Page 38

Annalise

T hese beasts are nothing like the beasts I was raised to fear—the creatures I was created to battle. They are magnificent in a terrifying way. The way the beast who attacked us moves and fights with the smoky exterior that is his beast form is something I’ve never seen before. My body felt like it was on fire, completely opposite from the effect Elias and even Cyrus’s beast forms had when coming into contact with my skin.

I release a shuddering breath as I lift my hand in front of the fire, studying it. For three days, I have been forced to remain on the edge of this camp with no news of Cyrus or the others. Only Joan remains by my side, but even as she tries to hide it, I can tell something has happened to her mind as well.

She seems different.

I am me once again. I am a human, or rather, a hybrid among beasts. I am as weak as ever now that Cyrus’s seal has somehow been blocked. Joan was right. We have no idea what we are up against, and I am back to square one, my revenge snatched from me in an instant, leaving me at the mercy of beasts. And in the grand scheme of things, my revenge now feels like such a selfish and ridiculous decision that almost cost everyone their lives.

I’ve never felt such defeat before. Even as my life changed and my village was destroyed, I had Dimitri, and we had a future. In the midst of the war, I had a chance to turn the tides and not only become more in Cyrus’s eyes but save humanity. And when I left, my new life waited for me with Ciel by my side. There was always a bright side to my defeat. I was always optimistic about the future.

But now, I am at a loss. I don’t know how this gets better. In these beasts eyes, I am nothing. I am not even worthy of carrying Cyrus’s seal to protect myself. I am…a perversion of nature who can’t even speak in the presence of these beasts.

I release a bitter chuckle.

If I think of everything that’s happened in my life, maybe they are right. I shouldn’t exist. My existence has only brought pain and suffering to everyone I have ever cared about.

“Who would have thought you could actually follow orders.”

I tense, whipping around to see Cyrus exiting the brush. He looks as battered as I’ve ever seen him. His hair isn’t pulled into a tight knot but disheveled as it freely falls down his back. He’s shirtless, revealing the deep black bruises on his chest and abdomen, stretching around to his back. And for once, he looks tired.

I release a soft gasp as my training kicks in, moving to bow.

“Your Ma—”

“Don’t,” Cyrus interrupts, holding his hand up. He studies me intensely, releasing a deep breath as he calls to Joan.

“Leave us,” he says.

I note that Joan hesitates slightly, and I know Cyrus notices it too but says nothing as she bows and makes her way toward the beast camp. I heave a trembling breath as I wait for his wrath to descend upon me. Once again, I am responsible for this situation. I disobeyed him, left the palace, and led a small group of his own in that betrayal. All while leaving Ciel behind.

I disobeyed his firm order that he repeated on more than one occasion, taking advantage of his rare show of kindness in the process. The last time I did this, he took Ciel from me after cracking open my skull. I can’t imagine what he has in store for me now.

I remain as still as I can as he approaches, my breathing trembling the closer he comes. And it isn’t until I feel his fingers around my shoulders that I realize just how tense I am. But instead of crushing my bone beneath his grip or shaking me for my disobedience, he pulls me into him.

He’s warm, and his breathing is deep as his hands slip over my waist and into my hair, holding me flush against him. He doesn’t speak. He only breathes until his breathing is in sync with mine.

“I’m sorry—”

“Don’t insult us both, Annalise. You are only sorry because everything went wrong. You disobeyed me, lured an enemy straight to you, exposed my weaknesses, and have been stripped of my seal…possibly our son,” Cyrus says.

My eyes widen, and I pull out of his embrace to respond.

“No. I don’t want to hear it. I told you I would handle this. Had you not been here, they would have cleaned up this mess for me, and I would have returned home to you and Ciel. But you just had to…” Cyrus takes a deep breath and looks at the sky.

I can barely breathe as Cyrus fights with himself. He obviously wants to react in anger, but something is stopping him.

“Why, Anna? Why couldn’t you just listen to me? Do you think you no longer have to follow my rule because I revealed my affection to you? I am your king. I am their king!“ he adds, gesturing toward the forests Joan left to leave us alone.

“You have caused your own subjects to be stripped of their titles, accomplishments, and any chances of having positions in my kingdom because I can no longer trust them, and that is if I can ever return home,” he says.

“You have jeopardized everything because you could not see the bigger picture. If you want to be queen, if you want to rule, you always put your subjects first. And you have placed them last. You have cost them… everything. You have cost my kingdom everything. You have cost your son everything. Do you understand what I am telling you, Annalise?“ he asks.

He grips my shoulders when I don’t respond, his eyes searching mine. I note that his pupils have sharpened into small slits as he controls himself.

When I don’t respond, he scoffs in irritation, looking away from me.

“Of course you don’t. You were raised among peasants who died to keep your existence a secret. And while you may not have reached your potential in that regard, you still have managed to take down the beast you were created to destroy,” he says.

I shake my head as my chest tightens from his words. He’s cutting and splicing everything he once said to me in the past, making it make sense in this moment as if I am inadvertently his enemy.

“I didn’t mean for this to happen—”

“Of course you didn’t. Everything just gravitated to you as it usually does. Elias, his kingdom, all of it. I exposed myself because of you. I drew these foreigners’ attention trying to find you. If you had just… remained by my side in the first place, kept Ciel here where he belonged, none of this would have happened. If you had just remained silent and let Elias goad you instead of turning on me in front of my subjects, none of this would have happened. But that isn’t how things went. Just as you always do, you acted before thinking, and it has cost me dearly this time.”

I furiously blink back my tears as his words make me feel much smaller than they ever have before. He heaves another deep breath, and it makes me realize just how frazzled he must be. He’s trying his hardest to control himself.

“Cyrus, I know I messed up—”

Cyrus scoffs. “Messed up? I am being taken from my home. Ciel is being forced to come with me. And the only reason I convinced him to let you live is because I revealed Ciel’s existence. Do you still not understand? These beasts are not like the ones you’ve known all your life. They aren’t even like me. They are the beasts my mother abandoned to have this life. Beasts who have an entirely different culture than the one I was raised in. They are the original line, unbroken by evolution or breeding. And they believe my life is owed to them because I am my mother’s son. And I can do nothing about it. That is the situation you have landed us in.“ he growls out.

I can no longer hold back the tears. I look away from Cyrus as I try to process all the information he has revealed to me. We are basically captives for these beasts. And by we, I mean Cyrus and Ciel. My presence isn’t wanted. If we thought things were difficult for us before, things have taken a sharp turn now. And I don’t know how we could possibly survive it.

“Why did you fight for me to come?” I ask. “Why, if I’ve fucked everything so badly?”

Cyrus releases an irritated breath, looking at me.

“Because despite all of this, I still love you. Do you think I traipsed all this way, fighting an unknown enemy for your life just to lie down when he says it isn’t worth anything? I won’t let us be separated again.” he says.

I take in the bruising on his body as he speaks. I can’t imagine the battle he went through with that beast if it managed to put him in a state like this. I’ve always thought of Cyrus as the strongest. I shudder as I come to grips with the beast he crossed paths with, being stronger than he is and wanting me dead.

“I don’t have the luxury to be angry with you right now. All I can do is figure out how to keep you safe. Because every beast in that camp came all this way to ensure the erasure of your existence,” he says.

“…Because I’m a hybrid,” I say softly.

Cyrus nods but doesn’t elaborate. He’s warring with himself. On the one hand, he wants to be angry with me for betraying him once again and dragging his beasts into it. On the other hand, every breath I take is enough reason for these beasts to extinguish my life.

Cyrus releases a deep breath, finally looking at me. His eyes roam over my face, lowering to my blood-crusted shirt. His expression softens as his hand slowly moves to the hem, lifting it to reveal the seal. I flinch as his thumb lightly trails over my skin.

He studies it, then looks at me, and we both know that I feel nothing.

“You are now as you were… weak,” he says. “You cannot afford to disobey me any longer. If I am not near you, I cannot protect you.” Cyrus’s hand shifts from my shirt to my cheek as he grips my face. “And every second I am not around, your life is in danger.”

Cyrus lowers his hand from my face, standing.

“Your life is in your own hands now, Anna. Whether you take care of it or not is solely your decision. I hope you will think before you act from now on.”

Cyrus

I have become soft. I have repeatedly overlooked betrayal due to my affection for Annalise, and this time is no different. Audra, Ausifah, Neve, and Joan should all be executed or banished for treason. Anna should be stripped of her title and removed from my kingdom as she has proven herself a consistent threat. But I have advocated for her life, begging that she be allowed to come with me even though she looked me in the eyes and blatantly lied to me.

She has cost me everything, forcing me to once again war with myself—war with my inner beast. She has once again chosen herself over me—over her son.

I release a bitter chuckle, staring at the night sky.

Elias and his kingdom feel so distant now. It’s a more minor issue now that these beasts have arrived. And what’s worse, I had the issue resolved. But Annalise disobeyed me once again, and the ripple effect is once again damaging. This time, I don’t know how I’m possibly going to get us out of it. I am outnumbered and outmatched by beasts who were raised in the ways of the beasts, not in the ways of my father’s kind.

And they hold Anna’s life in their hands.

“There he is. The prodigal son returned.”

I bite back my irritation as the beast who attacked me initially stands at the camp entrance, awaiting my arrival. I ignore him, making my way to the tent I’ve been staying in, when he steps in front of me.

“Come now, don’t be that way. If not for me, Cyprian would have killed her. And not lightly. By the time you found her, she’d have been alive with her flesh peeled from her bones while she begged for death,” he chuckles.

He studies me, disappointment on his features when I don’t react.

“You’re such a reserved beast. You are nothing like your mother,” he says when I don’t respond.

“What do you want,” I growl out.

“Nothing, really. I’m just curious about what you see in that hybrid. You carry Maeve’s blood and abilities. You could be menacing if you put your mind to it,” he says.

I ignore his obvious attempts to rile me up.

“You all speak of my mother so fondly, and yet she’s never mentioned any of you. I can’t imagine why that is,” I say sarcastically.

But the beast laughs, walking alongside me.

“Your mother was ashamed of what she is. But I can see that you are not. You’ve just been taught the wrong ways,” he says.

My footsteps falter when I see Joan exiting Cyprian’s tent. She has a blank expression as she comes in our direction. She notices me at the last second, pausing.

“Your Majesty,” she says.

Her voice is soft and broken from Cyprian’s attack days ago. And as much as I want to be angry with her for her betrayal, I feel my chest squeeze at everything she’s sacrificed for Annalise’s sake.

It’s as I said, I’ve become soft.

The beast next to me chuckles, shaking his head.

“Such strange customs,” he murmurs to himself as he walks away.

But my attention remains on Joan as Cyprian’s scent comes strongly off of her.

“Joan…”

“Please, don’t, Your Majesty…” she murmurs.

She keeps her eyes lowered as she moves past me and into the woods in the direction of Anna’s small camp.

I continue to watch her as she departs, my chest squeezing further. Cyprian has me in a vice. And while he is maintaining the thinly veiled illusion that I have some form of choice in this, I know I do not. If I do not cooperate, he will kill Annalise, then Joan, Neve, and the twins, then Felix, then turn his wrath on my kingdom.

He is like my mother in that regard, allowing the weaker to maintain the illusion of control at his expense.

“Fuck,” I murmur to myself.

I want more than anything to be angry with Annalise right now, but it’s as I said to her earlier. I do not have that luxury. From the moment we leave, I will be battling for everyone’s lives.