Page 102 of Tricky Princess
“You’re getting it wrong.” He paused. “Let me start from the beginning. Belias came to me—”
“Fucking Belias,” Ellea and Ros said together.
“Yeah, fuck that guy.” Sebastian shook his head. “Anyway, he came to me with a proposition, and after I said no for the fifth time, I threatened to eat his balls and he finally gave up. But some of my vampires went missing. Being the amazing leader I am, I went to investigate.” Ellea couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “And what did I find? Belias was recruiting under my nose and poaching from other clans. Since he’s such an idiot, I told him I changed my mind and wanted in on his big scheme. That was about a month ago, and soon I realized he wasn’t pulling the strings at all. It was Cerce. That bitch is crazy. Last week, she had this rally that gave me some old-world creeps, and I couldn’t handle my double-agent games anymore. I got my vampires and got out of there as quickly as I could. That’s when Cato approached me.”
“What do you mean approached you?” Sam asked.
“Fucker tiptoed through the campsite like some prisoner and jumped me when I was almost out of there. Asked if I would help him go against Cerce. He knew I wasn’t interested in what she was spewing, and he was looking for an ally.”
Ellea blinked a few times, shaking her head, trying to rid herself of the memories that were threatening to creep in.
“So we kept in contact, and he said he needed help. Cerce had claimed that this was the battle that they would finally get you. Their numbers were so much higher than yours. So Cato contacted me, and we got here as quickly as we could.”
“Just like that?” Ros said skeptically.
“Just like that,” Sebastian answered with his arms wide.
It was getting harder and harder to suppress the memories, the thoughts of both her parents. “I don’t believe you.”
“You don’t have to believe me,” he said. “It’s the story.”
Ros and Sam began grilling him on logistics while Ellea’s mind wandered back to a time when her father stood by while her mother gave her no mercy. He would come after her torture sessions, sliding food under the door of the basement or leaving healing supplies so she could fix her own wounds. He never stopped her then, so why would he stop her now?
“I’m going to check on Devon.” It was an excuse to get out of there.
She stumbled toward Ros’ front door, desperate for air as the cabin began to close in on her. Her powers raged as she took each unsteady step out of the too-stuffy home.
Never again.
“Hey,” Devon greeted as she threw herself out onto the porch, stumbling to grip the railing.
Devon was next to her in an instant, dragging her toward the wicker couch he was sitting on. He swung his newly healed arm over her shoulder and tucked her into him. The crescent shapes that peppered up his neck to the side of his chin caught her attention right away. He’d asked her to leave the wounds, but guilt swirled with her panic. Another friend was scarred thanks to her. Thanks to her parents and their never-ending goal for destruction and reclaiming her.
After a few minutes of Devon rubbing her shoulder, she didn’t know if she would get out of this spiral. “You know what I never understood?” he said suddenly.
She couldn’t answer, only looked at him with wide eyes.
“Why ‘Mione never ended up with Draco,” he said, searching her expression with a soft smile on his face. “I mean, sure, her signs were compatible with Ron’s, but—”
“No,” Ellea whispered. Clearing her throat, she added, “They were not compatible and you know it.”
“Right, but Draco was a scorpio,” he said thoughtfully.
“No, his son was named Scorpios.” She shook her head. “He’s a gemini and she’s a virgo…they were perfect for each other.”
“So you keep telling me,” he said with a laugh.
She rested her head on his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heart along with the bickering inside the cabin.
They were all right. They were whole.
“We’ll get there,” he said. “We have to.”
38
Ellea
The dungeons of Hel were straight out of someone’s nightmares—not hers, though. Ellea’s worst nightmare was losing control of her powers and causing mass destruction. Her father was sitting in a cell across from where she stood in the darkness. A whisper of Ros’ shadows curled around a piece of hair that had escaped her braid, tucking it behind her ear. He waited behind her; he would reveal her when she was ready.
