Gemma
I slipped from Ernest’s bed, quiet as a mouse. He rolled onto his side and wrapped his arms around his pillow, barely waking as he moved and quickly fell back to sleep, his eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks.
I reached down and gathered my clothes, clutching them to my naked chest as I searched in vain for my underwear in the darkened room.
The only light was an eerie green glow coming from the windows where rain hamred against the side of the castle. Thunder bood in the low-lying clouds, the sound strangely comforting as I pulled my shirt over my head and shimmied into my skirt. The storm raging outside the castle walls had covered the sounds of pure ecstasy coming from the Alpha’s quarters, and I felt deliciously exposed as I snuck from the room, carrying my shoes in one hand, my underwear still very much missing.
Oh, I was behaving like an idiot. I was setting myself up for heartbreak. I couldn’t help it. I really couldn’t. Ernest’s hands on my body and his words whispered against my neck had awakened sothing deep within . I couldn’t put out the fla now, no matter how hard I tried.
And I had tried.
But I smiled softly to myself as I walked down the corridor, a blush touching my cheeks as I ascended the stairs, and I realized I was walking with a slight limp.
Oh, what would Maeve say when I told her—
“Ouch!” I dropped my shoes, bringing my hands to my face as I cradled my nose. I could sll the blood before it began to flow, the wetness rolling from my nostrils over my lips and between my fingers.
“Shit, Gemma!” Aaron grabbed by the shoulder, using his free hand to tilt my head back by my chin. He was soaking wet, the water dripping from his clothes onto the floor. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you. I couldn’t—”
“Where are you coming from at this hour?” I said, my voice a nearly inaudible gurgling sound as the blood rolled into my open mouth.
“I went for a... for a run.”
He was lying.
I took my hands from my face, inhaling deeply and then sneezing with force, which caused him to jump backward out of my line of fire.
“Is it broken?” he asked, gingerly stepping forward again.
“No,” I said, sighing with relief. Luckily I’d found so tissues on a side table to stem the bleeding. “But it hurts. What did I run into?”
“My shoulder. I didn’t see you walking by at all.” His voice was trembling slightly. I narrowed my eyes to peer at him through the dark but could barely even see the outline of his figure.
“Where are you going? Your room is on the fourth floor?”
“I... I forgot sothing.”
“Forgot what?”
“It’s nothing.”
He was lying again. I just knew it. I pressed him further.
“It’s obviously sothing if you’re wandering the castle sopping wet.”
“I just told you. I was out for a run.”
“Don’t lie to , Aaron!” I stepped forward, thinking I was closing the distance between us but ended up to the side of him.
“I’m right here, Gem!”
“You don’t get to call that,” I hissed, turning toward his voice. “And I have it on good authority you were seen boarding a train today, the two o’clock train to the Port of Valoria. What were you doing there?”
“Ernest sent —”
“No, he didn’t. I was with him—” I bit my lip. I hadn’t ant to say that out loud.
But before I could retract my statent or attempt to deflect, Aaron had by the shoulders again, steering across the corridor and into a storage closet.
“What the hell—” I nearly scread before his hand flew over my mouth and he pressed against the wall of the closet, his free hand reaching up to turn on the tiny, flickering lightbulb over our heads.
“Don’t scream,” he said calmly, his hand still planted firmly against my mouth. He took his hand away, and I inhaled deeply, a shriek erupting from my mouth before he clamped his hand over it again. “No one can hear you over this storm, Gemma. I’m not going to hurt you. I need your help.”
“My help?” I said into the palm of his hand. I gripped his forearm, pinching his skin with my nails until I drew blood and he finally let go.
But he was blocking the door.
“I’ll scream again,” I warned, stepping toward him.
He wiped his bloodied hands on his wet jeans and looked up at , shaking his head. “You won’t.”
“Oh? Let out or take your chances—”
“This is about Maeve. She’s in danger. I need to get her out of Valoria, tonight.” He stood there, only feet from , his face drawn with deep lines of fatigue.
“What?”
“I’ve been at the port; you’re right about that. I was trying to get word to my boat—”
“You’re boat? What are you talking about, Aaron?”
He took a step forward, fixing with a serious stare. “Roro. Did you know he’s in the tower, right above our heads?”
“Roro...The Roro? Of—”
“Of Poldesse, yes.”
“Don’t lie to !”
“I’m not lying!” he pleaded, looking as though he was about to drop to his knees. He looked absolutely exhausted.
“Did you run here? From the port? You shifted and ran all that way, didn’t you?”
He nodded, his chest rising and falling as he took a deep breath. “It was faster than waiting on the train. I needed to get back here.”
“Why were you there? Tell the truth!” I bellowed, which caused him to wince and tilt his head toward the door.
“Keep your voice down, okay?” He stepped closer to , his hands outstretched in surrender, “Like I said before, I needed to get word to my ship—”
“What are you talking about--”
“I’m trying to explain—”
“What ship, Aaron?”
“My na isn’t Aaron!” His hands were clenched into fists and trembling at his sides, his eyes downcast toward the floor.
I opened my mouth to speak but nothing ca from between my lips, only the sound of my labored breathing as I tried to catch my breath.
Once I had, I asked, “Who are you?”
“You knew the whole ti, didn’t you? That I wasn’t Aaron of Red Lakes?” He leaned against the door, his eyes bloodshot and lined with dark circles. I nodded, my breath catching in my throat. I swallowed as the hair stood straight up on my arms.
“Where is he? Aaron? Did you—”
“No. Aaron is fine. He’s alive, and well. I promise you that.”
“How can I believe a single word you say?”
“You have to. You have to trust right now. You can hate later. Maeve is in—”
“Danger? What the actual f*ck, Aar... What the hell is your real na? Who are you!”
“My na is Troy.”
“Your last na?”
“Black. Troy Black..”
“What pack are you from?”
“I don’t have a pack.”
“So, you’re a rogue—”
“No! Jeez, Gemma! We don’t have ti for this.” He grabbed my shoulders, shaking . “Please, Gemma. Listen to . Maeve has to get out of here. You need to get out of here. You have to go back to Winter Forest.”
He was desperate.
“I don’t understand—get off of !”
He let go of my shoulders and let his arms drop to his sides, defeat lining his face. “I love her. I can’t let them... I can’t.” He backed away, looking at pleadingly.
“Please, just let go. Just leave, whoever you are. Just leave the castle tonight. Please!” I begged.
“I can’t do that. Not yet.”
“Why?”
“I need you on my side.”
“Your side of what? What happened to Aaron? Why the hell are you here?!”
He told everything, the words falling from his lips in rapid succession as he leaned his back against the door, closing his eyes. Aaron had been left on an island In the Isles of Denali while Troy had co to Valoria in his place. He told how he had no intentions of even touching Maeve, that his mission had been strictly to break Roro out of the tower.
He told about Horace, the explanation sending ripples of gooseflesh up my arms as the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. Horace was a spy, and Troy was sure there were others in the castle working toward that sa end, the end that took my breath away.
Troy had been deceived by everyone, he explained. His true mission was much, much more than he had anticipated. Poldesse was coming, They were coming for Drogomor. Alpha Damian and his warriors were coming to take over and leave destruction in their path.
He told he was Roro’s grandson. He told about Roro’s sick mind, and his sick plan.
“I love her,” he repeated. Over and over. “I wanted her. I couldn’t stop myself. I took advantage of the situation. I have to get her out.”
“It’s too early to know if she’s pregnant,” I stated, my voice shaky and uncertain. He looked up at , tears welling in the corner of his eyes. He only nodded, grimacing as he struggled to take a breath. He had quieted after telling his story, but sothing else was weighing on him. Sothing severe.
I stepped forward, reaching out to him, my hands trembling as I touched his shoulder.
“Damian wants sothing. Sothing that only Roro can give him,” he said quietly, sleepily.
“What is it?”
“I don’t know. I tried to ask. Roro is sick in his head, I’m sure of it. His words are nonsensical ramblings. I... I think he’s deceiving Damian. I think this is a trap. I think all of us, including Damian, are falling into a trap.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I don’t know what else to say. This is all I know.”
“And what of Maeve? Will she be safe in Winter Forest?”
He shook his head from side to side, his eyes downcast. “I don’t know. I need to wake Ernest.”
“No, please don’t,” I begged, my heart twisting into a knot. I didn’t trust Troy. I had no idea whether what he was saying was true. I didn’t know if he actually ant to go down to Ernest’s room and strangle him to death. “Let do it. I will tell him. I promise I will tell him.”
“You have to do it, right now.”
“Wh-why? You said they were coming but... the Isles are so far—”
“I was looking for my ship when I noticed the na of Damian’s cruiser on the port master’s ledger. It was supposed to reach the port today. If not for the storm, we would have been overrun by Damian’s army. He has a fleet. He was using the port reservation as a decoy.”
“An army? He’s sneaking an army into Valoria? Are you serious?”
Troy stepped forward, his eyes deadly and utterly serious.
“The weather won’t stop them, Gemma. We have until morning.”
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