Destined for Deception ✔️

Chapter 31

Cerise and her people were gathered in the main space of their mountain hide-out. It was dinner time, so everyone was sitting in small groups. The sounds of chatter and clinking cutlery scraping over bowls filled the space.

"Cerise," someone linked her. She had no clue what the person's name was – couldn't be bothered to remember anyone she didn't have continuous dealings with. No one was supposed to link her directly unless there was something pressing that needed her immediate attention, so it had to be important. She hoped it wasn't – both because she had no energy for crisis management right then and because she'd get to pick out a punishment if he'd linked her without proper cause. Maybe some good lashings, or maybe she'd tie stones to his feet and dump him in the ocean pool at the side of the cave for a few minutes.

"What is it?"

She tapped her spoon against the side of her bowl. Dinner that night was a stew of what Cerise thought was rabbit, but the meat had been so tortured that it really was impossible to tell. When she made her list fifteen years ago, she should've paid more attention to people who had cooking skills. This was outrageous.

"We're running patrol, and we're seeing suspicious activity."

Alright. Don't panic before there's reason. It was probably nothing. Most of the half-wits she had running patrol would ring the alarm bells for a rustling leave.

"Elaborate."

"We're checking it out right now. Sounds like footsteps. Many footsteps."

Cerise's fingers clenched tighter around her bowl. It couldn't be.

"Cerise." The voice in her head was more anxious now. "It's an army. Royal Wolves."

Just like that, her blood ran cold, and her heart screeched to a halt. How had they found her? It had to be Corbin – he was the only one who knew. Perhaps Ryleigh had managed to unlock his memories. Or else she had a rat among her ranks, but that was impossible. She ran a tight ship, and she frequently checked everybody's memories. Besides, with all the effort she'd put into making everyone hate the Royal Wolves with a passion, there was no way any of them would betray their kin by joining Alder.

So it had been Corbin. Interesting.

"How many?" she asked.

There was no answer. That was bad.

"What's going on?" Mikayla asked. She was sitting beside Cerise, cross-legged on the floor, as they all were. She leant closer to Cerise, pulling up her brows in nervous curiosity.

"Alder's army is approaching and I can no longer get contact with patrol," she linked. If she said it out loud, she would surely get overheard and then the panic would start. She needed to use these last few seconds of peace to make up her mind about a course of action.

Mikayla's eyes grew three sizes bigger, her jaw dropping. "We need to evacuate everyone!" she linked, voice dripping with terror and urgency.

"Or we fight," Cerise said. She longed for a good fight. Longed to see her people in action. She'd trained them ruthlessly for fifteen years, and they'd never had much of an opportunity to use their skills.

"How many are there? If it's an entire army, we don't stand a chance," Mikayla said.

Cerise glared at her. What did she think, that a few Royal Wolves could possibly be a match against her and her army of mages? Please.

"They already massacred us once, Cerise. We need to get out of here so we can fight another day," Mikayla linked.

"Why fight another day if we can fight today? I don't care how many there are. They all have to come through the same entrance, which is narrow, so we can cut them down as they come in."