“This way.” His voice came from my left. I pivoted sharply, almost losing my footing on the slick moss covering the ground.
“Cadence, hurry.” His tone warped, tinged with something I couldn’t quite place. Fear? Pain? Or something else entirely.
I broke into a run, batting away vines that seemed to reach for me with malicious intent. A low laugh echoed through the trees, bouncing off my surroundings until it was impossible for me to tell which direction it came from. It sounded like my brother, but distorted, stretched, and hollowed out.
“Damn it, Callum! There is no time for games. You’re going to get us both killed.”
“Is that what you think, Little Sister?” His voice was closer now, thick and suffocating like smoke. “That I’m the one putting you in danger?”
“Callum?”
Icy tendrils of fear snaked down my spine, and every muscle in my body tensed. A rustle to my right had me spinning, and I ripped a dagger free from the sheath at my thigh.
I scanned the forest but found nothing.
The trees whispered once more, and the shadows danced in the breeze.
This time, their words were clear.
Unworthy.
Over and over they chanted, the word curling around me, slipping beneath my skin, and sinking into my bones. It wasn’tloud, but it was relentless, as though the forest itself was casting its verdict with every rustling leaf and flickering shadow.
A figure stepped out from behind a tree, drawing my attention, and I almost sobbed in relief when I saw my brother, alive and uninjured.
“Poor little Cadence,” my brother taunted. “Such a mess you’ve gotten yourself into.” I froze, dropping my dagger to the ground.
Something was wrong.
My brother would never taunt me like that. Not when the stakes were so high. I blinked, my breath catching. “Callum?” I said, taking a cautious step forward.
He just smiled. A crooked, mocking expression that did not belong to Callum. His eyes, once warm and familiar, now gleamed with a coldness I didn’t recognize.
That was not my brother. It couldn’t be.
My stomach churned, and the forest pulsed all around me, deepening the whispers as they surged again.
Unworthy.
Unworthy. Unworthy. Unworthy.
UNWORTHY!
The word echoed inside my skull, fracturing my thoughts, until I couldn’t tell if the chant was coming from the trees or from within me. My knees buckled, but I refused to fall. I tightened my jaw, forcing myself to stay upright even as the shadows closed in around me.
Callum tilted his head, as if amused by my struggle. “You hear them, don’t you?” His words were soft, mocking. “They know. Just like you do.”
“Know what?” I gritted out between clenched teeth.
“That you’re unworthy of the crown.”
“I never wanted it!”
“No?” Callum raised a brow. “And yet, you refuse to abandon Ryker. Despite all that he has done to you, you stay.”
“You know it’s not that simple.”
My brother tipped his head back and laughed. The sound sent a tremor through my body, chilling me to my core.
