Chapter One Hundred and Forty Seven
“Nyaos was not the only one who escaped; we calculated wrong. Caleb too is out there and free,” Balley says.
“They did this to you?” I questioned, unable to fathom the brutality of the elders.
“I betrayed them; I turned them all in, and then came to take the last one- they let me believe it was only Nyaos left, and just as I had stabbed my brothers and sisters in the back, Caleb did the same to me. In all the centuries I lived, I had never experienced pain so intense that I longed for death. All for what?” Her voice croaked, “All to selfishly gain more power. I should have known you would never do as you said Thane, but maybe my hunger after power blinded my eyes.”
“Bailey, I was never going to rule alongside the elders–one way or the other, I would have killed them after I got my crown,” Thane admitted, and I knew that was the truth; we all knew
that.
Bailey shut her eyes, deciding to ignore us all.
“Bailey, if you want them dead, then you have to give us more details.”
“I don’t have to do a thing; you would discover it all on your own,” she says. She was hiding something; I knew it; we all knew it, but she wasn’t going to reveal what she hid. Thane didn’t push her either.
“Fine, you would be attended to by the healers; you should remain in this pack; this way you would be safer, if you change your mind about talking, then you know where to meet us.” Thane says, but Bailey’s eyes remained shut.
Thane headed for the door, and I followed.
We returned back to our room, and Axel tagged along.
“What do you think they did to her?”
“The elders are ruthless sets of individuals. I had never seen an elder torture another, but I’ve heard of their ruthless method of torturing other people. For a very graceful set of people, they could be quite animalistic.” Thane says.
“Nyaos is an elemental, and why that is a cool gift, Caleb’s is even worse; some say he is a descendant of Hades, but I don’t believe it; I think his ability is more of a curse than a gift. He could seize life from anything living; this way he gets stronger; he had made sure she was weak enough, that explains why she looks so… tiny. More to that, she must have been assaulted in other ways,” Axel added.
“Physically or… Sexually?” I asked, mortified.
“Clearly both,” Thane answers, “Nyaos and Bailey had a thing going on some centuries ago; they separated, but I guess Nyaos never did let it go.”
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Chapter One Hundred and Forty Seven
“And then the betrayal–it had added to their furry,” I sald, feeling a slight shiver that didn’t have to do with the weather. I couldn’t imagine what Balley had gone through.
“I had no idea Caleb still lives.” Thane admitted, “They could have killed her, I guess they were trying to send us a message – yet another threat from them”
“You are right, that must have been their intention” Axel agreed.
Thane’s gaze returned to me. “What had you been doing out there Riley?” he asked.
That was the one question I thought I had dodged.
“Yeah… what were you doing out there?“Axel questioned along. I guess there was no escaping
this.
“I just needed some air.”
“You didn’t tell me that; you told me you would be ‘right back,” Thane says.
I couldn’t tell them what I saw, but what other options did I have? Lying w caught.
only get me
“Then maybe I should know what exactly you both were doing in the ‘secret‘ room.”
“That’s where you went to?” Axel asked.
“I had seen Beatrix coming from that same way, and I was curious.”
“That still doesn’t explain why you were in the woods.”
“I saw the pictures–the one pinned to the wall–why were they there?”
Axel and Thane exchanged glances. “Riley” Thane began, “Not everyone is happy about the new changes; it shouldn’t be exactly shocking that we monitor their movements, just to be on the safer side.” Thane explained slowly, like he was talking to a child who had issues understanding things.
“Had that been what got you reeled up?” Thane inquired.
“I don’t know exactly what I was thinking, but sometimes I feel like I do not know you both well enough; I feel like you guys are hiding something from me.”
“You know everything you need to know. Riley I only ask you to be more cautious; there were a lot of guests; something bad could have happened to you, right under my nose.” Thana scolded gently.
“I know, and I’m sorry if I left you worrying,” I said. “I’m sorry Axel”
“That’s okay”
Deep down I couldn’t kick away this feeling; there was something more to those pictures, and I knew it, but I wasn’t going to push that anymore; we had more issues to worry about, like
Chapter One Hundred and Forly Seven
the elders, who were both very much alive.
