Chapter 65
CAEL’S POV
“So, Cael, I see you have uncovered the truth.” Lady Marceline murmured, her tone a subdued, velvety hush that triggered a chill along my back in spite of my resolve. The inflection was hard to interpret, a mix of entertainment, menace, and something additional….something icier, more strategic and ominous.
She advanced toward me, her crimson gown a vivid opposition to the grave atmosphere, she yanked the note from my grasp and skimmed its details.
“Ahh,” she whispered, a content incline of her head joining the noise. “This was his final assignment, but he couldn’t finish it.”
“Is that why you murdered him?” I questioned, my tone remarkably firm in spite of the chaos raging within me. The nonchalant manner she discussed Silas and his demise, the absence of regret in her gaze and voice brimming with a nauseating fear.
This woman was sheer malice.
“Well,” she snapped her tongue against the top of her mouth as she lifted her shoulders, a motion that somehow heightened her disturbing poise and yet revealed how apathetic she was to the circumstance. “That was merely an occurrence that needed to transpire. Anyway, that’s not why I called you here. I require you to handle something for me.”
A laugh slipped from my mouth, then grew into a complete outburst of amusement, surprising both her and Zareth, who lingered quietly in the dimness.
“What’s so amusing?” Lady Marceline questioned, her tone keener now, infused with restlessness.
“Nothing ma’am, I meant my lady.” I stated, my amusement diminishing into a restrained grin. I glanced up at her, locking eyes straight. “I’m not your tool, and I’m definitely not Silas. You can’t coerce me into performing your commands.”
“How dare you?!” Zareth bellowed, his tone appeared restrained as though he had grasped that it was late and one odd sound from the rooms could expose their secrecy.
“What?” I lifted my shoulders, “I’m simply stating.”
“What I am doing-” she started, her tone strained with fury and skepticism at how I was responding to her.
I abruptly interrupted. “Is because you’re uncertain and trivial,” I hurled, the phrases cutting harsher than I’d planned, I could no longer suppress how I felt. I was repulsed. “I used to admire you greatly, but now…I feel annoyed.”
“What?” Her gaze expanded, an expression of authentic astonishment supplanted her typical serene enchantress mask. Zareth moved, his hand reflexively extending for a concealed armament, but she halted him with a discreet motion. Then a gradual hunter-like grin spread across her mouth.
“I like you, Cael. You’re not fearful, I eternally thought you’d be gullible and confused Silas for the clever one, but I was mistaken. However,” she crossed her arms over her chest, her gaze shadowing. “Don’t be foolish.”
“You have Zareth!” I half shouted. “Let him perform your filthy tasks. And exclude the Mountain Dew Pack sentries from this.”
She shook her head. “No, I require your assistance. Without your aid my scheme can’t progress flawlessly well.”
“I don’t care,” I straightened, compressing my mouth into a narrow stripe. “And for your knowledge, I’m not foolish. I am simply performing the correct action and so should you. I’ll depart now.”
I pivoted to go, but her tone halted me abruptly, the name that escaped her mouth resembled a toxic arrow stabbing through my core.
“Clara.” She stated, the lone term triggered a chill along my back, freezing me to the marrow. I spun around, my gaze wide with astonishment.
“I was correct,” she laughed darkly, her grin keen and vicious.
“I was correct,” she laughed darkly, her grin keen and vicious. She advanced nearer, her motions intentional and hunter-like. “If you desire your lovely sweetheart to stay intact and not endure even greater than what Elara would experience. Conclude this, and afterward, we can all act as though nothing occurred.”
To my own surprise, the phrases that ensued thundered out before I could halt them. “What do you desire?”
“The rogue who has been seized will undergo judgment shortly, once Ronan is ultimately healed. She stated, her tone a subdued whisper. “But prior to that, I want him eliminated.”
“As in deceased?” I lifted a brow, attempting to conceal the increasing discomfort that was coiling in my stomach.
“Oh dear! No!” She laughed, inclining in secretively. “I want Elara eliminated too, so you’d devise something for me.” She laughed as she inclined in more. “And you better ensure it succeeds.”
~
Lady Marceline’s scheme was straightforward. Liberate the rogue, have him abduct Elara and then they both disappear. Rendezvous with Darius and the matter is resolved. The Alpha would be devastated, but there would be no clues, no proof, no means to link it back to Marceline or Darius. It would be as though Elara had evaporated into nothingness, along with the rogue.
I rested on my bed, dragging my hands through my locks, the burden of her phrases overwhelming me. I didn’t desire to undertake this. I couldn’t liberate the individual who had nearly slain the Alpha. But…Clara. Could I doom an blameless female to a destiny worse than demise due to Lady Marceline’s distorted goals? Elara was also blameless. All she had accomplished since she came was to attempt to assist in spite of how she was mistreated harshly when she initially arrived. How could someone’s envy devastate them like this and they wouldn’t grasp?
Marceline’s envy and loathing obscured her to perceive the hardships Elara had to endure. And I couldn’t even inform the Alpha because I was being monitored by Zareth who also kept watch on Clara. One error, she would be eliminated and heaven knows if they possess additional informants in this palace.
Now I grasped precisely how Silas must have experienced. It was horrific, exhausting and choking.
A keen rap on the door startled me from my reflections. Without awaiting a reply, the door flew open and Zareth entered, his features a veil of nonchalant malice.
“I almost thought you’d ended your life,” he laughed, his tone infused with a frigid delight. “Compose yourself, You’ll need to carry out the scheme very soon.”
“I have a question.” I stated, my tone scarcely audible, the burden of my own approaching ruin establishing upon me.
“Hm? That is?”
“Who murdered Silas?”
His mouth curved into a sneer, a chilly, vicious arc that echoed the frost in his gaze.“I did.”