“No.” My hand flew up over my throat. I did not mean to tell him my blood bond was gone. The answer just…came out on its own! How did that happen?
Evereon’s face froze. “What do you mean, ‘no?’”
Before I could try to come up with a lie, panicked footsteps echoed in the stairwell. I turned to see two white-faced maids running out of the stairwell and into the dining hall.
“Captain!” one of them panted, pointing backward toward the stairs. “A-a man is in Miss Bloodstone’s room!”
“He’s…he’s purple!” cried the other.
Evereon wrapped his hand around the hilt of his sword as he marched toward the stairwell. He growled at the maids to get out of his way and then hauled himself up the steps.
I picked up my skirt and followed. I could not have him angering Daigen and getting turned into a goat or some other creature. Luckily, Evereon was slow enough that I could keep up.
Even though I was concerned about how the captain of the Bloodstone army would react when he found Daigen, a biggerquestion burned in my mind—why had I unwillingly given away harmful information? I had no control over my own tongue!
We reached the top of the steps and Evereon barrelled down the hallway toward Astrid’s bedroom. He stopped at the door decorated with a rainbow of flowers with his brows knitted. I stopped in my tracks too.
What froze our feet was not a scream, nor the sound of a struggle, but a giggle, soft as butterfly wings.
She was not supposed to giggle, and yet…
With a croak of encouragement from Endre in my left ear, I pushed open the door to Astrid’s room.
Hilda once said her daughter had lost her mind the day Riyan was born. Nikkolas had said she was broken and only knew five words, one of which being “monster.”
But as I looked at Astrid Bloodstone, sitting in her wheeled chair in the center of her bedroom and tugging on Daigen’s horns, the word “monster” was far from her lips.
Instead, her lips wore a smile.
I never thought I would see Astrid Bloodstone smile. My heart swelled as I watched her play with Daigen in the middle of her bedroom.
Evereon did not feel the same.
He drew his sword. “Get away from her.”
Daigen gently tugged himself out of Astrid’s grip and glared at Evereon. “Oh, a lost little Mydina boy? Far away from the House of wolves, I see.” He raised a hand. “Now would you be more or less ferocious as a wolf? Let’s find out.”
I stepped between Evereon and Daigen’s potential enchantment. “Stop—”
Evereon stepped around me and kept his grip on his sword. “I will not let you terrorize Miss Bloodstone—”
Evereon pulled his sword only an inch out of its sheath before his wrist stilled. Before I could blink, Daigen used his invisible hold on Evereon’s wrist to yank him forward. When Evereon’s face was mere inches from his, Daigen opened his mouth and breathed out a dark frost. The moment the magical mistcurled into Evereon’s nose, his yellow eyes rolled back and he collapsed.
My breath caught in my throat as Evereon crashed to the floor. Astrid did not even blink.
Erik’s and Endre’s wings fluttered on either side of my head and made my heart jump. Erik perched on the top edge of a nearby wardrobe. Endre landed on Evereon’s back and hissed up at Daigen.
“Calm down, wolf boy will wake up soon enough.” Daigen’s horns retreated back into his head. “I’m not a monster.”
He looked down at unconscious Evereon and scoffed. “Terrorize Astrid, what a joke.” He gently held Astrid’s frail hand. “What did you say to me the first time we met?”
Astrid’s grey eyes sparked like thunderclouds and a smile crawled up her face. “Eat shit.”
Did…did I hear her correctly? Of the five words Astrid knew, I was fairly certain none of them were “eat shit.”
I stepped closer and examined Astrid’s flushed face. I looked up at Daigen and shot him another silent question.
Daigen kept hold of Astrid’s hand. “I gave her a memory back—from my mind to hers. Along with the one I took from the healing spring.” He gently stroked Astrid’s temple with his knuckle. “She’s got a few memories in there…bits and pieces that she’s collected over the years visiting the spring.”
