Destined for Deception ✔️

Chapter 40

Cerise's lifeless body tipped sideways and thudded against the ground, but it wasn't the victory that Ryleigh had dreamt of. She dropped the knife from her trembling hands and pushed to her feet.

The world was just a haze around her. She wasn't sure if she was walking, or crawling, or maybe she wasn't moving at all. Somehow she ended up in front of Corbin, and it could be that she screamed, or cried, or maybe she just stared at him.

Her hands found his, still wrapped around the knife, and even though she knew he was already gone, she still expected him to open his eyes and tell her off for not killing Cerise faster, or for letting her tie him to a table, or for a number of other things, just for the sake of arguing with her.

Because that was their thing. They bickered all the time, never agreed with one another, almost hated each other, but never as much as they loved each other. If she had ever doubted that – if she had ever doubted that he cared – then now she no longer did. He had killed himself to give her a chance to kill Cerise. He had sacrificed himself. And she had doubted his loyalty.

The haze cleared. Corbin was gone. Cerise was gone. Was Austin gone? Who knew. She pushed to her feet, holding onto the edge of the table to keep her balance. Slowly, sound started filtering through her ears again.

The royals were still there, tied to the table. She'd forgotten all about them. She trailed back to Cerise, still largely in a world of her own, though she did marginally register other things. It was possible that Jade was talking to her, or perhaps Alder was, or perhaps it was the Goddess whispering in her soul. Whatever it was, she had no clue what they meant, and so she ignored it.

She searched Cerise's pockets, but found them empty. She scanned around the room. There, beside the unconscious woman. Keys. She up-righted herself once again and walked there, picking the keys up from the floor. Then she turned, facing the royals.

They were such an odd bunch. Alder and Corinne, cosily tied together, then Aaron, and Jade. A little family. And Jade was pregnant, which would make their family even happier. And they would live, and they would thrive, and Jade would never again spare a single thought of her.

Her feet carried her to Alder, and she crouched in front of him. He was helpless. His hands were tied, his body was tied, there was nowhere he could go if she didn't have a mind to let him. This was it. Fifteen years of plotting, planning, scheming, it had all come down to this very moment.

"Ryleigh," Alder said, his voice cautious. He knew what she was thinking. He knew that she was considering scratching open his throat and ripping out his intestines. Perhaps he even saw the golden glitter of her wolf in her eyes. Perhaps he knew the animal's instinct.

He had murdered hundreds of her people. He had tortured her. He had ruined her entire life. He deserved to be put down the same way she put down Cerise. He was no less guilty than she. More guilty, because she might have instigated the event, but he had decided to go through with it. It had been his choice, his army, his conscience.

Her eyes flitted to the knife she had left near Cerise's body. No, she wouldn't do it with a knife. If she was going to do it, she would do it with her bare hands.

"Ry," Jade said, but Ryleigh ignored her.

This was her choice, and no one was going to influence her decision. No rationality, no application to her better nature or conscience, for she had neither. She had lost her father, her mother – granted, that loss she hardly mourned – and possibly her ex-fated mate, and if she wanted to kill Alder, then that was her just reward for all she had suffered.

She grabbed Alder's wrist and jammed the key in his cuffs, unlocking them. Next, she did the same with Corinne, then drew the chains from around them.

"Thank you," he said.