It takes a few seconds for me to digest the scene before me. For just a moment, I imagine that I’m dreaming, or that Cerberus is making this all up in his head…but he’s not.
My clan floats in the air, wrapped in thick black vines with sharp points similar to barbed wire. Their eyes are closed, their skin gray, and their lips blue. Dark veins crawl up their skin, just like the veins I had, and my breath falters. All of them are here—Maeve, Juniper, Killian, Rowan. Even Della, my housemaiden.
A blue sheen of light blocks one half of the room in front of them, and when Cerberus lunges at it, trying to break through it, he yelps. I wince, feeling the sting of it on my skin. It’s a barrier, keeping them contained.
A deep laugh erupts in the room, and my clan goes flying toward one of the walls. Their bodies merge to it, and ice trickles from their heads to their feet, wrapping them up in glacial cocoons. Cerberus barks, and I try speaking to him, but I can’t wrap my mind around this. My clan should have been safe. I thought Decius couldn’t hurt them. Shouldn’t The Council be able to stop this? The Regals? Someone?
A silhouette appears from a corner, and when he steps into the minimal light from the windows, he sneers down at Cerberus. His black cloak drifts behind him, dragging across the ice shards on the floor. His skin is white like snow, lips a deep purple, and his eyes are just as black as his clothing, not a pupil in sight. He snaps his fingers and my clan—my family—is completely buried beneath the ice.
“No!” I yell.
Cerberus growls at him as he steps forward, and I don’t need to say his name in order to know who he is.
Decius.
“You send your wolves to do the dirty work?” Decius stops in the middle of the room, studying Cerberus and then Silvera. “Rather smart, actually—these wolves. Your mother was always three steps ahead. Not for long though.”
I clench my fist on my lap, squeezing my eyes shut tighter.
“She knew the Gilded, Mythic, and Tethered cannot harm Tethered animals.”
He walks closer, and Cerberus’ growl deepens. Silvera snaps at him, daring him to come closer and baring her teeth to prove her point. I wish they’d both attack this fucker, eat his damn face off and be done with him, but something’s stopping them. I can sense Cerberus’ anger. I can feel him wanting to rip this man to shreds, but not being able to do it. What’s stopping him?
“But what your mother forgot is that I’m no ordinary Tether,” Decius goes on, pacing the space in front of the wolves. “I was an original and one of the most powerful, might I add. And these wolves? They’re useless without their owners in the same universe.”
He raises a hand in the air, and a tightness builds in my chest. Cerberus stumbles on his feet, choking for breath. He wheezes painfully, small whimpers slipping through as he collapses on the floor. No. He’s stopped his lungs. I feel his invisible hands wrapping around them from the inside and clutching tight. My wolf can’t breathe, and Decius’ unseeable grip is growing tighter around his lungs.
“Stop!” I shout, but I’m breathless, feeling all the pain Cerberus endures. And I’m aware Decius can’t hear me, but he knows I’m here. He knows.
Silvera tries lunging at Decius, but she can’t break through whatever barrier he’s created, which only makes her angrier. Her barks boom through the room, but Decius keeps his focus on Cerberus, glaring right into his eyes as he lowers to a squat. “Do you feel this?” he rasps, a sneer toying at the edges of his lips. “If you don’t return and fulfill your end of the bargain, I will end your wolf, your entire family, and then I will come for Willow.”
Just when I think Cerberus won’t be able to take another breath, Decius rises to a stand and backs away. Cerberus whimpers as he staggers to all fours again. When he realizes that he was attacked, he barks viciously at Decius. Because that’s my wolf. He never backs down. But I need him to right now. I never thought I’d see the day. He has to go. I can’t lose him.
“Go into hiding, Cerberus. Now,” I demand.
Cerberus prowls the room, snarling at the gloating Decius, eyes locked on him.
“I said now, Cerberus!”
My words bellow inside me, reverberating, and Cerberus finally does as he’s told, rushing out of the castle and toward the fields. Silvera rushes out right behind him, and they sprint toward the forest.
When I can’t take it, I open my eyes and suck in a sharp breath. My hand presses to my chest as the oxygen sinks back into my lungs.
“Hey, hey.” Willow clasps my face in her hands. “Look at me, Caz. Breathe. Breathe, you’re fine.” She holds my face tighter, looking deep into my eyes.
“He—he has my family, Willow! You saw it! He fucking has them!” She climbs off my lap, and I shoot out of the chair to pace the room.
“I know, but we’re going to get them out of it!”
“He’s going to kill them if I don’t fulfill the bargain. We need to get back! I—I have to. I can’t let them die. Not for me.”
She watches me rush to the window to snatch the curtain open, and after a few silent seconds she asks, “What bargain did you make with him?”
I turn toward her slowly when the desolation in her voice rings clear. That’s right. I didn’t tell her what we’d agreed on. I hadn’t planned on telling her because I didn’t think I’d have to commit to it after landing on Earth. I didn’t think it would matter, but I was wrong. So, so wrong.
“Is this about that telepathic message you tried to send before Beatrix sent us to Earth? Something about me living my life and forgetting about you?”
I drop my gaze, working hard to swallow. “Yes.” I can’t lie to her. She already knows. I see it on her face.
She takes a step closer, squaring her shoulders. “What was the bargain, Caz?”
“Willow, I didn’t think…I didn’t think I had a choice. I was willing to do anything to save you.”
“Tell me,” she pleads, eyes glistening.
I focus on her brown eyes, and even while knowing I’m going to break her heart, I say it. “I told him that I’d let him take my Tether if he promised to leave you out of it.”
Her brows furrow, and the sharpness in her shoulders dulls. “You were going to give up, is what you mean.”
“No, I wasn’t giving up! I felt like it was the only thing I could do so that you and everyone else remained safe!”
“Okay,” she breathes, holding her hands out to level the tension. “I can understand why you did that. You felt there was no choice. I understand…but you don’t want that anymore, right? You aren’t trying to go back to Vakeeli just to give yourself to him, are you?”
“I wasn’t before because I thought we were safe and had a fighting chance, but I have to do something now, Willow. He has my family! I can’t just stay here while he torments them.”
“You promised me you’d fight,” she counters, voice cracking. “Giving yourself to him is not fighting, Caz! We can still make this work without you running to him and handing over your life! He’s only trying to scare you!”
“Do you think I wanted this?” I snap, stepping closer. “I never wanted anyone I care about to suffer, yet you all are and it’s because of me!”
“It’s not because of you, Caz! It’s because of the stupid Regals for creating the Cold Tether!”
“Look, we need to get back at once, Willow. If I don’t, he’ll kill them. I can’t let that happen. He was waiting for me to show up. He knew I would find a way to check in on them, or that I’d return somehow. He’s probably tracking us right now.”
She grimaces. “You are out of your fucking mind if you think I’ve done all of this just for you to die anyway! If that’s the case, I may as well go back home and leave you here!”
“Willow, you see where we are,” I plead. “There is no winning this.”
“We haven’t even gone to see the Effie woman yet! She could have answers, Caz! She could help us, or at least find someone who can!”
“And if she doesn’t?” I demand, and her eyes grow wide, watering again. “We must face the reality here, Willow. I hate it as much as you do, but if this woman can’t get us back, if she can’t help us, I have to take Decius’ bargain. I will not let him have you, my family, my wolf, or anyone in my clan. He wants me. He can’t gain full control of Vakeeli without my energy and my blood. If that means sacrificing myself so you all live, then I’m going to do it. Do you understand?”
Her bottom lip quivers, and as badly as she wants to cry, she doesn’t. Instead, she steps away and turns for her tote bag on the bed. She snatches it up and stomps to the door.
“Where are you going?” I ask as she swings the door open.
“I just…I need a moment to myself right now.”
She starts to walk out but stops dead in her tracks, swinging around to face me again. “I don’t know this side of you, Caspian,” she says with a tight frown. “I get that you’re afraid for your family and for me—and trust me, I am too—but you’re letting him win. And I know I haven’t known you long, but from all that I’ve seen firsthand, you don’t just let others beat you down and use your weaknesses against you. You’d take the power back and find a way to put an end to all of this so that it never happens again.” Her eyes search my face while hers crumples with anguish. An ache builds in my chest, so raw and intense that I want to drop to my knees and cry. I feel her. I hurt right along with her. “You think I don’t know that you want to kill yourself?” she asks in a near whisper. “I saw it the day I walked into the office when you had that gun pointed at your head. Decius is handing you that loaded gun right now, and you’re just going to take it. I won’t stand for it.”
She holds my eyes until a tear skids down her cheek. Angrily, she swipes it away with the back of her arm, gives me her back, and walks out of the room. I close my eyes and sink into the chair after the door slams.
