Page 80 of The Hidden Falling
The connection I thought I had with him was wrong. All the times we were locked in each other’s gazes, seeing more than we thought possible of each other every single time.
We were both wrong in what we saw.
I thought I saw good in him that I could claw out, he only saw the bad in me.
I wonder where they took Kade? Is he with his mom and dad? Is Josh with the rest of my pack back in a cell somewhere like I am? I look across from me and see no movement again. Where are they if they aren’t down here?
I gently rest my hands on my thighs, my skin feeling hot as I try to relax my body the best I can with the feeling of lava racing up and down my back. I close my eyes and check on Runa. She’s sleeping, just as exhausted as I am. I rest along with her, try to take my mind elsewhere and find some sort of peace.
I don’t think I will ever have it permanently, only snippets here and there. In the last twenty-one years, I could count the number of times I felt true peace on my hands. It’s depressing to think how little I have felt that way.
Have the Gods really abandoned us? I think this is the first time I truly feel like they have, even if everything within me recoils at the thought.
It feels like hours before I hear a scuffle sound from in front of me, and when I open my eyes again and toward the bars, a face I haven’t seen in a very long time is looking back with distraught eyes. He’s aged slowly over the years, but he still looks very much like the man I met all those years ago. His midnight eyes look over at me, concern written on his face as he grips the bars in front of him tightly.
“Rhea,” he breathes, and I hold back a sob at the sorrow in it. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here. I didn’t know there was even a trial until it was too late.” He shakes his blond head, bowing it as he speaks low. “This should have never happened.”
“It’s not your fault, Edward,” I assure him, because it isn’t. He’s done nothing but protect me. “This was always going to happen at some point. We both knew that.” It was inevitable.
“Are you okay?” he asks, sighing as he looks over at the state of me.
A hollow laugh leaves me. “I’ve been better.” I rub a hand down my face, trying to ignore the flakes of dried blood coming off it. “Have you seen anyone else?” He shakes his head. “I need you to get Kade and my pack out of here. Can you do that?”
“I’m not sure, Rhea. The other Highers have been having meetings without me, excluding me from important business and sending me on useless trips to other towns and villages. I don’t know what’s going on lately, but I sense nothing good from it.”
“You have to try. They said they saw me perform a ritual to bring the rogures to Vrohkaria. How is that possible?” I don’t even know of any rituals that would bring chaos to the lands.
“I don’t know. Memory stones cannot be altered, but it must be possible. I haven’t heard of it ever happening before, I will have to search in the library, see if I can find anything in the old tomes.”
“Do you believe I did it,” I whisper, my voice shaky.
Edwards goes to his knees, uncaring that his smart black pants will be dirty as his hands still grip the bars, his eyes hold mine. “Gods no, Rhea. You would never do such a thing.”
My lip trembles at his unwavering faith in me, and I want nothing more than to go to him and seek the comfort that I know he would offer me. Just to have someone hold me for a second.
“Kade said his memories returned, but I think they have also altered them, Edward. He wasn’t making any sense.” I sniffle and wipe under my nose, pretending I don’t hear the chains rattle. “Who is powerful enough to do that? It took you years to produce the memory stone that blocked Kade’s memories from what happened with the Aragnis pack. How do they have enough power to bring them back, but also to change them?”
“Lord Higher Charles holds the most power. He could do something like that with a high-level witch. All of our powerful witches haven’t been at the castle for a few weeks though. Lord Higher Charles sent them off to collect something for him. He didn’t tell me what.” His face holds frustration as his hands squeeze against the bars.
“So, Charles got to him then, but why? What does he benefit from messing with Kade’s memories?”
“Seeing you suffer,” he murmurs, his eyes dropping at his own words. “He thought you were dead for a long time, Rhea. He’s going to make you suffer for escaping him in any way he can.” His hands release the bars, and he runs them through his hair, sighing.
“How powerful is he, really?” I know his dominance is strong. I know what he can do with his hands and some magic. But how does he hold the position of Lord Higher.
“He is a wolf and more,” Edward says, and I tilt my head. “He has power that no one has seen and can use it as he sees fit. I was told of the barrier you were surrounded by in the great hall. That is part of his power.” I swallow, memories flashing through my mind of the pain it caused me from touching it. “He can do more than that, and no one knows why. Some say he’s the new God, after the old ones abandoned the lands, their names and Heirs are ash in the mouths of anyone whispering about them, and never in kindness.” He looks up at me quickly before looking away again.
“What is it?” There’s something on his mind but he won’t tell me.
“Rhea…” he trails off.
“If I need to know, Edward, then I need to know. No matter how much you don’t want to tell me.”
He sits down, crossing his legs as he leans his forehead against the bars, a look of defeat spreading across his face. “Charles has been searching for someone like you since you left and couldn’t be found.” I blink, my brows furrowing. “He’s been going from pack to pack, trying to find others that might be… suitable.”
“What do you mean,” I whisper, dreading his answer.
“He’s been training up young pups until they are old enough to see if they show any similar signs,” he tells me regretfully, and I choke on a sound, shaking my head at what he’s telling me. “I can’t prove it, he covers his tracks well, but I know he’s been doing it. I can’t stop it.”
