“Gianna, go find Leigh. Tell her I trust she’ll negotiate my release,” I say. I have to. Believing in her is our only option. She will save me.
Marlowe doubles back. “If you stay, then I stay.”
We hold each other’s gaze, and I find myself at a loss for words. A part of me wants to tell her no, to insist that I don’t need or want her company, that this sacrifice to regain my respect is nothing more than an empty gesture. But thewords never come. They get caught in my throat as conflicting emotions wage war within me.
Lost in the moment, I barely register the approaching danger until it’s too late. By the time I come to my senses, the wolves have already arrived, their menacing presence sending a chill down my spine. Gianna needs to leave.
“Go, now. We will distract them,” I tell her.
Gianna squeezes my bicep. “Stay alive, you big idiot,” she says before racing away.
Marlowe and I turn around in tandem, our hands raised in surrender. Hundreds of wolves and a tall, sinister-looking man resembling Alden with the same light eyes, but darker hair emerge from the shadows, their presence overwhelming in the clearing.
“Well, well,” Zeus sings, his voice dripping with malice. “Isn’t this special, Alden? Two commanders for the price of one.”
Alden nods, shouldering through the crowd of wolves to stand beside Zeus. His eyes, usually so expressive, are cold and unreadable. Was Leigh able to get into his dreams? Did they talk? Is he on our side or his brother’s?
“Guess it’s our lucky night,” he says, as if bored.
Zeus howls to the absent moon, and the sound prickles my scalp. His followers, in human and wolf form, surround us. They force Marlowe and me to our knees. Magic-reducing cuffs clamp around our wrists with a sickening finality.
As they haul us to our feet, I catch Alden’s gaze, searching for any sign of the man who once claimed to seek peace, but his eyes remain shuttered, betraying nothing as his men drag us back to camp.
With each stumbling step in the sand, my mind races with a single, terrifying thought: if Alden has abandoned us, if Leigh failed to convince him, then our fate is sealed. The wolves’ cruelty knows no bounds.
But even as fear claws at my heart, I cling to hope that our sacrifice will not be in vain, that our friends will make it to safety and find a way to end this war. Either way, Alden will reveal his true colors between now and morning.
I pacethe Blade garrison courtyard. Each second is an eternity. With every movement in my periphery, I pray that Wilder and the others are returning from their mission. But the silence only grows.
Where the hell are they?
Alden’s words from my dream replay in my mind like a haunting melody. Maybe he was playing mind games, and my friends are okay. But the disquiet in my gut refuses to subside, twisting and turning like an eel.
“Quit it,” Isolde says for the umpteenth time. “They will be back any minute.”
The front door flies open, and Brigid enters, holding the hand of a girl who must be Ravi’s sister. She has his same round face, friendly eyes, and guarded smile.
“Sama?” I ask.
The girl flies into my arms. Her body shakes with sobs. “I’m so sorry!” she cries. “I should have stayed and helped them.”
I hold her close, stroking her hair. “What happened?” I stare at the door, desperate for Wilder to walk through it and take me in his arms, to promise everything is okay.
But Brigid only walks over to the bar cart and pours herself a large drink, downing it in one gulp before pouring another. The door remains closed, Wilder nowhere to be seen.
“What happened?” I demand, suddenly unable to breathe.
Sama’s sobs intensify. “We left them and?—”
Gianna, Stellan, and my grandmother stumble into the garrison. My exhale is audible with relief, but my expression quickly falls when I see Wilder is not with them. Neither is Marlowe. My ears begin to ring as Stellan sets my grandmother on her feet with care. Despite his gentleness, the sight of him ignites fury in my chest. This man was going tosellmy country to the wolves. But I lock eyes with my grandmother, and a sob bubbles to the surface. I go to her.
Handing Sama to Pallas, I rush to my grandmother’s side with tears in my eyes. “Grandmother,” I say, pulling her away from Stellan.
“Leigh, something happened,” Gianna announces, but I barely hear her as I gather my grandmother in my arms. Gods, I missed her.
My stomach roils. She’s been Zeus’s prisoner, and I had no idea. I believed she was in Glaucus this whole time, ignoring me after the news about Fynn broke, angry with me for making a mess of my time as queen, failing to unite the Council as she suggested. Instead, Zeus kidnapped her, and by her pungent smell, he abused her during her captivity. I grimace.
“If I had known, I would have come to find you,” I whisper.
