“No.” Skye dug her heels in, but Austin was stronger. He propelled her forward into the room with enough force that she stumbled against the cot.
“I’m sorry it’s come to this,” he said, though his tone suggested otherwise. “But your father is right. You need time to clear your head.”
“Austin, please?—”
“Rest. Think about what you’re throwing away. What we could build together.” He stepped back into the corridor, his hand on the door. “I’ll come check on you tomorrow. Perhaps by then you’ll be more receptive to reason.”
The door slammed shut. The lock scraped. Footsteps receded up the stairs, taking the light of the guards’ torches with them.
Skye stood frozen in the dim chamber, the single torch casting dancing shadows across the damp walls. Slowly, numbly, she sank onto the cot, her legs finally giving out beneath her.
The silence pressed in around her, broken only by the distant drip of water somewhere in the darkness. She wrapped her armsaround herself, suddenly cold despite the warmth of the day above.
Everything she’d believed about her life, about her father, about her place in the world—all of it had been built on lies. He hadn’t wanted a child. He’d wanted an heir. A tool to extend his power and control across time itself.
And when she’d proven inconvenient to that plan, when she’d dared to question, to resist, he’d locked her away as casually as he might store an unwanted artifact.
I’m not his daughter. I never was.
The realization brought a sob rising in her throat, but she choked it back. Crying wouldn’t help. Wouldn’t change anything. Wouldn’t free her or save Emily or?—
Noah.
His face rose in her mind, strong and determined, his eyes holding hers on the tower that night. The way he looked at her in the library when she finally accepted the truth about the portals. The trust in his expression, the warmth of his hand pressing hers to his chest.
They’re as real as I am. As what I feel for you.
As whatshefelt for him. As what they’d shared in that kiss. And now she’d never see him again and he’d never know why.
Her father would send them away. Noah and his family would be forced to leave and take Emily with them.
And she would be trapped here in this darkness until she either bent to her father’s will or?—
Or what? Remained locked away forever? Married off to Austin against her will? Became another tool in the Keeper’s collection as long as she proved useful? And when she was not, would she be as expendable and replaceable as any of his discards?
Skye pulled her knees to her chest, resting her forehead against them as the full weight of her situation crashed over her.Somehow, they’d made sure Keir wouldn’t know where she was. Her father had made sure of that, choosing guards loyal only to him to escort her to this isolated cell.
No one was coming to rescue her.
No one even knew where to look.
The torch flickered, sending shadows skittering across the walls like living things. Skye watched them dance, her mind numb with shock and grief and a desperate, clawing fear she’d never experienced before.
She’d been so certain of her world, of her place in it. So confident that her father’s love, whatever his methods, was genuine. That beneath the strict rules and careful control, he wanted what was best for her.
But Noah had seen the truth long before she had. He’d questioned, challenged, pushed her to look beyond the comfortable lies she’d wrapped herself in.
And she’d fought him. Defended her father. Chosen blind loyalty over uncomfortable truths.
Until it was too late.
Fresh tears threatened, and this time she didn’t fight them. They slipped down her cheeks, hot and bitter as she mourned not just her lost freedom but the father she’d never really had. The life she’d believed was hers. The future she thought she was building with every bit of expertise she gained, every book she read, every hour she spent trying to be worthy of him.
All an illusion. A pretty cage cleverly disguised as love.
But even now, even locked away in the darkness with her world shattered around her, one certainty remained. One truth, free of any pretense.
Noah.
