord?" Marcus questioned.
"Do it. We’ll see what we do with him.”
Once Marcus walked Cassian out of the office, I glanced at Rhea. Her gaze was fixed on the empty chains, her face unreadable.
"Are you alright?" I asked quietly.
“No.” She looked at me for the first time, really. "My father killed my mother. He’s been trying to repress my magic my whole life. And now he wants me dead. How can I be okay?”
I have her into my arms before I can stop myself. She tensed for a moment, and then just wilted against me.
“I’m not going to let him hurt you,” I swore into her hair. "Whatever it takes."
We remained that way for a long moment before Rhea withdrew.
"I should go," she said. "Get some rest."
I looked at her as she left, something in my chest clenching unbearably.
An hour later, I convened an emergency council in the war room.
My advisors shuffled in, their faces glum. Rumors had been circulating about the intruder and his warnings.
“We need to talk about the Morwen boy’s accusations,” started Elder Thomas.
“They’re not accusations,” added Marcus. “We've had scouts reporting strange wolves around our borders for the last three days. Could be the assassins."
“Or it might be a red herring,” Elder Sarah countered. “Beat us to the chase on something like that with smoke and mirrors just enough while the real danger was coming from some other way.”
The discussion lasted an hour. Half my council would have had Cassian executed on the spot. Many of the other half believed his warning had validity.
I heard them argue and considered the possibilities.
Alaric was a snake who would slip in assassins. And if Rhea’s powers had actually emerged, she’d been a menace to his reign.
But was Cassian telling the truth? Or, could this be a ruse?
“Well, double the patrols,” I said at last. “I’ll need the scouts to hunt down every strange scent. Reinforce the mansion's defenses. If the assassins are coming, we will be ready.”
"And the Morwen boy?" Elder Thomas asked.
"Keep him imprisoned but alive. For now." I met their eyes. "I'll kill him myself if he's lying.”
Members of the council scattered, leaving me alone with Marcus.
“You have to close the bond,” my former friend said softly. "Before it's too late.”
I turned to look at him. Marcus had been with me for one hundred and ten years. He’d seen the curse eat slowly away at me, had watched me at my most vulnerable.
"I know," I admitted.
"Then why haven't you?" Marcus's expression was concerned. "The girl is willing. Anyone can see that."
“She deserves more than to be my cure.”
“She deserves to be able to make her own choices.” Marcus moved closer. “You’re saving her from everything but yourself. But maybe your own self is what she needs most.”
His comments haunted me long after he was gone.
Later that night, the curse rekindled for me. Worse than before.
I was in my study, looking at some maps, when the pain began. I held on to the desk so tightly my fingers broke through the wood as I tried to stay erect.
My vision blurred. I couldn’t remember for a moment exactly where I was. When I was.
Images flashed through my mind. The forest. Blood. Lilith's face twisted in rage.
“This is your fault,” she’d screamed. "All of this is your fault."
“She'd been right. All of that was my fault, because of choices I’d made.”
The pain finally stopped and I was on my knees. Sweat dripped down my face. My hands shook.
I was running out of time.
The witch had given me months, at best. Weeks if it kept progressing at this rate.
I thought about Rhea. On the time with you and…. kissing her in the library. How right it had felt, how terrifying.
Over three hundred years, I had lived. Lived through wars and betrayals, suffered endless loneliness.
But this woman, with her blue eyes and unsuspected power, was more to be dreaded than any battlefield.
So, for the first time in centuries, I had something to lose. Someone to lose.
And I didn’t think I was strong enough to endure any loss.
I got up and my legs moved me through the mansion on autopilot.
I was out Rhea’s door. Again.
This was becoming a habit. A dangerous one.
I didn't knock. And simply stood there, listening to her breathe on the other side of the door.
The mate bond buzzed between us, even through the wood. Demanding. Insistent.
Fulfill the bond, it appeared to demand. Finish what we started.
But saving myself at her expense didn’t feel right. Even if the overturning alternative was death.
I turned to leave. To offer her one last night of liberty from my curse.
"I know you're there."
Rhea's voice stopped me cold. She was awake, and conscious of my being in the room.
"Come in," she continued. "Or leave. But stop lurking."
Despite everything, I smiled. Her boldness always surprised me.
I pulled the door back and entered. Rhea was propped up in bed, with her hair fanned about her shoulders. She was dressed in a plain nightgown and, as she stood with the moon framing her from the window, she seemed other-worldy to me.
“We need to talk,” she added, patting the bed next to her. "On what went down in the library. About Cassian being here. About everything.
I should leave. Every fiber of my being wanted to turn and leave, to keep my distance.
Instead I found myself sitting on the bed.
Rhea didn’t think twice to take my hand. Her caress followed by warmth, pushing away the last remnants of hurt from a curse.
“I saw your memories when I mended you,” she said quietly. "I saw Lilith."
My whole body stopped my the name. "That's not something we discuss."
“If we are to be mates, then I deserve to know who she is.” Rhea’s hand tightened on mine. “That’s why I saw her in your darkest memories.”
I opened my mouth to reply, to distract as I always did when people inquired about my past.
But before I could say anything, the window blew inward in a shower of glass.
A black figure shot through the same aperture, his pace an inhuman blur. Above, a silver blade raised straight at Rhea's heart.
I reacted on pure instinct.
I dove between the two, catching the assassin before me in mid leap. We fell to the ground in a heap.
Silver scorched through fabric and flesh as the dagger skimmed my shoulder. I barely felt it.
All I could think of was Rhea. Protecting Rhea.
I twisted bringing the force of my momentum to throw the assassin against the stone wall. They did so with a sickening crack but they recovered it was impossible how fast.
"Rhea, run!" I roared.
But Rhea wasn't running. Silver fire surrounded her hands, and her eyes flared with a power I’d never witnessed.
The assassin paused, taken by surprise that she resisted.
And it was that second of indecision that I needed.
I moved some, just enough to reveal my Lycan. Claws extended. Teeth sharpened. Power flooded through me.
I struck the assassin with enough power to break bones. They went down hard.
Before they knew what hit them, I had knocked them to the ground. My hand on their throat, nails digging in just hard enough to draw blood.
"Who sent you?" I growled.
The assassin just smiled. Then they bit down on something in their mouth.
Poison. They had taken poison rather than be captured.
I watched them die, frustration battling with the relief. The immediate danger had passed, but there were no answers.
I looked over to see Rhea still standing next to the bed, silver flames flickering off of her hands. She was panting, her eyes wide in shock.
"Are you hurt?" I stepped over to her, making sure that she wasn't hurt.
"I'm fine." Her voice shook slightly. "You?"
"Just a scratch." The burn across my shoulder, that of a silvered one was already healing.
Then Rhea's legs gave out. I grabbed for her as she fell to the ground, leaning her body closer to me.
"I've got you," I murmured. "You're safe now."
But even as I said it, I knew that was a lie.
Because if one assassin had gotten through my defenses, there would be others.
And the next time, I might not be fast enough to save her.