I wanted to smile, but there was nothing left inside of me. Nothing but Claire. “You have your orders. Take care of the army. Lead them.” I unsheathed my blade. “I’m going to get my wife.”
We stared at one another. Then Natalia stepped back and dipped into a shallow curtsy. “Very well. I will assume command of the army.”
I saw nothing as I walked. Heard nothing. Felt nothing save for the bond between Claire and me. It was the only thing I could focus on.
That was, until my nephew fell into step beside me as I climbed the long set of stairs that led to ground level, Claire’s wolves trailing. At least Chastity had released them. Some small mercy in a field of ruin.
“You have Château Rose,” I told him, not sparing him a glance. “Natalia will be your commander. Don’t fuck it up.”
“An honor. Truly, Uncle. Thank you,” Tyson said. But he didn’t leave.
I shoved open an exterior door at the top of the staircase, and he went to follow after me. “Go. Lead your people.”
My nephew laughed tensely. “I know you’re going to get Claire. I want to introduce you to someone who can help you. Well,twosomeones.”
I spared a glance at the empty stairwell, then back at him. “You are not coming.”
He went to pat the head of Claire’s white wolf, but it dodged his touch. She climbed the last few steps and came to stand in front of me. I batted her away with my sword. I needed to get moving.
But the wolf growled before her fur began receding like morning mist. Her limbs thickened and lengthened. Her snout shortened. Where there had been four paws now stood a woman.
A woman whom I recognized. “You’re Claire’s sister.”
Except she had moon-white hair. Not lilac. And she was a werewolf?
“Wolves can sense each other when they’re wearing the moonstones,” Tyson said, gesturing to the stone around her neck. “It’s how Shayla knew where to attack us.”
I ignored him, holding the woman’s gaze. She had the same color eyes as Claire. There was a story here, but I didn’t have time to hear it. The only thing I cared about was finding Claire.
“Seraphina?” I asked.
She nodded once.
“That’s your name?” Tyson said.
She rolled her eyes. “I know where she is.”
I grabbed my bloodstone and held it up for her to see. “So do I. All I have to do is follow this.”
“But you don’t know who has her.”
I leaned in. “Who has her?”
She lifted her chin in a way that reminded me of her sister. “Our mother. Angelina Prideaux.”
The breath left my lungs. I knew there was more to Claire’s story, but I hadn’t expectedthis. Then all the disparate pieces I knew about Claire began to slide into place. And I finally understood that this was the thing she hadn’t been able to tell me. That it hadn’t been convent sisters who had filled her head with hate, but the most venomous witch in the Unified Territories.
“Your mother, she’s the one who put that choker on Claire. Isn’t she?”
Sera nodded. “Yes. She convinced her, convinced me, that it was the only thing left to do. But I know she loves you. I’ve never seen my sister so happy.”
I stared into her eyes, eyes that reminded me of my wife’s, and hated that this life, this vicious life that I was giving her, was the happiest she’d been.
“If you want to save her, you’ll need me. Us,” Seraphina said, pointing to a man who had appeared at her side. One I also recognized.Alec.
Anger flared in my chest. He’d been the brown wolf? This whole time? I snatched his shirt and lifted my sword, ready to kill him where he stood for deceiving Claire and me.
Tyson grabbed my blade with his bare hand, stopping me from completing the kill. Blood ran between his fingers, a fierce look in his eyes. “He is here to help. Just like me. And her. You’ll need all of us if you’re going to get Claire back.”
