Blood Ties

22

Truthful Lies
~
Cadence
~

"What?"

Everyone froze from the question that reeked with scorn and distaste of her spitting it out.

But Cadence's question was clean-cut and sharp as silver. Just as the dagger she wanted to sheath out and throw at someone. She took her final steps into the threshold of the dining room, laminating in the moon's light as she pinned the oracle a stare that could send anyone running.

"What did you just say?" Cadence felt her arm being tugged back as if someone was pulling her away, far away from the truth and into a pool of lies.

She spun around, meeting her cousin's unfailing and kind eyes.

"What's going on, Accalia?"

Accalia's face remained neutral, but she wasn't smart enough to keep it up or well enough for it to not slip past Cadence. "Noth—nothing. Go back to the room and I'll speak to you later."

Cadence ripped her arm out of Accalia's hand with a venomous hiss. "You're hiding something from me. What is it?"

Accalia shrank back and placed her arms up in surrender. "I promise you, I'll tell you everything."

Cadence pitted her with a malicious stare and threw her hands in the air. "You can tell me now."

She saw Accalia look desperately over her shoulder and it was Lycus she must be signalling help for.

"Nothing, Cadence. We just wanted to talk to you about ... werewolves." Lycus stated plainly and Cadence wished to laugh in his face.

Did they think she was blind? Plain stupid? An utter fool easy to manipulate?

She heard the words that came out of Vaela's mouth like they weren't her own as if an entity took control and unravelled her tongue to say these things. She had the same occurrence with her weeks ago when trying to find the locket and the nightmares of being in a coffin.

Mated, one simple and ratifying term Cadence didn't want to hear but did. She was mated. To him.

Cadence didn't realise she turned around to face the hybrid, but when she did it was like seeing him for the first time all over again. The unmatchable height, the potent wonder in his eyes and how dead he looked to the world. These past few days hadn't done him any good and she didn't care to know why.

"The boy from the coffin," Vaela uttered and her finger trembled by her mouth, but not fast enough to close her hand over it. "That's why you had the nightmares, you were connected to the coffin. To him. His lycan called to her while his vampire side kept him alive. You're mated to him."

Cadence mulled over her words, like turning over a card that spoke of her future and wanted everything around her to burn to the ground.

She scoffed, taking a step back and forcing her head away from the hybrid that continued to stare her down. "No way in hell." No fucking way.

"Cadence ..." Accalia whispered, a break creaking through her voice and Cadence shook her head, she wouldn't have it.

Cadence wouldn't stand for this and she flailed a finger at the lot of them, wishing it to be a gun. "Those nightmares were because I was looking for the locket to free him! Not because I'm—"

She choked on her words as her breathing plummeted, dryness screeching through her throat. Through the blurriness wanting to blacken, Cadence swivelled her sights to the front door and before she took a step, a shadow loomed over her.