Chapter 256: Gut feeling 1
MADELINE
A knock at the door pulled
from sleep so heavy it felt like drowning. I jerked upright in bed, disoriented. Warm sunlight stread through the window. Dawn had already broken.
My first thought was of Cian.
Was he back yet? Was he okay? Last night he’d been falling apart at the seams when he couldn’t feel Fia through their bond. I’d never seen him act like that before. So raw, terrified and completely unraveling.
The knock ca again, sharper this ti and successfully disorienting my train of thoughts.
"Who is it?" My voice ca out rough from sleep.
"It’s ."
Shit. It was Wilhelm.
I pushed the blankets off and crossed to the door. When I opened it, he stood there in fresh clothes, a tiny travel bag slung over one shoulder. He looked put together. Composed. Nothing like the blood-soaked ss I’d scraped off my floor last night.
"You’re already leaving?"
"Well, it’s no fault of mine." He stepped inside before I could invite him in. The door clicked shut behind him and I heard the lock turn.
He looked around the room. His gaze went straight to the spot where he’d collapsed, where his blood had pooled on the floorboards and the scrying bowl had sent up plus of acrid smoke. But there was nothing there now. I’d scrubbed every inch of that floor on my hands and knees, working by lamp light and urged by my own fears of being discovered to hurry. The main worry was Werewolves could probably sll blood better than most and I knew the servants of the house couldn’t see this. Nobody could know what had happened.
The trash sat bundled in the corner of my closet. I’d have to dispose of it myself later. Carefully. Where no one would find burnt book remains and now blood-soaked rags of my least favorite clothes.
"No fault of yours?" I repeated. "Did Father call you in?"
"I talked to him last night. That was part of it." Wilhelm set his bag down and turned to face
properly. "He wants sothing on Alpha Aldric as quickly as he can get it. He also thinks you’ve done more than enough for the family and doesn’t want to actively involve you anymore. So Aldric won’t know what hit him until it fucking hits him."
I opened my mouth but he kept going.
"But there’s also the fact that I watched Aldric when he returned to the estate last night."
My hand shot out and grabbed his arm. Hard. "Are you insane? Your body went through hell last night. Why would you do that?"
He didn’t even flinch at my grip. "It wasn’t hard. There was no distance this ti. I didn’t have to strain myself. And there was no protective spell shielding the fucker either."
"Wilhelm..."
"Listen. He has a secret drawer where he keeps the key. The one he’s using to lock up whoever’s in that cage." His eyes were bright now. Excited. Like he’d uncovered buried treasure instead of nearly dying twelve hours ago. "But I don’t fucking need that key."
I waited.
"There was sothing else. A ring." He pulled his arm free from my grasp and started pacing. Three steps to the window. Three steps back. "I’m not sure what it is but if he’s hiding it that badly, it has to be useful."
"A ring." The word felt strange in my mouth.
"Yeah. And I know Dad said a whole lot about keeping you out of the breaking-into-Aldric’s-estate business and he’ll probably have that conversation with you himself." Wilhelm stopped pacing and looked at
dead on. "But I have a feeling that ring is a key to sothing. So ignore whatever Dad tells you and attempt to look into that ring for ."
The request sat between us. Heavy with all the things he wasn’t saying. All the ways this could go wrong.
I was curious too. So common sense and self preservation flew right out of the window.
"Yeah. Sure."
He smiled then. The kind of smile that reminded
we were related. That we’d grown up pulling each other out of trouble and into it with equal frequency.
He grabbed his bag and headed for the door. His hand was on the knob when he paused and turned back.
"Oh, one more thing." His tone had gone carefully neutral. "You weren’t wrong about the fucker."
My stomach dropped. "What... What does that an?"
"My possession sight noticed more than just the ring when I was spying on him."
"What else did you notice?"
"Aside from the fact that we technically gave ourselves away with the lock?" He said it so casually. Like he was comnting on the weather instead of telling
we’d fucked up badly. "Turns out Aldric turns his lock twice and that was sothing I missed when I was using my magic to open it and close it. Also, Aldric did notice the missing book. He’ll most likely be onto you now. Be careful and play him good."
"Fuck." The word ca out before I could stop it.
"Yeah." Wilhelm’s smile had gone sharp at the edges. "But you’re good at playing people. You’ll figure it out."
"I really don’t enjoy it. But thanks for the heads-up." I tried to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. I failed completely.
"Do what you need to do and co ho, sis."
"I’ll try." I crossed the room and hugged him. He hugged back, tight enough that I felt the tremor still running through his muscles from last night’s ordeal.
When I pulled back, I kept my hands on his shoulders. "A big help for
when Aldric is breathing down my neck with his accusations would be an even better distraction. Get Father to work on the blood I gave you first. Aldric’s obsession with Fia’s mate seems to make him blind to a lot. I hope it’s still that way even if she could technically be dead."
Wilhelm’s expression shifted. Sothing flickered across his face that I couldn’t quite read.
"Well, you’re in luck. Cian’s mate didn’t perish."
I broke the hug and stepped back. The words had co out before I’d really thought them through, and I knew how they sounded. Like I’d been hoping the poor girl actually had died just to keep things simple.
But that wasn’t what I’d ant.
Not exactly.
"Whaaattt?" I stared at him. "She’s alive?"
"Very much so, from what I gathered from my sight." Wilhelm adjusted his bag on his shoulder. "Apparently whatever happened last night, she survived it. Cian found her. They’re both fine."
Relief hit
like a physical thing. It knocked the breath out of my lungs and made my knees weak. I hadn’t realized how much I’d been dreading the alternative. How much the thought of Cian losing her had been sitting in my chest like a stone.
It was a strange feeling. Because a few days ago, I wouldn’t have minded a tragedy bringing Cian towards
again.
"That’s..." I couldn’t find the right words. "That’s good."
"Good for your distraction plan I guess." Wilhelm’s voice had gone dry. "For matters of the heart, not so much."
"Oh shut up."
Wilhelm chuckled as he pulled the door open. Cold morning air rushed in from the hallway. "Figure out what you can about the ring. And for fuck’s sake, be careful around Aldric."
"I will."
"I an it, Mads. He’s not playing gas anymore. If he knows you took that book..." Wilhelm let the sentence hang there. The implications were clear enough.
"I know." My throat felt tight. "I’ll handle it."
"You better." He stepped into the hallway and then paused one more ti. "And Mads? About last night. Thanks. For not giving up on ."
"You’re my brother. What else was I supposed to do?"
He smiled. A real one this ti. Then he was gone, his footsteps echoing down the corridor until they faded completely.
I stood in the doorway and listened to the morning sounds of the estate waking up. Servants moving through the halls. Voices drifting up from the kitchens. Sowhere below, a door slamd.
Normal sounds. Like nothing had changed.
But everything had changed. Aldric probably already knew I’d taken the book. He knew I was digging hard at him. That wasn’t fucking good.
I closed the door and locked it. My hands were shaking.
The bundle of trash in my closet seed to pulse with accusation. Evidence of what I’d done. Of what Wilhelm and I had discovered. I needed to get rid of it. Soon. Before anyone ca snooping.
But first I needed to think. To plan.
Aldric would confront . That much was certain. He’d want to know why I’d taken the book. Which I had to heavily deny.
To do that, I had to have sothing ready.
And I had to figure out what that ring was. Why he was keeping it hidden. What it might unlock or protect or reveal.
My magic stirred under my skin. Restless. Wanting to do sothing instead of just standing here spinning through worst-case scenarios.
"You’re a fucking Blossom," I told myself. "What the hell is a maniacal old werewolf with no proof but a gut feeling going to do?"
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