*Isla*
Poppy clutches the back of the couch, her freshly manicured fingernails gleaming in the light of the antique chandelier hanging over our heads. I wait to say anything until I hear Ben and Maddox’s footsteps recede down the hallway and out of earshot. Then, I turn to her, sighing as I meet her eyes and ask, “Is this what you want?”
“Yes,” she replies with finality, giving me a soft smile. “I love him, Isla. He loves me. And based on what happened today–” she sighs heavily, her eyes glassy with sudden emotion. “The Goddess has been looking out for us, hasn’t she? She let Mystica give you a final, although extremely strange, gift of a vision before she died peacefully with us surrounding her. And she led me to my mate, despite all odds. I want to be with him, even if that means I have to leave your side.”
“You’ll also have a home here,” I say softly, trying not to cry. Today has been… very hard. Very sad. Very trying. My body feels wasted with grief as I lower myself onto a chaise, crossing my aching legs. First I lose Mystica, now Poppy? I suck in a breath, then laugh, shaking my head before saying, “I’m being selfish.”
“You’re not being selfish,” Poppy grins, her smile lighting up the room. “You’re just upset your best friend is leaving. Who is going to make you laugh and push your buttons now? Trinity?” She blows a raspberry, and I laugh even harder. “If you ever call her your best friend, I’ll come back here and wring your neck, Isla. That’s a promise. Don’t think I don’t have eyes among the maids and servants.”
I smile weakly as she wiggles her eyebrows at me, doing her best to try to lighten the mood.
“I’ll miss you,” I manage to say, sniffling.
“I’ll miss you,” she repeats, then sits down next to me, taking my hands in hers. She runs her fingertips over my new ring, smiling to herself. “Antony told me Maddox was in a fit during the trials over proposing to you. That’s why I didn’t tell you we were planning on leaving just yet. Antony made me promise–for Maddox’s sake. Imagine Elijah and Trinity suddenly being so in love that he asked Maddox to marry and solidify their bond on the same night he was planning to propose to you.”
“No wonder Maddox was acting so strange,” I say to myself, thinking back on Maddox’s behavior that night. I’d never seen him so nervous and tense with pent up energy and frustration. I grin, then tell her about how the sprinkler system had turned on just when Maddox had started to relax. She laughs with me, the two of us falling into a pleasant, very normal conversation talking about our mates and their sometimes strange little quirks.
Who else could I possibly talk to about these things now? Hestia? Trinity?
“Do you think the vision was true? That we’re missing something?” Poppy asks.
“Apparently, we’re missing a necklace the Goddess herself used to wear around her neck,” I reply with a heavy sigh, leaning back against the chaise. “It’s just one thing after another–”
“Well, it’s obviously on Maatua, based on what you saw,” Poppy quips, exhaling. “I’ll find it. What else am I supposed to do with my time?”
“Be the Luna Queen of an entire island kingdom? Raise a baby?”
“Hmm… Sure, but how hard can that be?” She nudges me with her shoulder, laughing at my expense.
* * *
Elijah is like a shadow in the castle–a ghost, slipping in and out of darkened corners. I don’t think he can help it, honestly. He’s light on his feet, his steps not making a sound as he walks around. There has been a time or two when I walk past an unassuming darkened hallway only to have him rush out of the shadows, scaring me to death. Not on purpose, of course, and he’s always apologetic. He doesn’t seem entirely comfortable here yet, which I understand completely. This pack, this court, this home? Well, it can take some getting used to, especially as an outsider.
The good thing about Elijah is that he can creep around the castle without his footsteps waking Isaac up, especially since Isaac has started to stir to even the softest or most distant sound. But Elijah keeps Trinity busy, happy, and in line.
I often wonder what his home life used to be like. I’d heard the story about how he nearly decapitated his brother as a child. He is obviously a fearsome and practiced warrior. But there’s a true darkness about him that breaks my heart, like his quiet demeanor was something born out of survival.
Maddox seems to like him. My mate is actually more at ease with Elijah by his side than I’ve ever seen him before.
And now, as we stand in the grand foyer at the head of the castle watching Antony and Poppy bicker over her trunks and suitcases, I stand with Maddox and his new Beta, wondering what the hell is coming next for us here in the kingdom.
“Isla hasn’t shifted in months,” Maddox says to Elijah, then his eyes drift to meet mine. “She knows less of the lay of the land than you do. Maybe you could take her out and explore.”
Elijah glances at me, looking me up and down before facing the group gathered to pack up Poppy and Antony’s things before their drive to the port.
“I’d be honored to escort the Luna,” Elijah says formally. I glare at Maddox, who has a smug grin on his face. He’s been trying to get me to shift for a while now, saying something about it lessening some of my… sexual aggression toward him. Well, he didn’t seem to have a problem with that, that's for sure.
Still, Maddox is right. I haven't shifted since long before Isaac was born, and I can feel the effects of it starting to bite at my skin. Plus, it would give me a chance to ask Elijah the burning questions that have been on my mind since I first laid eyes on the mysterious brother of a pack so far over on our borders, most of the time they were forgotten.
“Maybe tomorrow,” I say, pursing my lips. I go over my mental calendar, wondering if I have a two hour long block with no pressing matters pertaining to my title.
Poppy approaches us, smirking as Antony starts to carry out her luggage. “He says I packed half the castle, and the boat will be weighed down.”
“He’s stressed about the situation in Maatua,” Maddox corrects, and for a moment I notice a flicker of unease flash behind his eyes. He’d told me all about what Antony had mentioned to him. There is unrest in Maatua, whispers of dark magic and possible rebellion. Antony claims that he believed there isn’t weight to either issue. But his demeanor and obvious agitation makes me think he is walking into a big mess back home.
“We’re ready for you now, in the dining room.” Hestia moves into view, bobbing her head to Maddox and I. I reach for his hand, knitting my fingers in his as we all begin to follow Hestia out of the foyer.
Ben and a gaggle of maids and nurses are already in the dining room, everyone vibrating with nervous energy. Practically everyone is holding some trinket–a mortar and pestle, a knit cap, a bundle of rare herbs, so on and so forth. Mystica has left behind a list of instructions on what should happen to her, and her things, upon her death.
I swallow thickly as Hestia motions for me, Maddox, Ben, and Poppy to sit down at the table, which is littered with papers and small wooden boxes. Mystica had a ton of stuff, which I find interesting. Especially since she came from Maatua with practically nothing.
I peer into the boxes, seeing a random assortment of things like dried flowers, bones, rocks, and twigs. Strange. But, Mystica was an odd duck, so I can’t be that surprised.
We’d buried her this morning on a bluff overlooking a sweeping forest valley. That had been her wish, to be buried here, near her friends. But a lock of her hair was currently packed away with Poppy’s things, meant to be taken to the waterfall on Maatua upon Poppy’s arrival and given–in Mystica’s own words–back to the water that once brought her back to life.
I’m still reeling after seeing the vision of Mystica as a young teenager, being assaulted so violently and then submerged in the water by what I believed to be her family. Had she known the price of her survival had been outliving those she loved as the waters powers kept her alive until–until— I sucked in my breath, realizing something for the first time.
Mystica should have died weeks ago when she had her first stroke. She hadn’t been released into the arms of the Goddess until that moment because the Goddess had one more task for her… to show me a truth I still didn’t understand.
“Are you all right?” Maddox whispers into my ear, his voice sending gooseflesh ripples over my arms.
“Yes,” I reply shakily, blinking back tears.
Hestia stands before us trying to find a key to open a large wooden box sitting on the table to no avail. She lifts up a piece of paper, squinting at it before sighing deeply and pushing the box in my direction. “There’s no key, apparently. She wrote that you need to open it.”
“Me?”
“With your powers?”
I stare up at Hestia, barely noticing Trinity walking up to the table.
“Zap it with your finger, and see what happens,” Poppy urges, her face lighting up with childlike curiosity. Trinity nods in agreement, transfixed as I look down at my hand.
“Zap it?” I laugh lightly, wiggling my fingers. I feel the warmth of my powers tingle in my fingertips before I press my finger to the large padlock holding the box closed and let my powers flow into the metal. The entire box erupts in blue light that has the nurses and maids screeching in surprise, but then a few nervous laughs echo around the room as the light fades. The lock itself disintegrates into a charred pile of burnt metal on the dining room table. Hestia frowns at the mess, but her eyes are filled with wonder as I slowly open the box and peer inside.
Several bundles wrapped in brown paper and tied in ribbons sit in the box. Our names are written on the paper in Mystica’s neat, looping scrawl. I reach inside and hand a bundle to Poppy, then Maddox, then Ben, then…
“Me?” Trinity whispers, hesitating before she accepts the heavy bundle I hand to her.
Antony has a bundle too, but he’s nowhere to be found.
I reach for the last three bundles, finding one for myself, one for Isaac, and one for…
“Who’s Ella?” Poppy asks.
“I don’t know,” I whisper, setting the mysterious bundle on the table.
“This feels like Winter Solstice,” Ben whispers, mostly to himself, as he shakes his bundle.
“You go first, Isla,” Maddox says, taking Isaac’s bundle from my hands. I smile, tearing open the bundle and looking down at a small, worn book with no title and leather cover. I pull a piece of dried lavender from between the pages, but when I open the book, there is no text inside.
“How strange,” I say over the sound of paper ripping and people remarking about their own gifts.
Ben got a dagger, something ancient but sharper than I thought was safe. Poppy marvels at a raw opal that casts rainbows over the table. Maddox inspects an old fashioned lighter made of what looks like pure gold, the insignia of the kingdom etched on the side. He flicks on the flame, and it’s a pure, deep red, not the typical blue.
Elijah peers over Trinity’s shoulder, looking down at a dainty chain of pure gold.
Poppy open’s Antony’s bundle, finding an ornate box made of jade, the inside softened by silver velvet.
Isaac’s gift is a locket with mirrors inside.
I look around, watching everyone stare at their strange gifts. What does any of this mean? And do I feel like these random presents obviously packed during her last days mean something much more than just goodbye?
I look down at the book in my hands, flipping through the pages as Maddox picks up the bundle with the name Ella written on it.
“I’ll ask around,” he says to someone behind him, but I’m not paying attention to him, or anyone else in the room as I gaze down on a single word that has just appeared on a page.
Prepare.
The words fade, the ink disappearing into the hand pressed paper.