Page 27 of Second Chance By Fate

There’s no answer from either of them, their range too far, apparently. I have no choice but to climb higher if I don’t want to be seen. From my vantage point on the roof, I peer down, hoping to catch a glimpse of either Violet or my brothers, but there’s no one around. Still, I can feel the danger intensifying. My earshone around me, and I slide over the roof toward the other side of the house where Violet’s suite sits.

We should call this off right now. There’s not enough planning. Something could go wrong.

But it’s too late. We’re in it, and we agreed to this already. Even if Violet doesn’t know we’re here, she needs our backup.

I slink back down over her balcony and hear the voice clearly through the open door.

“—be in here!” Violet accuses the servant. “Get out!”

“I just wanted to see if you need any help, miss,” the maid coos.

I peer around the corner and see the blackened glow of the maid’s eyes, my pulse quickening. Her head whips up as if she detects me here, and I fall back against the wall. I know what we’re up against now.

How did we not see it before? Were our powers that diminished? Have we become that complacent?

“I don’t,” Violet answers. “If I needed help, I would have called for you.”

Light footsteps fill my ears, and I realize the maid does not take her cue to leave.

“I told you to get out!” Violet growls.

“Don’t you feel like a traitor, sleeping with the enemy like this?” the servant asks coldly.

Silence ensues for a moment.

“Don’t you feel a little out of line, speaking to a guest of the Alphas like this?” Violet fires back, but I hear the waver in her voice. “They are the ones who sign your paycheck, after all.”

A whoosh of air startles me, and I whip my head around as Enzo lands stealthily on the opposite side of the balcony, his steely eyes boring into mine.

Marianne?he asks. I stare at him blankly.The servant. Her name is Marianne. She’s a dark witch?

I have no answer for him. My teeth bare slightly, and he turns his attention toward the room.

“You’re not a guest. You’re an exile who forced herself back in. What were you hoping to achieve here, Violet? Haven’t they humiliated you enough?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Violet mutters.

“I know you were warned. And now you’ll pay the price, won’t you?”

“Get out of my room.”

“It’s not your room. It’s our room. This entire estate is ours—or it will be once we find your Alphas.”

“How?” Violet snaps. “The packs will never respect a coven! This is insanity!”

“They will with enough magic,” Marianne chuckles. “They’ll succumb if we make them. Tell me, where are your Alphas hiding now? Let’s put them out of their misery once and for all.”

Violet gasps. “I… I won’t tell you anything!”

Marianne shakes her head and ambles closer. The instinct to jump in overwhelms me, but Enzo’s voice rings out in my head.

Don’t! Don’t move.

“Weren’t you warned about what would happen if you interfered? Look how little they care about you, little witch. Sending you here on your own, even though they know their lives are in danger.”

Marianne advances on Violet with a laugh, but as she draws near, Violet throws up her hands, a shimmering golden shield protectively falling around her.

“I haven’t interfered. I came home,” she retorts. “You are the ones interfering with Apex business, and you’ll pay for this. Are you out of your minds? You can’t come after Apex Alphas! You’ll have the wrath of an entire country of shifters on you!”

---