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Ophelia
The Salien Castle, Schwarzwald
“Faster, and if you can, try to jump higher,” Nathan said. “Let’s go again.” He stood and took an offensive stance, leaving me to figure out how to defend myself. He and Henry had been at it for days—more since they discovered Cole’s purpose on earth. They were determined everyone in the kingdoms would know how to fight and defend themselves by the time we faced off with Cole again.
“I’m not sure I can, but I’ll try,” I said, hesitant since I was never any good at athletics. My brother watched carefully, studying my moves alongside those of Nathan and Henry. If anyone could help me figure out how to get out of a scrape, it was my mischievous brother, Jordan.
“Pivot on your left foot instead of the right, then you’ll be set up to strike with your dominant hand,” Jordan said.
I shifted my weight and did as he suggested. When Nathan came at me, I ducked and swerved on my left foot rather than trying to jump over his sweeping leg. It worked, and I ended up in a prime position to hit him—I didn’t, of course, because he was a hunter and had already anticipated my move before I had even decided to execute it.
“Better. Good job,” Henry said.
Seline, who was still distraught over the loss of her mother, understandably, was going through the motions with little heart. Petra, also worried about her cousin, who was frozen solid, helped Seline through her sit-ups and stretches. It seemed, for now, all we could do was wait to see what Annabell would do and train for something we could not possibly be prepared for.
I was ready to go another round when Parker entered the training field. I felt him before I saw him, as always, and his presence was tense and worried. Nathan stood from his offensive position and glanced at Henry. Others filed out of the castle into the moonlit field, none wearing workout clothing, which meant something had happened and our plans had changed.
“What is it?” I asked, wiping the sweat from my forehead. Parker kissed my cheek and took my hand.
“There was an incident in Schattenland. Hayden was taken,” he said.
“What?” I gasped as my heart bottomed out. Hayden was, without question, one of my favorite people in the forest. She always put everyone else first and was the first to put herself in danger to save someone—which was probably why she was taken.
Ravenna, Jeanine, and Rebecca entered the field, followed by Gerald. If Ravenna’s scowl was any indication, she was fast approaching her tipping point.
“I simply don’t trust anyone anymore,” Ravenna said offhandedly, likely alluding to Annabell’s unusual disappearance. I still couldn’t decide how I felt about it all, even though Parker was quite sure Annabell would not betray us in the long run.
“What happened, exactly?” Nathan asked.
“Cole arrived in Schattenland and destroyed half the castle. His purpose was to retrieve Sutton, but she was protected and removed from the area before he could abduct her. Instead, he took Hayden. I also received news from Jemma. Something has happened to Stella, Nathan. She’s well, but unconscious.”
“What? Why didn’t you lead with that?” Nathan shouted and hurried to gather his things.
Ravenna raised her hands. “I apologize. It’s simply too hard to prioritize the news we receive lately! Everyone has lost something or someone, and I cannot be held to...”
Nathan placed his hand on her shoulder and pursed his lips, the closest he could come to an apology, then said, “I understand. Tell me what we can do, and I’ll speak to Katie and the others.”
Jeanine stepped up. “The villagers are being relocated to Goldene Stadt where they can be better protected by their royal army, given Schattenland’s is still under development. Sutton and Matt are on their way here under Benjamin’s watchful eye. I think we might better protect everyone if we are together.”
“You’re probably right. Separated, they are more likely to be picked out one by one. At least this way, we stand a fighting chance,” Nathan said. “I’ll get Katie and the others and prepare the Organization members still here. We should divide up between here and Goldene Stadt.”
“That sounds appropriate,” Rebecca said. “I will contact someone in the resistance community and check on Stella. They say she was talking to herself before she passed out from the pain. My guess is that she wasn’t speaking to herself but that someone had used a telepathic bonding spell on her. I hope it was Annabell and that we might get some answers.”
I glanced at Parker, but he was focused on their conversation. I shuttered, thinking that he might have to fight against Cole, considering his status as one of the Seven, but I still wasn’t clear what that meant. He wasn’t even a wolf. For that matter, neither was Ethan, so it didn’t make sense to me what was going on. If Cole wanted a pack, why take creatures that were not wolves?
“Fiona is working with Snow non-stop to figure out our next step, but I’m afraid until Cole makes his next move, we may not know what our next step is,” Jeanine said. Gerald wrapped his arm over her shoulder and pulled her close. When they were standing right beside us, I could see the resemblance between them and Parker. I couldn’t figure out why I’d never seen it years before when Rebecca was caring for us, considering she was Jeanine’s twin, but I dismissed those thoughts from my mind because they wouldn’t help us conquer the Darkness.
Parker sighed and tugged my arm. It seemed he’d heard enough and needed a break. I followed him across the rear of the field along the small creek that ran to the first group of village homes. Once we were apart from the others, he sat on the thick grass and stared up at the stars. I sat beside him and wiped my dirty hands on my pants.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“About as okay as anyone can be, I guess. I feel like every time my feet are on solid ground, the rug gets pulled out from under me. Hayden was one of our strongest, and if she’s somehow... I hate to think it, but what if she gets infected again? They said it was really bad the last time.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, but it doesn’t make sense to worry about things that might happen when there is so much else to focus on.”
“There’s that, too. I feel so helpless. Chris is in so much pain just watching Alorna fading, unable to help her. It’s the same way we felt when we couldn’t help the girls. Sierra and Cecily suffered so much, and it killed us when we couldn’t take away their pain.”
“Park, you did everything you could. And look at them now. They’re princesses, for Heaven’s sake,” I reminded him.
“What about Ross? He finally found a girl who just gets him, and he can’t even be with her because he’s stuck researching in that stuffy library. He should be with Jemma, but once again, we’re—”
“Stop, Park.” I clasped his flailing hands and pulled him closer. “Stop. Look around. It’s not perfect, but it’s home. For so long, we worked so hard for our family. We can’t stop now. We have Rebecca back, your parents... Parker, we actually have more now than we did before this whole thing started, and I, for one, want my kingdom back.”
Parker chuckled and leaned against me. “I suppose you do, and you deserve it, my sweet Ophelia.”
“My people suffer in Weisserwald, and if anything remains once Cole’s dreadful misery leaves, then I want to help them. I want to restore it and give the people a glorious kingdom. Obviously, I don’t remember my parents, but everything I’ve read talks about their kindness and how much the people loved them.”
“You’ll be the best Queen, Ophie, and you’re right. Come on, let’s go help them prepare. Heaven knows Jack is probably ready to hunt Cole down himself.” Parker pushed up from the ground and dusted off his hands.
I froze, thinking about Jack. Parker wasn’t entirely wrong, and something told me Jack going rogue was something we should prepare for. I tugged on Parker’s hand before he stepped away.
“Park... What would you do if that happened to me? If Cole came and took me?”
“I’d go on a rampant monster-killing spree until I found out where Cole had taken—oh crap. We need to get to Goldene Stadt before Jack does something insane!”
Parker took off across the field toward Nathan, but I couldn’t say what he had planned. I only knew whatever he did, I was on board. No more sitting around on my haunches waiting for the fight to come to me. I was in the best shape of my life, and if I really wanted my kingdom back, then I had to fight for it. I chased after Parker, who had already pulled Nathan away from the group.
“Nathan, we might have trouble. Can you spare anyone to accompany us to Goldene Stadt?” Parker asked.
“Sure, I could go along. Why?” Nathan asked.
“Jack,” Parker said, but it was enough.
“Get Ulrich and Larkin. We might need some dragons for this. I’ll see if the ladies and Andrew want to join. We should hurry.”
Nathan ran off to gather his people, and I pulled my phone from my pocket. “I’ll call Larkin. I’m sure she’s in the library with her parents and Marissa.”
The library had become the best place to keep the non-magical, non-shifting people safe while also giving them a job to do. They spent their time researching possible cures for whatever Annabell had done to Alorna, the guards, and a few Organization members. Some tried to decipher ancient texts that discussed Cole, at least, what we believed he was thanks to Ava’s memory. And still more searched for anything and everything we might have missed about the curses, Cole’s origin, the merging, and so on. Basically, the library was the place to be if you didn’t feel like sitting around twiddling your fingers awaiting certain death.
Larkin answered after two rings. “Hello?”
“Larkin, we need you and Ulrich on a mission to Goldene Stadt. Cole took Hayden, and we’re worried Jack might—”
“Say no more. We’re on our way.” She hung up a moment before I heard a loud screeching from the front courtyard. The illumination of her flame lit up the night sky.
“Larkin’s ready,” I said to Parker as he explained our plans to Henry.
Jordan tugged on my shirt, awaiting his own orders. Oddly, the kid had become more obedient since discovering our true identity and surviving several near-death experiences. “What should we do?” he asked.
“The villagers from Schattenland are headed to Goldene Stadt for protection. Matt, Sutton, and Benjamin are headed here. Help everyone else prepare, gather food and supplies, the usual.”
Jordan hugged me then disappeared with Petra to get ready. I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was coming—the moment we had been waiting and training for, our go big or go home. Whether we were ready or not, by morning, we would have to fight for our lives.
It didn’t take long for everyone to get ready, considering we had all been living on edge since we arrived in the forest. It felt like ages ago, though it had only been a few weeks. Denise and Andrew entered the field hand-in-hand, quite the item after saving each other’s lives countless times. Nathan, Katie, and Niyah followed with weapons in hand. The moment they stopped beside us, I felt the tension in the air. They were as worried as I was, an unspoken understanding we were about to fight—for real.
“Ready?” Nathan asked, glancing between Parker and me.
Parker looked at me and sucked in a breath. “Ready as we can be.”
Larkin and Ulrich rose over the castle and landed near us in the field. It seemed they were to be our caravan to the Vogel castle, which I thought was a good idea since traveling by land was more dangerous these days. I had no doubt Cole had hellhounds, trolls, and all manner of nasties out hunting for wolves.
Nathan and Katie climbed aboard Ulrich, while Andrew, Denise, and Niyah climbed Larkin like a tree. I was trying to decide which ride would be more comfortable and less crowded when Isla screeched and settled beside her sister. There were a few squawks and grunts, then Larkin lifted her head to the sky and spouted her flame. It seemed Isla was reprimanded but given permission to join anyway.
“It looks like she’s our ride,” Parker said, then hoisted me up.
Riding a dragon had not been on the top of my list of things to learn to do, but the others made it seem easy enough. I reminded myself that even if I fell, the dragons were skilled and would catch me—I hoped.
Parker snuggled in behind me.
“Hey, you have wings,” I said, thinking I trusted riding him a lot more.
“I do, but I tire faster than them. I’ll need to save my energy in case we run into something. Now, hold on and enjoy the ride,” Parker said just as Isla shot into the sky like a rock from a slingshot.