Destined for Deception ✔️

Chapter 18

"I never thought this day would come," Parker said. He and Ryleigh were standing in the parlour, waiting for King Alder to arrive. Ellis had done as she had asked and had reached out to Alder, saying that Ryleigh had popped up at his pack and was requesting a meeting. She refused to go to the castle, knowing full well that she would never be allowed to exit that building again, so she had made Ellis ask Alder to come to Midnight Moon instead. It was the closest thing to neutral ground that Ryleigh had access to. Alder would never consent to meeting her in the middle of nowhere, so this would have to do.

"Me neither," Ryleigh said. It wasn't entirely true. Once, when she had still been at Midnight Moon, and when her father came to speak to her, she had suggested that perhaps they should make their peace with Alder and ask to be reinstated as a pack. He had shut the idea down instantly, of course, and she had never considered it since. Now she knew that that was because Corbin had manipulated her, had heightened her hatred for the king. It made her wonder if things would've gone differently if he hadn't done that.

"Is it wrong that a part of me would rather see us all slaughtered by Cerise than to work together with Alder?" He was standing beside her at the window, his body slightly angled towards her, just like hers was slightly angled towards his.

Ellis was in the room with them, waiting nervously for what was to come, and so they had to link each other rather than speaking aloud.

"No, it's only natural. We hate him." She made sure to catch Parker's eyes, which wasn't hard seeing as he was always looking at her anyway. "I'm not asking you to stop hating him. I will never stop hating him. I just hate Cerise more. She's the bigger threat. You should see it as us abusing Alder's resources. We're using him for our purposes. That's all. It's a real Shadow Walker thing to do, if you look at it that way."

Parker tilted his head a little, his forehead scrunching up ever so slightly as he considered her words. He nodded curtly. "I can live with that."

Sometimes it worried her how much faith her people had in her. When she first suggested teaming up with Alder, they had nearly rioted, but after she had explained to them that it was the only way they were ever going to find Cerise, they had, though grudgingly, agreed that it was the only option they had. She did think it was the best thing to do in their current situation, but that didn't mean she was at ease about the outcome. She had no clue what was going to happen. What if Alder arrived with half an army? What if he killed her and Parker? They were inside the mansion, which meant that Parker couldn't teleport them away, which was risky. Or what if Alder didn't agree to siding with them? Or what if he did agree, but only so he could catch her at a later time and imprison her then?

Parker put a hand on her arm, the heat of his skin seeping through her shirt. She looked up at him. The corners of his mouth were turned up ever so slightly, clearly meant to give her comfort. She returned the gesture, inching a little closer towards him. She would never admit to being nervous, but that was the thing with Parker: she didn't need to.

His hand slipped from her arm to her shoulder, his fingers toying with a strand of her hair. Her eyes flitted to Ellis, who was watching them intently. She had read his memories, so she knew that he had linked Conall and Austin about her presence at the pack. He had sent Conall along with his teleporter to bring the message to Alder – Ryleigh could hardly imagine a conversation between Conall and Alder, but she was sure it would be gold – and he'd told Austin to wait outside and link him the moment Alder arrived. If he ever would.

"You had better not tell Paige that we're here, as I have no desire to see her right now," Ryleigh said, "but I'd like to see Sky, and Julie."

"I don't want them near you," Ellis said. "I don't trust you."