Page 70 of A Castle of Broken Memories

“If you’re dead to the alpha, you’re dead to the pack.”

“Are you serious right now?” Tenebris rasped. “Am I the only sane person in this gods damned place? I saved her life.”

“You left my mate to die.” I gave him one last glare while Abuela brushed past me, shooing the others into the house. “Did you really think I’d be okay with that?”

Rain streaked down Tenebris’s face in rivulets as he met my glare with a steely-eyed one of his own. “Honestly, Mari? Yeah, I kind of did. And do you know why?”

My fingers clenched into fists, claws piercing the soft skin of my palms. When I didn’t answer, his lip curled into a sneer. “’Cause you’re a fucking cold-hearted bitch.”

His words hit me like a slap to the face, the truth making them hurt that much more. He was right, I had been a bitch, and not just under his previous dark influence. But people were allowed to grow and change, and I’d worked hard to soften some of my sharper edges over the past two years. No, I’d never be as sweet and thoughtful as Lyall or as compassionate as Gretchen, but who cared? Not me.

“Fuck you, Ten.”

Hurt flickered through his eyes, but it was gone in a blink, replaced by a bitter hardness. “Yeah, well, been there, done that. Be honest, Mari—is there anyone in the forest you haven’t fucked?”

I turned and stepped inside the house, slamming the door in his face.

“He doesn’t have anywhere else to go, you know,” Abuela said quietly, the barest hint of reproach in her tone as she handed me a teal blue towel to dry off with. Annabelle and Danny had already been sent off to shower and change into some of the spare clothes Abuela kept on hand (werewolves being notorious garment shredders), leaving me to crowd around the tiny breakfast table with her and a stormy-eyed Calum.

“He called me a slut, and you’re worried about him being out in a little rain?” I scoffed, vigorously rubbing down my mop of curls. “Real nice, Abuela.”

“He has a fragile heart.” Abuela pinned me with a look. “And you know he didn’t mean it.”

“Whatever,” I grumbled. “It doesn’t even matter. All I want to think about right now is how the hell I’m going to get back in that castle before Jack…” I swallowed. “Before it’s too late.”

Abuela nodded. “I’ll put the kettle on, and you fill me in on everything I’ve missed.”

“Since sending me off to investigate a mysterious call for help?” This time it was me giving Abuela the look. “Admit it—you knew it was Jack the whole time, didn’t you?”

She shrugged. “Well, yes. Who else could it have been, when I know for a fact he’d either have to be dying or in distress for this to come off his hand?” She dug into the pocket of her hand-knitted (and somewhat lumpy) cardigan and pulled out a wide, silver band.

“Jack’s bonding ring.” I thumbed the bare skin of my middle finger where mine would have been had I not given it away. Damn. I should have made Tenebris return it before sending him off. But… how do you have it?”

She placed the band on the table, and I instinctively reached for it, my own ring warming at its mate’s proximity. “Believe it or not, it came flying up out of the well the other day. Smacked me right in the side of the face while I was trimming the begonias.” She rubbed her cheek with a grimace. “Stung like the devil.”

I turned the ring over in my palm, an image of its owner dancing through my mind. “How’d you know it came from the Sky Castle?”

“I didn’t,” Abuela admitted. “There are many wishing wells throughout the world, and they’re all connected by a web of magical portals. It could have fallen through any one of them and it would have come here regardless, drawn to its mated pair.” She arched a wrinkled brow. “Had you not lent yours to Tenebris so he could pass through the barrier and come here, it probably would have flown through one of the wells inside the forest and been picked up by some passing sprite or another. Lucky thing he was here, no?”

I ignored her less-than-subtle message regarding He Who Was Dead To Me. “You still haven’t answered my question—how did you know Jack was trapped up there?”

Abuela sat in the chair beside me, placing her hand over mine while she met my gaze. “Because I saw how much that boy loved you. The way he lit up whenever you were near. I hadn’t seen someone that smitten since your abuelo started courting me, all those years ago. And to leave with nothing more than a hastily-written note?” She shook her head. “It never sat right with me. So when that ring showed up, and I ran through all of the possible wells it could have come from, it finally clicked. He’d climbed that damnable beanstalk and gotten himself into trouble in typical Jack-fashion, only this time he hadn’t had you along to get him out of it.”

“Noah was with him,” I confirmed. “Who, by the way, knew he was up there this entire time but was too chicken shit to fess up. He faked the note about Jack leaving to cover the whole thing up.” Ooh, when I got my claws on that bastard…

“Little Noah.” Abuela tsked. “Who would have thought?”

“Trust me, I’ll be extracting a long and excruciating explanation from him in the future.” I flexed my fist over Jack’s ring. “But right now all that matters is getting Jack out.”

I proceeded to catch her up on everything that’d happened since climbing the beanstalk—minus a few of the spicier moments—while she poured three mugs of steaming hot tea. Calum interjected a gruff word or two but remained quietly pensive for the most part. When I finished, Abuela was already nodding her head.

“So you need to get back in the castle, but the beanstalk has mysteriously disappeared? And the giants have returned and are looking to crush some bones.”

I sighed, a wave of helplessness washing over me. “That pretty much sums it up.” I slid Jack’s ring onto my finger, spinning the large band in slow circles. “You said this ring came flying through the portal on its own?”

She nodded. “That’s right.”

Hopeful excitement bubbled up inside my chest. “Does that mean we can pass through the portals if we’re wearing our rings? Like we do with the forest barrier?” Visions of climbing down the well immediately danced through my head, and I was halfway out of my chair before Abuela placed a staying hand on my wrist.