by Kayla Krantz
Amy turned before realizing the woman was coming toward her with a heavy vase in her hands. Panicked, Amy took a step backward, holding her hands up before saying, “I mean no harm!”
“Who are you?” the woman demanded, vase still raised. “How can you see me?”
“I…I’m…” Amy started and stopped, unsure of how much information this woman knew and how to introduce her to everything that she needed to know. “I was sent to find you,” she said at last.
Cassandra’s eyes drifted to the letter in her hand, and she dropped the vase, the heavy object shattering to a million pieces on the ground. “Where did you get this?” she demanded, tearing it from Amy’s fingers.
“I…I found it…in…in your Mom’s house.”
“That woman was not my mother,” she snarled.
“She raised you though, right?”
“What business is this of yours?”
“I was sent by your birth mother to find you.”
Chapter Forty-Three
THE SECOND LUNA lost consciousness, Chance was prepared. He scooped the girl into his arms, staring from the leader to Cody to the nameless face of Cultists, waiting for any of them to approach, to try and take her from him, but they didn’t.
“She’s not strong enough,” Cody said again.
“She told you she didn’t know what she was doing,” Chance said crossly. “You made her try anyway.”
“That magic needs to be pulled out of her,” the sickly man on the bed said.
“And how do you propose I do that?” Chance snapped, brushing a lock of hair off Luna’s face.
“Figure out something,” Cody said.
“Why? Just because you told me to? I don’t need any of you,” Chance said, and whisked on his heels, prepared to storm away.
Cody’s voice stopped him. “She betrayed you once, she’ll do it again.”
Chance stopped, glancing at him over her shoulder. “What do you know?”
“I know that you owe me a favor. Owe us a favor.”
Chance closed his eyes, breathed in deep, and cursed himself to hell and back before he turned and looked at Cody again. “And let me guess…you’re cashing it in now.”
“You always were a smart one,” Cody said, wicked smile on his face.
“Train the girl,” the elder cut in. “And bring her back to me.”
Chance’s shoulders stiffened at the idea, and he looked down into her face. Even for everything she had done and been through, he couldn’t help but think of her as innocent. Compared to these people, she was as pure as snow. After all, she still had her morals, still had a sense of right and wrong. All of that had left these humans years ago—Chance included.
“And if I choose not to?” he asked.
Cody looked down at the top of Luna’s head. “We don’t need you to get to her anymore. Need I remind you of what I still have in my possession?”
Chance frowned, the threat searing itself into his brain. They weren’t so focused on him anymore, and why not? They had her in their sights.
“Why are you fighting this so hard?” Cody asked after the moment of silence stretched on. “You and us? We all want the same thing. We want the Realm to ourselves. Don’t you understand that we help each other? You do us a favor, and we’ll do one for you.”
On reflex, Chance bit his lip to keep from speaking. He didn’t want to be part of a group. He wanted all the power to himself, and for a brief time, he had had that. He didn’t need them, he never had, but it was clear they needed him, and would get him anyway they could.
“You don’t help me,” he stated. “You never have. But if you’d like my help, I suppose I don’t have a choice.”
Cody smirked. “That’s more the attitude we’re looking for. Do it” —his eyes dropped to Luna— “for her sake.”
Chance couldn’t think of a thing to say.
Chapter Forty-Four
CHANCE DIDN’T GO to Reese right away. He took Luna back to the cabin, feeling Cody’s eyes on his back the entire trip through the compound, and just sat on the mattress beside her, staring down at her. He had vowed to keep her away from the Cultists, and yet, she had ended up mixed up with them of her own free will.
What a bunch of bitter irony that was.
Sighing, Chance swiped a handful of blonde hair from his eyes and stood to his feet. He needed to find Reese, he needed his help, but he dreaded the interaction. He’d be a fool if he hadn’t noticed how off kilter Reese had been lately. Chance was no stranger to obsession, and he could see the effects it was having on Reese.
The boy was simply obsessed with him and Amanda, doing anything he asked so long as he paid him any sort of attention. It almost made Chance sad in a way that Reese put so much of his hope and love into a person who was merely using him up.
Maybe Reese sensed that—it would certainly account for his attitude.
Whatever the case, I need to see if I can squeeze just one more favor from him.
With that thought, he gave Luna one more glance, petted her hair from her eyes, kissed her on the forehead, and left the cabin. He traveled through the woods and all the way to the stretch of beach, the place he was most likely to find Reese. A few times, he wondered why this was Reese’s favorite place to haunt and had the feeling it had something to do with Amanda so he just didn’t ask.
It'd be better for both of them if he didn’t.
Chance started to walk under the sun, cursing as his feet sunk into the sand, and found Reese sitting in his usual place, hair in his face. As Chance studied him—before Reese noticed he was there—Chance noticed just how rugged, how weathered the boy looked. He was losing control. That was a look Chance recognized, and he wondered if there had been a point when he had been alive that he had looked similar.
“Reese,” Chance greeted with a bow of his head.
Slowly, the man’s face turned toward him, but it was like he wasn’t fully there. “Chance.”
“Now that you know the truth, the whole story, I have another favor to ask of you,” he said.
It was hard to miss Reese’s hands balling into fists at his sides, and Chance was taken aback by the reaction. Had he done something to earn Reese’s anger? After the confession, he thought he would’ve regained all the trust that had been lost between them, but that was clearly not the case.
“What is it?” Chance spit.
“All you ever do is ask me for favors,” Reese admitted, shaking his head. “At first, I was happy to oblige, because you’re my idol, but I don’t know…I don’t know if I can keep doing this.”
Chance crouched down beside him. This open display of emotions was great, it was something he could work with. A way for him to wiggle himself back into Reese’s head. “I know I’ve been asking a lot from you,” Chance said, “but that’s because you’re such an important part of my plan. These things I’m asking of you, I can’t have done by anyone else. When I finally rise to power, you know you’ll be right there with me.”
Reese looked at him from the corner of his eye. There was hope there, Chance could see that, but he could also see the disbelief, the wariness. Reese knew Chance well, knew that he lied, knew that he had a habit of manipulating people.
“I want to believe you,” Reese said, “but I don’t think I can.”
“You won’t do the favor?” Chance asked, trying to not let his irritation shine through his voice, but some of it did anyway.
“Depends. The last favor took a lot out of me,” Reese said. “How is she holding up anyway? Your girl.”
“That’s actually who I’m here to talk to you about,” Chance admitted.
Reese raised his eyebrows, waiting for Chance to continue.
“Cody has called on her for a favor. He’s requested she heal the Elder, but she can’t tap into her powers to do it.”
“And?” Reese asked, shrugging.
“And if she can’t do it, the Compound has threatened to kill her. If that happens, you’ll be hurt too. You�
��ll lose part of yourself,” he warned, thinking of the mess Luna had gone through after Chance had died.
Reese narrowed his eyes. “I don’t have a choice this time, do I?”
Chance pulled his lips to the side. “You have a choice, but only one of your options gives you a real chance.”
Chapter Forty-Five
AMY DIDN’T KNOW which part of her situation was the most concerning—the fact that Cassandra had a vague idea about DreamWorld and her powers within it or how psycho the woman actually was. At all times, Amy kept Cassandra at her side but hardly took her eyes away for a second. She couldn’t forget the way the woman had moved, how smoothly and with such fierce intention.
She could be a really powerful ally if things went well—or their worst nightmare if not.
Amy’s heart pounded as Rose’s house came into view, and she peered at Cassandra from the corner of her eye again but could derive no emotion on her face.
That could be good or bad, she reasoned. If I had never met my birth mother, I’d probably look the same way.
That was the thought Amy tried to keep in her brain every time the sensation welled that this wasn’t the best idea she had ever had, but it was too late to go back now.
“This is the place?” Cassandra asked at last.
Amy nodded, worried her tongue would twist on itself if she tried to say any actual words.
Then Rose answered the door, and the air filled with so much tension that Amy felt as if it trapped her, holding her and keeping her from being able to intervene if the interaction suddenly went sour.
“Amy,” Rose greeted, and when her eyes moved to Cassandra, her jaw dropped and the easygoing look that had been in her eyes a moment prior vanished. “C-Cassandra?” she whispered.
The woman held her chin high but said nothing. Slowly, like a cat circling a mouse, she pushed past Rose to go into the house, both Amy and Rose watching with matching expressions of confusion.
“I did not feel as if this is an appropriate conversation to have on the lawn,” Cassandra said.
Amy knew then that this would not be a happy reunion, and she kicked herself, wondering why she had ever made the assumption to begin with.
“No, it’s much better in this home full of lovely belongings,” she said, sneer on her face.
Amy thought of Cassandra’s home in Cairo, the one made from a tomb, and imagined the life full of poverty she had most likely lived. Seeing this place, Amy could almost understand why the girl might be bitter.
“I’m so glad to see you,” Rose said and tried to pull Cassandra into a hug.
Cassandra quickly smacked her hands away, sneer twisting into something animalistic as she took a step back. “Are you really? Then why did you give me up?” she demanded. “You didn’t want me then, so what’s changed?”
Tears welled in Rose’s eyes again, and Amy didn’t even want to try to imagine her pain. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes and giving you away was always the biggest.”
“But you still did it. Thirty years passed, and I’ve heard nothing from you!” Cassandra said.
“I meant to, I did. I had your number saved, but I could never work up the nerve to call. I’m so sorry I—”
“You have another daughter?” Cassandra cut her off, voice cold and clipped, not one ounce of emotion behind it as her dark eyes studied a picture just behind Rose’s head.
No one could speak then. Rose, in what Amy guessed was an attempt to stall for time, turned to see the picture as if she wasn’t sure which one Cassandra referred to.
“Yes, that’s your sister, Luna,” she said with a terrified smile on her face.
What little bit of resolve that Cassandra might’ve had left then. Her face dropped, and she lunged toward Rose, letting out a bestial screech of anger and fury. On instinct, Amy lifted a hand and a blast of purple magic came from her fingers, the binds holding Cassandra in place.
Rose continued to wail and scream pitifully, not aware that Amy had stopped the attack before it could begin. Amy felt nothing but sympathy for Rose though. Anyone would be heartbroken after having both their children attempt to kill them.
Chapter Forty-Six
LUNA WAS GLAD to wake up alone. She had expected to see Cody and Chance and all the other Cultists staring down at her but was relieved to see the crossing boards of the ceiling in the cabin bedroom. She clenched her fingers into Chance’s blanket and took a deep breath, trying to force herself to remember what had happened.
At the thought, she sat up. Where was Chance? After that entire encounter with the Cultists, she wouldn’t have thought he’d leave her side, but he had. She didn’t know how that made her feel. Shakily, she stood to her feet and checked herself over for wounds or damage. Physically, she seemed fine.
That was the problem. Her mind ran through everything the past few days had given her—Chance attacking Amanda, the encounter with Kate, helping Cody, and learning how weak she really was.
Just as that thought passed through her head, the sound of the door closing reverberated down the hall, and she jumped. Cautiously, she stepped to the doorframe, peering out into the hallway with the paranoid thought that it was Cody coming to get her and take her away for not being able to help.
Those are dangerous people, Layanna had told her once.
Luna knew the extent of the truth now. They were dangerous because they were crazy. They were dangerous because they had no limit of what they would and would not do.
Just like Chance.
“It’s just me,” Chance said as he appeared at the end of the hallway.
Luna let out a relieved sigh when she caught sight of the figure behind him and froze. “Reese? What are you doing here?”
Chance looked between Luna and Reese, eyebrow raised. “Oh good, introductions are out of the way.”
“This is the dirtbag who wouldn’t leave Amanda alone. That’s probably why he’s here right now.” Luna turned to him, eyes boring into his. “Isn’t it?”
“I missed you too, Luna,” Reese said, blinking back his irritation.
“Actually, Luna, he’s here for you,” Chance said, amused smile on his face.
Luna turned her neck so fast a pain jabbed at her. Wincing, she lifted a hand to the spot to ease away the tension. “What do you mean?”
“Reese is an ex-Keeper. He can help you with your magic.”
Luna stared at him, stared hard. “You’re an…an ex-Keeper?” she asked, eyebrows raised.
Reese bobbed his head. “Yeah?”
“What did you do?”
“What?”
“What did you do to get dropped as a Keeper?” Luna asked.
Reese frowned. “What does it matter? It’s in the past.”
“It matters to me,” Luna said, folding her arms across her chest.
Chance sighed and set his fingers to her arm. “Stop it, Luna. He’s here to help.”
“How do I know that?” she asked, head turning to stare him in the eyes. “If he was dropped as a Keeper, he must’ve done something. I want to know what that something is.”
“Luna, stop it. We’ve all done things we’re not proud of,” Chance said.
“Doesn’t mean I have to keep doing them,” Luna said.
Chance sighed. “I don’t know if you remember what Cody said, but your life is on the line, Luna. Reese’s too.”
Luna blinked, hugging herself tighter. “Am I missing something? I don’t remember that part.”
Reese glanced at Chance, lip twitching. “She doesn’t know?”
Chance sighed, meeting his gaze. “Until now, there was no reason for her to know.”
Luna took a step backward, feeling suddenly trapped with the two hulking males blocking the end of the hallway. “Know what?”
“The real reason I killed you with a different knife,” Chance said, intense blue gaze turning to her.
Luna didn’t speak, her nails digging into the tops of her arms as she waited for him to continue. Whenever he decide
d to tell her the truth, there was never a good reason for it.
“That was…a device like the Rosebone,” he said. “Except it could be operated through blood magic.”
Luna narrowed her eyes, taking in Chance’s words.
He licked his lips, reaching up a thumb to swipe along his jaw before he added, “When I killed you with it, it bonded you to Reese. It was a last-ditch effort to keep you alive in case things went wrong.”
Luna sucked in, but suddenly felt as if she couldn’t breathe. She looked at Amanda’s ex-boyfriend feeling sick. “And you agreed to this?”
He shrugged but looked away, acting as if he was bored with the conversation.
Luna turned back to Chance, eyes alight with fire. “You did that because if I died, you would too, right?”
Chance said nothing, but he and Reese exchanged a glance that confirmed her question.
Breathing out, she looked up at the sky, wishing Morpheus would decide it time for a beam to fall out of the ceiling and crush her where she stood. Nothing happened. With them blocking her in, she couldn’t make a run for it, and she wondered if maybe they had anticipated that when they came in.
“There’s no way out of this, is there?” she asked.
Chance shook his head looking more solemn than she had seen him in a while. “The only way out alive is to do what they say.”
“What if I’m not so interested in the alive part anymore?” she asked, looking between Reese and Chance.
“Doesn’t matter because we’re all in this together,” Reese said, jutting out his chin.
Luna sneered at him but didn’t argue for the sole fact that he was right.
Chapter Forty-Seven
ANYTIME REESE AND Luna were in the same room together, Chance watched like a hawk as if he thought they would plan to run away together the second he turned his back. Luna felt as if she was permanently on her guard for the rest of the day as they went about their business as usual. Since Luna had exhausted her energy for the day, they had agreed to wait until the next day to begin her training, and Luna felt as if she was going to explode from the tension of their watching eyes.