by Jayme Morse
Chapter Eighteen
As we approached Nocturne Island, the same thing that had happened last time came over me: I began to feel sick. It started out as a throbbing headache before evolving into this uncontrollable nausea.
“Are you alright, Raven?” Rhys asked, sitting across from me with a worried look.
I nodded. “I’ll be okay. This is just what happens whenever I come to this island.”
“I wonder why,” Theo said, looking just as concerned about me.
At first, I was taken back by his words. This was the first time he had spoken to me since our fight. Apparently, he was willing to push his feelings aside for this trip.
“I don’t know. It almost feels like the island is telling me to leave.”
“I wonder if that might actually be true,” Theo commented.
“What do you mean?” I glanced over at him, trying to make sense of what he was getting at.
“It’s possible that someone might have put a deterrence spell on the island, to try to make you leave it.”
“But who would do that?” I asked.
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
At that moment, Aiden’s voice came over the speakers in the plane. “Hold on to your hats, lady and gents. We’re about to land.”
He swiftly landed the plane on the beach, which was completely empty. “Does anyone live on this island?” I found myself asking. “Aside from the werewolves who run the museum? And Milos.”
I had found his address, and it had turned out to be a house on the island.
“Not many werewolves do,” Colton explained. “Think of it like a summer home, which is often left abandoned. You can live here year-round if you want, but it’s not the most happening place.”
“Yeah, it looks pretty dead.” No pun intended. But there was this eerie solace over the island. I hadn’t noticed it the first time we’d been here, but it may have been because the entire school had been with us so it hadn’t seemed so abandoned. But there was just something so creepy about it now. Something that I wasn’t entirely sure I liked.
I would have never wanted to live on this island 24/7. That was for sure. No wonder I—Princess Fallyn, I mean—had tried to run away from this island. Aside from not wanting to marry someone who I… or she… hadn’t loved, I also imagined that the sadness of this island probably had something to do with my willingness to leave the place I had called home.
I was anxious to learn more about my past life.
The Queen’s words echoed in my head. “Bright and early tomorrow morning, you will marry Milos Santorini.”
That was where my memories had cut off. I was just curious to know how I had gotten out of marrying Milos.
My parents—the King and Queen—had been so determined to force me to marry “the Lord” that they had gone as far as to shoot and kill Nicholas, the castle servant who I’d been in love with. So, I couldn’t imagine that they would have allowed me to get out of marrying Milos that easily.
And yet, somehow, I had managed to escape him and the marriage completely. I hoped that being back at the island would show me how that had happened, that it would give me more flashbacks and more insight into my life as Fallyn. I also hoped that it would also help me figure out how I had become Raven, but I had this feeling that it wasn’t going to be that easy.
***
“I thought we should take this alternate route to the castle,” Aiden explained, as we walked along the western coast of the island. “You’ve never been here before, so it might help spark some memories.”
I nodded.
There were certain spots that looked familiar. There was a schoolhouse on the left that I was pretty certain I had been to, at some point. There was a willow tree in a clearing that I was pretty sure had been a favorite spot of mine. I could picture myself sitting on the ground against it, invested in a good book. There was a barn, and I had memories of picking out a foal of my own there once. But so far, none of my memories were too vivid. It was just bits and pieces of things I could remember.
Then again, this was more than I was able to remember last time. It was as though my memories were beginning to come more freely now.
As we approached a forested area that led to the shore, I froze in my tracks.
My heart pounded against my chest like a sledgehammer.
“Are you okay, Raven?” Rhys asked.
“Right there is where Nicholas was shot to death,” I explained.
This overwhelming sense of sadness came over me then. It was sort of strange. I didn’t really remember Nicholas, aside from what I had seen in the flashbacks. But for some reason, I just felt so sad about his death that it was overwhelming.
I couldn’t help but wonder how different my life would have been if the King and Queen hadn’t had Nicholas killed. What if we had gone to Wolflandia together and made a life for ourselves, the way we had planned?
I supposed that everything happened for a reason. So much in my life would have been different, starting with the fact that I wouldn’t have been here with the Darken pack right now—and that was the last thing I would have wanted. I couldn’t imagine my life without the four of them.
We continued to move forward, past the spot where I had lost Nicholas.
Aiden led us to the top of a hill that overlooked the castle. As we stared out at the castle, my eyes fell on one of the castle tower’s—my tower.
I felt it coming on then—a flashback. It ripped through me, shaking me to my core as a scene unfolded like a movie, right before my eyes.
The night Nicholas was murdered, I cried myself to sleep. I was alone in my tower… alone with my sorrows.
How could my parents expect me to actually marry Milos Santorini? How could they deprive me of my happiness? How could they kill the only guy who I had ever loved, the only guy who I was convinced I would ever love?
Well, if they expected me to marry Milos Santorini, they had another thing coming to them. They would have to drag me out of this tower, force my body into a wedding dress, and then put a gun containing a silver bullet to my head if they wanted to hear me say, “I do.” And even then, I wasn’t sure that I would actually follow through with it.
I heard the sound of footsteps coming from somewhere behind me.
“Mother?” I found myself asking, even though I didn’t actually see her.
A voice came from the shadows then. “I’m not the Queen. Nor am I the King, for that matter. Not yet, anyway. I could be the King, if you marry me.” The voice that spoke was completely unfamiliar. I had never heard it before in my life.
I whirled around, trying to see the person who was speaking, except I didn’t see anyone.
There was absolutely no one there.
Was I going completely mad? Or was this a very bad dream?
“Who goes there?” I asked, glancing around. I didn’t see anyone.
“I’m your knight in shining armor, Princess Fallyn.”
“Is this some sort of joke?” I asked.
“I’ve heard that you don’t like humor.”
“Well, you’ve heard wrong,” I replied. “Who are you, and how did you make it past the guards?”
“I am using an invisibility spell to cloak myself.” He paused for a moment. “I hear that you’re to be married off today.”
“Word travels fast around this island, doesn’t it?” I asked.
“Is marrying Milos Santorini what you want?” The voice asked me.
“Marrying that arrogant jerk is the absolute last thing I want. I would rather die than marry him.”
“Quite understandably. Especially the day after your lover was murdered by your own parents,” the voice responded.
“How do you know so much?” I found myself asking. “Are you one of the guards?”
“I just know things.” He paused. “I can help you get out of this wedding, Princess.”
“How?” I asked.
“I can help you sneak out of the castle,�
� he explained. “And then I can help you start a new life.”
A new life. My heart ached at the thought. I was supposed to start a new life with Nicholas, a life that would never happen now that he was gone.
“There’s something you should know,” the guy said before I had the chance to answer him. “A war is brewing, and you are to be at the center of it.”
“How do you figure?” I asked.
“The vampires want you dead,” he explained. “They plan to drain you of your blood, to kill you. I can protect you from them. I can save you.”
“How can you save me?” I questioned.
“I can help you leave Nocturne Island completely,” the voice replied. “But I will need something from you in return.”
At that moment, I heard the sound of my mother’s footsteps on the stairwell.
“Make me invisible,” I whispered to the guy. “Once she’s gone, you will get me out of here.”
“Your wish is my command, Princess,” he whispered back to me.
I felt something cool being draped over top of me, and then I could no longer see my arms or legs or any part of me.
I was invisible.
The sound of my mother’s heels clacking continued up the stairs until finally, she appeared in the doorway.
A look of shock came over here as she realized I was gone. Or so she thought.
“Henry! Phineas! Where is Princess Fallyn?” My mother called to the guards.
“She’s inside the tower,” Phineas answered her, appearing in the doorway himself. “At least, she was in the tower.”
“How could she have escaped? You were supposed to be guarding her,” the Queen replied.
“I was guarding her, Your Majesty.”
“Then you must not have been doing a good job of it,” the Queen spat.
“He means what he says, Your Majesty,” Henry agreed as he appeared in the doorway. “She didn’t leave this room.”
“Well, that makes no sense.” The Queen moved across the room and then glanced out the windows at the ground below. “I don’t see her, which probably means she has gotten far away enough now.” She paused. “I want you to both go find her. Now. Check the castle grounds and then go further into town. Don’t stop until you find her. And if you don’t find her—” I caught a glimpse of her face, noting the pure anger that was written all over it— “then I will have both of you beheaded.”
“Yes, your Majesty.” Phineas shot Henry a nervous glance and then the two of them disappeared from the room. I could hear them quickly descending the stairs in search of me.
I held my breath as the Queen walked past us, exiting the room after them.
Once she was gone, I quietly exhaled.
“That seemed a little harsh. Those poor guards.”
“‘Those poor guards’ is right. They’re going to lose their heads because of me.” The truth was that I actually felt pretty guilty. I didn’t want the two of them to die. But I didn’t want to marry Milos, either, and if I didn’t escape, that was exactly what would happen. It was quite possible that marrying Milos would have been a torture far worse than death.
The guy asked, “You ready to get the hell out of here?”
“Yes, but how can I escape? The guards are going to be looking for me until they find me,” I insisted. “It’s the only way for them to stay alive.”
“That’s why you must leave Nocturne Island. You must go to Wolflandia, or maybe even the human realm.”
“The human realm?” I had heard tales of the human world before, but I had never been there. It had always piqued my curiosity, but never in a million years had I ever considered the possibility of actually living there. I was a werewolf, and I had been taught to believe that werewolves were all meant to live on Nocturne Island, or in Wolflandia. We weren’t supposed to intermingle with humans.
“It might be the safest place for you, Princess,” he replied quietly. “But before you go anywhere, I need you to do something for me. A favor, if you will.”
“What sort of favor?” I found myself questioning.
“If I tell you, then you might not want to escape with me,” he replied.
I hesitated. “I will do any favor you ask of me, as long as it means you can help me escape.”
“Then the favor doesn’t much matter now, does it? If you say you will do anything,” the guy responded.
I supposed he was right. I couldn’t imagine anything worse than marrying Milos. Whatever this favor was, I was sure that it was the preferable option.
“Fine, just get me out of here,” I instructed him.
“Your wish is my command.” I felt him reach out then and touch my arm lightly.
Before I even knew what was happening, a cloud of smoke—a cloud of magic—had surrounded us, and we were being whisked away.
As we traveled, I half-regretted my decision.
You see, I had heard about the wolves who could travel like this.
There was only one type of wolf who possessed this sort of power. And it was the type of wolf who I wanted no part of.
A wolf who was capable of dark magic.
The vision ended there. I opened my eyes and glanced around at the others, who were all staring at me intently.
“Did you see something, Raven?” Aiden asked me.
“Yeah.” I swallowed hard. My heart was pounding. “This guy rescued me from the castle the morning I was supposed to marry Milos. He used dark magic to help us travel out of the castle.”
“Dark magic,” Theo murmured.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “I didn’t actually see myself outside of the castle yet—just the smoke that he used to get us out of there.” I paused. “He said he was going to help me get off of Nocturne Island. He thought it would be smartest for me to go to the human realm. But he asked me to do a favor in exchange for helping me.”
“Who was he?” Colton asked.
“I don’t know,” I replied, shaking my head. “He didn’t say his name.”
“Well, what did he look like?” Aiden pressed.
“I don’t know that, either. He was invisible the entire time.”
“So, you—or should I say Fallyn? —escaped from the castle with someone without even seeing his face? Just an invisible stranger?” Colton asked.
“I can tell that I didn’t think it was the brightest idea,” I explained. “I was really desperate to get away from the castle. I was willing to do anything to get out of marrying Milos. I would have gone with anyone who was willing to help me escape.”
I had let innocent people die for me.
“That makes sense,” Rhys agreed with a nod.
I paused. “I’m just afraid of what happened to her after she escaped. I’m not sure what this favor could have been, but this guy—whoever it is—I don’t trust him.”
Chapter Nineteen
From there we headed over to Kane’s former cottage, the cottage that I had taken a picture of. I hoped that a memory from the cottage would resurface, just so I would know and understand why this cottage had stood out to me.
But as we stood in front of it for a few moments, nothing happened. I still got the sense that something had happened at the cottage… something that had somehow defined my story. I just wished I knew what it was.
“Is anything coming back to you?” Aiden asked, glancing over at me intently.
I shook my head. “No. Nothing.”
“Let’s just give it some time. Something might come back to you.”
“I hope so,” I murmured. I really did hope that something—anything—would come to me. This was the main reason I wanted to return to Nocturne Island in the first place. I was so curious about what had happened here.
“Maybe you just remember the cottage, even though nothing actually happened there,” Colton commented.
“Maybe,” I murmured, even though I just had this feeling that wasn’t the case. Something had happened at the cottage. I just didn’t know what.
After we’
d stood there for what felt like forever, I sighed. “This feels pretty pointless. We should probably get going. There have to be other places that will trigger memories for me.”
“I think we should probably pay the castle another visit,” Aiden said.
I frowned. “We’ve already been to the castle.”
“I know, but there may have been something we missed. Now that it’s just us here, you can give everything a better look than you did when we were here with the entire school.”
“That seems like a good plan,” Theo agreed.
“Alright,” I replied. The truth was that he was probably right. So far, most of my memories had come from the castle or looking at it. Paying it another visit definitely couldn’t hurt.
As we began to walk towards the castle, that same sick feeling came over me.
I wasn’t sure if it was a coincidence or if someone really had put a spell on me.
Either way, this felt a whole lot like doom.
***
Walking around the castle proved to be useless, too. It just seemed like nothing wanted to emerge. My memories seemed content where they were, buried deep down. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but it sucked. It really, really sucked. It made me think that this entire trip had been a complete waste. The whole point had been for me to remember something, but it didn’t seem like that was going to happen.
As we walked from room to room in the museum, there were things that looked familiar: a white candle, a hair clip, a shield of arms, an umbrella. But none of the items triggered anything, which made me wonder how significant each of them was to my life, to my story. To Fallyn’s story.
“Is anything looking familiar?” Aiden asked, his honey brown eyes searching mine.
I sighed. “Nothing. I’m thinking this whole trip might have been a waste.”