Cilla’s eyes roll back into her head and her body goes limp. Her hand loosens from my wrist.
I take a glance to make sure there is no sign I was here, and I race out of the room. I hurry back the way that I came, terrified that Geoffre will come back and catch me. My heart does not stop pounding, even when I reach Aeron’s room.
I lock his door behind me, and kneel next to the bed, looking at him. He is still fast asleep on the bed, his breathing deep and even. I want to wake him up, to tell him everything that just happened.
My hand reaches for his forearm, but before I can touch him, I stop. I have no proof, and he already doesn’t trust me. How can I expect him to believe me when I tell him that his beloved uncle is planning a mass murder?
A shudder runs through my body. Geoffre wants to kill an entire angelli clan. Is it Dane’s clan that he wants to kill? But if Dane knew that, surely he would not have relied on just my promise to steal the bloodstone. Surely he would have done more?
Which means Dane does not know about this plan.
My entire body is shivering like I have been dunked in icy water. The shock of what just happened is catching up with me.
But I can’t fall apart now. I cannot let Dane die.
He was right all along. He knew the bloodstone was harming Aeron, making him weak while making his psychopath uncle stronger. I don’t know what Dane wants to do with the bloodstone but I can’t believe he would use it to hurt people. For some reason I trust him.
Right now only one thing is clear. I have to get the bloodstone far away from Aeron, where it can no longer hurt him and where it is out of Geoffre’s reach. Without it, Geoffre’s plan won’t work.
My hands tremble as I reached towards the silver chain around Aeron’s neck. When I touch it, he murmurs in his sleep and his hand reaches out to catch mine.
I stiffen, my heart thundering. I have used up the memory emetic in the ring. I cannot let him wake up and catch me. He will probably go straight to his uncle to demand the truth, and Cilla has made it clear that Geoffre is capable of killing Aeron. I cannot let that happen.
I can only think of one way to remove the chain from around Aeron’s neck without him noticing. This is the reason why Dane sent me.
I take off my bracelet and unclip the fake amulet from it. It slides smoothly out of the hidden recess, followed by its long silver chain. I put it around my neck.
I climb carefully onto the bed, taking care not to wake Aeron up. I lie next to him, my body pressed gently up against his warm one. His arm slips around my waist and he pulls me tightly against his body. His breathing is still deep and even. He is fast asleep.
Slowly I put my arms around his neck. I brush my lips overs his. I wrap one thigh around his hips and hold him close. I kiss him gently, brushing feather light touches over his skin, making him murmur something incoherent.
Trying to focus only on him and not on what I am doing, I take my chain from over my head and slowly ease it over his head. I do the opposite with his. It seems forever until the exchange is complete, and even when I am wearing his chain, the risk is not over. I cannot let him awake to find me wearing an amulet that is identical to his.
I roll over in his arms, letting him spoon me, and finally I take his amulet off from my neck and slot it back into my bracelet. Only then do I relax. Aeron is still fast asleep. He does not awake when I get out of bed.
After giving him one last kiss I hurry back to my room. I feel completely drained, and on edge. I cannot rest until I am rid of it. There is no point me going out in the dark. I would only lose my way, and it would look far too suspicious.
I pace the length of my room, and pause to listen to every little sound in the night, in case it is footsteps. I pray that what Dane told me is true. That the potion inside the ring will wipe Cilla’s memory and that she will not remember anything.
I contemplate attaching a note to the bracelet to let Dane know what Geoffre was planning. But I have no way of keeping the note waterproof, and I worry the message might fall into the wrong hands. The last thing I want is to cause a war between the angelli and the werewolves.
My nerves are completely frayed by the time the first rays of dawn sunlight come in through the window. I hurry down towards the beach, trying to look like I am taking an early morning stroll.
When I reach the shore, I wade in until I am hip deep before taking the bracelet off and releasing it into the water. To my surprise, despite its weight, it floats. I pray that whatever magic is in it will take it to Dane quickly. I push it out into the tide and watch it drift away until it disappears.
Once it is gone I feel an immense sense of relief, and an unexpected sadness. It feels like I have said goodbye to Dane forever. I take off the ring that he gave me and drop into the water. It sinks out of sight. I must not keep even that much of him. I will be better off without it.
I make a pretense of enjoying splashing in the surf before I head back to my room. Already I feel calmer. The fake bloodstone around Aeron’s neck is exactly identical to the real bloodstone. If Dane’s potion does its job with Cilla, no one needs to know what happened last night.
Now the bloodstone is gone, Aeron will regain whatever strength Geoffre stole from him. I will give it a couple of days before finding a way to prove the truth to Aeron. In the meantime, I will do my best to keep Cilla away from Tyler and Aeron.
Just as I am thinking of her, I see her at the breakfast bar.
I freeze, staring at her. She is talking to Tyler, her hand placed on his jaw. He sees me and smiles. He takes her hand away from his face. She looks over her shoulder at me and sneers. It is nothing more than a regular sneer. As if I am a worm, nothing for her to worry about.
The tightness in my chest eases. She really doesn’t remember a thing.
Aeron comes over to me and takes my hand. Behind him, I see her scowl at us. I tilt my face up to him, my heart beating fast. He bends down to press his lips gently over mine.
“I missed you,” he says. “All night long.”
The meaning in his words makes me smile and tremble at the same time. He kisses me again, his tongue brushing the sensitive skin inside my lips. He sucks my tongue gently. I want to sink into his safe embrace. I wrap my arms around his shoulders and press myself against him, eager for more.
We come up for air, and I become aware of the people nearby.
“Everyone’s watching,” I whisper.
“Let them watch,” he growls.
“But they just saw you with Cilla. They must be wondering…”
“Let them wonder. Cilla likes to play games. They know that.”
His hands slide down my waist and come to rest just above my buttocks. I can feel his touch through my damp sarong. His fingers trail over my skin, making me moan in anticipation. Two can play at this game. I slide my hands down the length of his back and onto his buttocks.
He groans, and kisses me hard. He takes me by the hand and leads me towards Aeron’s room.
“Aeron was sleeping,” I say.
“Did you exhaust him, baby? He’ll wake up for this. He won’t want to miss it.”
As we reach Aeron’s room, he loses his patience. He presses me up against the wall and kisses me deeply. And then my lips, my throat, my shoulders. His hand dips beneath my sarong and inside my swimsuit. He plays with me until I am slick with moisture and gasping for more. Laughing, he turns the door handle and pulls me into the room.
Just inside the doorway we freeze. There are people in Aeron’s room, crowded around the bed. One is Geoffre Balthazar. They look up when they see us. I am mortified. It must be clear to them what we were doing outside.
One glance at Tyler’s face tells me something is very wrong.
“What is it?” I ask, suddenly scared.
“Healers,” he says, his body tense.
He strides to the bed, taking me with him. “What happened?” he says. “What’s wrong with him?”
Nobody answers. Geoffre Balthazar shakes Aeron hard. Aeron’s head flops limply to the side.
“No!” I cry, reaching for him.
Geoffre blocks me. He backhands me hard. I fall backwards, clutching my throbbing face.
Geoffre comes at me. Tyler puts up his arm to defend me, looking shocked. Geoffre’s fist smashes into Tyler’s face. Tyler reels, unprepared for the blow. The two healers grab him and pin him to the floor.
Geoffre grabs me by the neck. His hands squeeze until I cannot breathe.
“Where is it?” he snarls. “What did you do with it?”
