Blades of grass crunched beneath the force of our landing. I squinted as my eyes slowly adjusted to the brilliance of the sunlight radiating around us.
We were no longer in the Spade castle or surrounded by guards. A grassy field welcomed us and stretched out for as far as I could see. Large, rolling hills crowned the distant horizon. Garrett had transported us where I'd asked him to.
As I turned to face the group, Garrett swayed slightly before crumpling to the ground. I hurried to catch him and made him lie down on the grass. His eyelids drooped with fatigue, and his face was devoid of color. My heart panged in guilt. He'd already lost so much blood and then used his remaining energy to take us to safety. He'd made sure that we were safe. It was my turn to protect him.
Cyrena sank to the ground beside us, her eyes filled with sadness. She stared at the grass numbly while I assessed Garrett's vitals.
I was almost dreading finishing the task because of the brooding presence that emanated from behind me and choked the sunny atmosphere like an acidic cloud.
When I finally turned around, Demetri's angry glare fastened on me.
"Why did you do that?" His voice was a deathly calm, but still chock full of suppressed anger.
He was angry—as I'd expected him to be—but, to be fair, I had to give him credit for actually waiting until I was finished checking on Garrett before snapping.
I sighed, knowing what he was talking about. "I'm sorry, but we couldn't return to Crysauralia right now."
Trust me, I wanted to.
I swallowed the rising lump in my throat and turned away from him. The sadness and finality of my decision weighed on my shoulders like lead. Of course, I wanted to go to Crysauralia—I wanted to return more than anything! The people I cared about were there. My family and friends... Ashton and his family, too.
"I helped you because you were planning to go to Crysauralia." He seethed. "I'm not supposed to be here."
"I understand your frustration, but we couldn't go there." I looked him in the eyes and he frowned and folded his arms against his chest, waiting for me to explain myself. I sighed. "Emperor Caden is no longer in control of the empire. He's been taken in by the Origen Association for questioning. I'm guessing his father, the prinarch, pinned the destruction of the OA on him. More than likely, the prinarch is currying favor with the OA by feeding them information about CaVaughn... maybe Malekh too."
Demetri's eyes narrowed at that.
"If I were to go back to Crysauralia as an Origin, the royal family could be accused of hiding my identity, even though they knew nothing about who I truly was. They might get imprisoned... or worse." I shuddered to think about it.
"That won't happen," Demetri spat. "Even if CaVaughn dies, the prinarch still needs an heir to the throne and I doubt he'll be making more heirs anytime soon. Like it or not, he needs Ashton. That's enough reason to keep him alive."
"You're forgetting that Ashton has a younger sister," I murmured. "The prinarch doesn't need Ashton if he has her."
Demetri's eyes snapped shut, and he exhaled sharply. His displeasure about the situation was obvious. But as much as I wanted to go home, there was no way I would jeopardize anyone's life.
Cyrena had said that the Crysauralian nobles were already choosing sides and most of them would support the prinarch. If my existence as an Origin was revealed, there could be a civil war.
Prinarch Cole had had his chance to rule Crysauralia, but now he was selfishly coming out of retirement to seize his son's empire. Luca had managed to escape from them twice, and he'd destroyed the Crysauralian OA. The prinarch would definitely be after revenge.
"Don't worry. I have a plan."
Demetri scoffed at that.
"Besides," I continued, "Garrett isn't in any condition to carry us to another country. He's at his limit and we have to respect that."
"We're still in the Spade Kingdom, sweetheart." His stony eyes still danced with fury, but not as much as before. "Do you think that makes you any safer than you were a few seconds ago?"
"If anything, it buys us some time." I stood up. "Rosaline isn't expecting us to stay in the Spade Kingdom after what she tried to do. She expects us to go to Crysauralia or to some other kingdom to get help. We're actually where she least expects us to be. As I said before, I have a plan. All we have to do right now is stay hidden."
Demetri took a step closer to me with a forced smile, but I didn't step back. Instead, I raised a brow, daring him to challenge my decision.
"Haven't you wondered why there are so few Origins left?" he asked. "That's because it's difficult for your people to stay hidden. You give off a powerful aura just by existing. If your plan is to play hide-and-go-seek in your enemy's backyard—," He motioned to the country, "—then I'm sorry to break it to you, sweetheart, but the game won't last very long."
I smiled against his glare and raised the object in my hand. The light glinted off the smooth, metallic surface and Demetri's glare became a bit confused.
I slipped Luca's present onto my finger and immediately my eyesight dimmed and the power flowing through me faded to a dull throb.
The sun no longer scattered vivid slants of light to the Earth, but a paler, humble hue shone down. The lively jade of the trees and grass leeched away, leaving behind a haunting shade of green. In a second, everything became nothing more than a shadow of its former self. That was the power of the sealing ring.
It had been a while since I'd felt so... human. Surprisingly, it was a bit uncomfortable. Almost like having a stuffy nose but still being able to breathe through the mouth. It was bearable, but it didn't feel right.
"You were saying?" I pushed the discomfort aside and quirked an eyebrow at Demetri, daring him to challenge me again.
He stared at me for a moment, then gave a sardonic smile and walked away from me. His dark gaze settled on Garrett—who was pushing himself to sit up despite Cyrena's protests.
Demetri exhaled slowly, and for a moment, he looked in the direction of Crysauralia. Regret crept into his eyes and his jaw clenched before he dragged his gaze away. When he turned to face me again, his eyes were sad, resigned.
"Fine," he said softly. "You win. I'll take us somewhere safe."
***
We arrived at the manor at dusk. Demetri had made good on his promise to take us to safety. I still didn't trust him completely—I wasn't sure if I should trust him—but so far, he had been helping us.
Did Malekh even know what his brother was doing? Did he really give Demetri the freedom to do whatever he wanted, even if that meant crossing him and Luca, and potentially threatening their already fragile alliance?
We were all tired. It had taken us even longer to get to the manor since we were all wearing sealing rings and, with our supernatural speed limited, we could only go so fast. But it was something we had to do to keep hidden.
Our mind-links were also deactivated so that no-one from the Spade Kingdom could try to contact us. If, for some reason, Rosaline tried to mind-link Cyrena and was successful, it would have given away the fact that we were still in the Spade Kingdom. We might as well light flares to announce our location if that was the case.
Demetri carefully laid Garrett on the soft bed. He'd carried him the entire way here—another reason why I didn't want to be so suspicious of him. But after spending so long in the palace, it was hard to trust... especially when he was someone who had crossed me once before.
Demetri's brows furrowed when he caught me staring, and I cleared my throat and busied myself with treating Garrett with the medical supplies I'd collected from one of the bathrooms.
He'd been on our side in the toughest of situations. Even though he wasn't my bodyguard anymore, he still looked out for my safety. I was grateful to him.
Garrett was unconscious now, and I wondered if somehow the arrows had been coated with more than just Nightshade. My heart started to race when my mind drifted to thoughts of poison.
"He's just exhausted," Cyrena murmured, leaning against the bedpost. "He helped Luca and Ezra to relocate the Origins that they freed from the Association. It took him a long time, but he helped all of them. It almost killed him. It's because of his immense sacrifice why Luca let him live."
I looked back at Garrett. His tanned skin was unusually pale, and his chest rose and fell with each labored breath. My heart sank knowing that he'd gotten injured coming to my rescue.
After I was finished attending to Garrett, I headed downstairs to make something for Demetri and Cyrena to eat. She wasn't feeling too well, and I didn't trust Demetri to be within a mile of anything flammable and not burn the manor down.
I should have been hungry, but despite the hollow feeling in my stomach, I could hardly manage a few bites.
Cyrena glanced at me with concern glistening in her eyes, and I forced myself to swallow it all so that she didn't worry too much about me. Demetri ate silently and then returned to his brooding somewhere in the house.
I told Cyrena to get some rest and then did the dishes. My mind sifted through all the possible consequences that the decision I was about to make could cause, and when I was on the brink of a headache, I was thoroughly convinced that my unique ability was overthinking.
I stared at my palms, willing them to manifest something... I'd take anything at this point. Luca and Ezra were sure that I would have a unique ability because, well, all Origins were supposed to have one. My overthinking was telling me that perhaps I was the exception.
When flames, or any other element, failed to burst from my hand or any other part of my body—I was desperate enough to try—I sighed and put the last dish in the rack to dry.
There would be time to worry about my unique ability later, especially since I most likely wouldn't be able to sleep tonight anyway. It was time for step one of my plan.
***
Luckily, the manor had a functioning phone. Since Rosaline had practically stolen my phone and no-one else had brought theirs along on the impromptu escape, I was happy to see it. I needed one.
I dialed the familiar number from memory and nervously wound and unwound the cord around my index finger while it rang.
I wasn't sure if I would get an answer because of the time difference and the fact that I was calling from an unknown, foreign number.
Please pick up...
"Hello?" the voice answered with such urgency that it caught me off guard.
"Melissa," I breathed, feeling myself almost choke up because of how much I missed her.
Not even a millisecond of silence passed before she shouted, "Elizabeth! Oh, thank God! Where are you?" I heard covers being thrown off and then footsteps. "I'll come get you, wherever you are."
My body filled with warmth and I leaned against the wall, willing myself not to tear up. It had been so long since I'd talked to my friends... been with my friends.
"It's okay, Mel," I assured her. "I'm safe."
"You've been missing, Liz." Her voice broke on my name and she sniffed. "Ashton finally told us yesterday and we've been searching everywhere for you! Where are you? Are you sure you're not in danger?"
"Trust me, Mel, I'm fine. A lot happened." I chewed the inside of my cheek as I thought about what these past few days had been for me. "But I'm coming home soon. I need you to do something for me, please."
"Anything." She answered with no hesitation.
Melissa was in the Caribbean, which made her the safest person for me to contact right now. Unlike Ashton, Kevin, or Callie, her actions couldn't be monitored by anyone who might be spying to get information about me.
"I need you to get in touch with Kevin. Tell him to meet me in Harania City. It's near to the Spade Kingdom. If he confirms, I'll be heading there tomorrow. Once he gets there, he should contact me using the mind-link and I'll tell him exactly where to meet me."
"Kevin?" Her voice was contemplative as she analyzed each word. "Okay, I'll do that... but what about Ashton? He's going crazy worrying about you, Liz."
I hesitated a bit, fidgeting with a loose thread on my cardigan before I answered. "It's too dangerous to let Ashton know where I am right now. The royal family's in danger, and I can't risk him coming here. Please."
She sighed and then made a sound of agreement. "I trust you're making the right call here. As long as you come home soon, everything will be okay. You don't know how happy I am to hear your voice." She sniffed again.
"I miss you so much, too, Mel." My heart twisted in my chest. I really wanted to go home and go to sleep and wake up to realize that this was all some bad dream. But I knew my reality could never truly be called a nightmare. Luca, Ezra and Cyrena could never be nightmares.
"Is there anything happening strange in Crysauralia right now?" I asked tentatively.
"No. Everything is the same. Well... yesterday the empress attended a conference in place of Emperor Caden," she added as she thought about it. "Apparently, he's come down with some highly contagious virus and is being treated at an undisclosed hospital."
So that was the story the prinarch was going with. He'd most likely threatened Empress Arabella to keep the truth secret. This was bad. Really bad.
"I need to get my parents out of the Noble Realm," I told her, trying to keep the strain of worry out of my voice, but I was sure she heard it, anyway. "It's no longer safe for them to stay there... but they can't know that."
"I'll contact Cals. She'll be able to work something out," Melissa assured me, catching the urgency in my tone. "Don't worry, we'll keep them safe."
I breathed a sigh of relief, but another realization soon hit me like a bullet train. My parents weren't the only ones in danger. Emperor Caden had planned on adding Micah to Sepia in a few days.
The emperor wasn't around right now, but I wasn't sure if that would delay the process. What I was sure of, was that I would take absolutely no chances.
Melissa promised that she'd find a way to make sure Micah and Esmeralda stayed safe, too. I thanked her, warned her and Trey to be safe, and then we ended the call, each about to make our own moves to protect the people we cared about.
Hopefully, I'd be able to see Kevin tomorrow. The prinarch would not get what he wanted. He would not tear our empire to shreds.
The board was being prepared for a match that I was prepared not to lose.
***
As I'd expected, my body refused to fall asleep. Physically, I was exhausted, but my mind was more interested in going a hundred miles an hour than going into energy saving mode for tomorrow. Crossing the Spade border to go to Harania City was a risky move. But it was one I had to take.
I tossed the covers off me with a groan and decided to take a walk, giving up on the elusive concept of sleep. My feet moved silently along the deserted hallways until I came to the main living room.
The large glass pane of the window let in the lustrous rays of the full moon and I closed my eyes, drinking in the serenity of the night and letting the calming light wash over my face.
"I hate to interrupt your alone time, sweetheart, but, you're not so alone."
My eyes snapped to the left of the room, following the voice in the dimness, and Demetri waved his hand from where he sat on the couch.
I'd been so caught up in my thoughts that I hadn't even noticed him.
"You could turn the lights on, you know." I crossed my arms.
He shrugged, closing his eyes and reclining onto the cushions of the couch. "The moonlight will suffice."
I took the opportunity to observe him carefully, and he cracked an eye open. "Don't tell me I'm your type, sweetheart?"
"Don't make stupid jokes." I scowled. "It's common sense to keep an eye on your enemy."
He chuckled softly in the darkness. The laugh was a velvet seduction, almost like his brother's.
It felt incredibly strange hearing such a laugh from him—the never-endingly brooding brother who seemed content with hating everyone and everything.
"How's Garrett doing?" he asked, tugging me from that thought.
"He's getting some much need rest." I almost narrowed my eyes.
Demetri was actually showing interest in the well-being of someone other than his brother? What alternate universe had I stepped into? Could Garrett's portal have somehow transported us to another dimension?
"Don't give me that look," he muttered. "I may be a monster, but I've still got fragments of a heart lying in here somewhere."
"You do remember the reason why we're not friends, don't you?" I asked incredulously. It seemed like it'd escaped his memory completely.
"I know. I hurt your best friend, yada yada."
"You didn't just hurt her, Demetri. You used her and played with her feelings when you knew how she felt about you."
"Did I?" He quirked a brow in my direction. "If I'm remembering correctly, she was never interested in me. She was interested in being with me to get over the pain of her breakup. Don't you think it's unfair for you to be so one sided?"
"You knew that, yet still you continued dating her? You should have told her the truth."
"Why would I do that?" He frowned in my direction. "Are you forgetting the reason I was even in Crysauralia in the first place? I needed a way to get close to Ashton. She provided the means of that. I hate to break it to you, but if you're trying to see the good in my intentions, then you should give up."
I stared at him, but he only focused on the intricate paintings on the ceiling. As much as I didn't trust him completely, there was one thing he'd done that proved the opposite of what he'd just said.
When I'd told him that we weren't going to Crysauralia anymore, he could have abandoned us and gone on his own. Instead, he showed concern for Garrett's health and our safety. He could have turned us in to Rosaline. We were injured and poisoned. He could have taken advantage of that, but instead, he took us here.
"Why do you do this?" I questioned.
"I do a lot of things. Be more specific, sweetheart."
"You make yourself look like the villain when in truth you're not. You're hurting just like the rest of us."
"In a fairytale like yours, I am the villain."
"You could have betrayed us, but you didn't." I pointed out. "If you think you're a bad guy because you want to kill the emperor, then get in line. I'm sure half the world's population wants the same thing."
He didn't answer, and I sighed exasperatedly. "Are you going to center your entire life on getting revenge? Do you think that's the way your father wanted you to live your life?"
"I wasn't born out of love, sweetheart. My father produced an heir with my mother, the Spade queen, because he knew he was going to die. If he wanted a child because of love, then he would have gone to his soulmate," he spat. "What other reason am I here for, if not revenge? I don't have any other reason for existing. If I let go of that, then what else do I have?"
That last part ended on a somber note and he refocused his attention on the ceiling paintings once more.
"You have you," I whispered, and he let out a short laugh.
"You were always the optimist."
"And you were always the pessimist."
"Either way, I'm a failure of an heir. We're not going to Crysauralia anytime soon. My plans never work out in the end. Never."
His shoulders slumped, and he finally let his mask down. I could see the pain and sorrow in his eyes. It was the first I'd ever seen such emotion from him. Even when he had explained the demise of his parents, all he'd shown was anger, but now there was helplessness and hopelessness. He looked plain tired.
"The Origins and Origens both have internal issues and it won't be long before word gets out about what's happening," he spoke after a while. "I wonder if the humans and Omegas will be dragged into this again and if history will repeat."
"I won't let that happen... I told you that I have a plan. Kevin will be here soon."
He looked a bit surprised but didn't say anything.
My mind slowly drifted into thoughts about what our reunion would be like if Kevin did manage to meet up with me tomorrow. What would he think about me being the way I was now?
Even though the Origins were the forefathers of Origens, right now, nothing existed between the two factions but bad blood.
Ever since they were kids, they had learnt that Origins were too powerful to be left unchecked. That I would be too powerful to be left unchecked. They accepted CaVaughn, but I was different from CaVaughn. I was a full Origin. What if the way they felt about me changed?
I was no longer the same Elizabeth that they knew. The human part of me was gone—it was never there to begin with—and now all that remained was a shell that would be a stranger to them.
And Ashton... what would he think? I'd been putting off thinking about his reaction for as long as possible, but sooner or later, I would have to face him. We loved each other, but what would he think of this new version of me?
I groaned. My unique ability really must be overthinking. 'Elizabeth the overthinking Angeles' was what I was.
"Only one of us is allowed to be depressed, sweetheart." Demetri spoke up from his place on the couch.
"So, you admit that you are depressed."
"I never denied it." He paused uncertainly and then sighed. "What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing," I muttered, not wanting to discuss these insecurities with him, of all people.
"You're a bad liar."
"I never said I was a good one."
"Don't tell me you're scared of what he'll think of you."
He let out a short laugh at that. My cheeks reddened, and I turned back to gaze out the window, ignoring him.
"Don't you two believe in that stupid thing called love?" he asked. "Does your love care whether you're an Origin or human?"
"That's none of your business," I snapped at him.
"Ashton would be stupid not to see that you're still you."
Was Demetri actually trying to make me feel better? This alternate world must be coming to an end.
How do I escape this simulation?
"Even if you're an Origin, you're obviously still the same annoying person you were before."
Never mind.
"Gee, thanks for the compliment." I rolled my eyes.
"I'm just saying." He shrugged. "Soulmates seem like they're supposed to be this special thing. I don't care much about stuff like love, but if it's what Jackson feels for Grace, then I don't deny that it could exist."
Somehow, his awful pep talk made me feel a bit less awful.
"Jackson mentioned you," I remembered. "So what, are you two besties now?"
"He's the only person who gets me. Even if all he does is play chess and help Malekh. He's not bad company."
'He's my first real friend', was the unspoken message his tone whispered to me.
"Right now, this place is what I need. They understand my pain better than anyone else." That was what Jackson had said to me and CaVaughn when we'd encountered him on the mission to take him back to Crysauralia.
I suppose, in some strange way, those two made each other happy.
I smiled a little. "Thanks."
"What for?"
"For being a villain with a heart."
"There's no heart here," Demetri corrected with a miniscule smile before he left the room. "Just fragments of what used to be. Get some rest, sweetheart. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."
I stared after him, and a small yet sad smile found its way on my face. His heart had been shattered somewhere along the way. I hoped that one day, he'd find all the pieces.
***
Hey, Lovelies! Thanks for reading!
"Right now, this place is what I need. They understand my pain better than anyone else." -Jackson.
The Prince’s Fiancée, chapter 26
Demetri and Elizabeth had a bit of a heart to heart. Or a heart to fragments of a heart...? What did you think of this interaction?
Step one is underway! Elizabeth is making plans to meet with Kevin. Why do you think she chose him? Will their meeting go as planned?
What will happen next?
Leave a comment and a vote ☆ if you'd like, and I'll see you in the next chapter ❤