35

The days had grown long because I spent most of them alone. Grayson's father was missing and he left the house early each morning and returned exhausted in the evening.

So I spent the days either in the city with Jade, who felt the same way as I did, or alone at the lake. I started skipping the rocks across the water, like Grayson. Day by day I got better. I had enough time. It's been like this for a week now and I hoped they would find him soon that Grayson was back with me.

Now and then I saw the lycan Cyril standing on the other side of the lake, but he never came to talk to me. Whenever I took a step towards him, he disappeared. Also, when I was in town with Jade, he was never far away.

He always wore black. Proud and upright, I always saw him waiting on a corner. Many girls passed him. Giggling and teasing, but he never seemed to get distracted by them. He was an odd lycan. Even from a distance you could see how withdrawn he was and didn't let anyone near him.

I still wondered why all the girls didn't get tired of hitting on him or catching his attention. He seemed oblivious to all of this.

I looked across the lake, which the moon was already illuminating. It was about time Grayson was coming soon. Cyril was still standing on the other side of the lake. I waved at him again but, as always, he didn't respond.

I went back to the house and looked over my shoulder again, but suddenly he was gone. That was unusual. Otherwise he stood there long after I was in the house. It had become almost a ritual that I went to the window and looked at him until Grayson came.

I walked through the open patio door and closed it behind me. I looked at where he was standing, but he was gone. Night shrouded the lake and it was unusually late and Grayson didn't come.

I turned away from the window and immediately stopped again. My muscles froze and I couldn't believe my eyes. I didn't trust myself, that must have come from my imagination.

I saw Elisane sitting on the sofa. Her legs were crossed and one was bouncing in the air. She looked at me in amusement, more superiority in her eyes.

"Aren't you waiting for me?" she asked wickedly, like the smile on her face. "But you should." It had to be a fantasy in my subconscious. I had heard nothing, smelled nothing, felt nothing. My senses were no longer the best, but it wasn't that bad for me.

"This is going to be an interesting fox hunt, Tara," I heard her say. Her words entered my mind like a whisper. That was just a dream. Wake up Tara!

"You are so weak. Caspian wouldn't enjoy you. He needs someone strong by his side, not such a ridiculous wolf like you," she spat and now I knew it wasn't a dream. My brain wasn't capable of that much wickedness, thanks to my parents' upbringing, who always saw only the good in the world.

But in front of me was pure evil. I walked a few feet away from her, trembling. Now I could use Cyril and I hoped Grayson wasn't about to show up. Jade had told me about the powers inherent in lycans. It was beyond imagination and I didn't want to see it with my own eyes.

"I expect you in two weeks at the fox hunt." She got up and went to the door. What? was that all?

"I won't," I said firmly. My place was here, with Grayson. He had told me about the possibilities of the university nearby and it all sounded so much more inviting than returning to this freezing hell.

"I've already made the decision for you, if you allow me." She turned at the door and the smile on her face was pure poison.

"What have you done?" I whispered. My heart spasmed as if I already knew the answer. Grayson. Tears filled my eyes faster than I could find the next words.

"That's so touching. A mate won't save you from your death, Tara. You or him. Decide for yourself," she said coldly.

"What have you done?"

"Your death will make Caspian unhappy for a while, but then he will realize that he must look to the future. Your beloved Grayson will also be able to live on. In the end, you can make everyone happy, Tara. It's just a small one Sacrifice and they can save everyone you love."

Everything turned inside me. all i love Did she mean more than Grayson? my brothers? My family? Grayson's family? My friends? Esme? Jade? Did she have anything to do with his father's disappearance?

"Will you let him live when I come?" I asked like remotely and saw her walking towards me. She reached out for me as if she was about to grab my throat.

"I haven't decided that yet," she hissed.

"Then what's the point if I come?"

"Grayson gets a chance to live if you do your job well."

"What's good?" My words were just more helpless. I had already made my decision.

"If you die, Tara. Only if you die and it should look like an accident. I will bury you there under the ice and no one will ask questions. Play your part well and everyone you care about will be able to live on." Elisane gave me a superior look. She was so fixated on me that she didn't even notice the door opening.

If I didn't see it behind her, I might not have it myself. Cyril stepped through the door and only the draft gave him away at once. Elisane jumped a few steps back. Cyril entered, stripped off his cloak and tossed it carelessly beside him.

Calmly he rolled up the sleeves of his black shirt and the fear I saw in Elisane's eyes left him completely unimpressed.

"She has Grayson," my voice was thin and trembling as she sneered at me.

Cyril looked at me for a moment with his hazy gray eyes. There was so much unspoken pain in them that I looked away in shame.

"Stay here! I want you to see this," he said and I looked at him. He went in calm steps to Elisane, who stood before him as if frozen.

"You don't dare," she snapped at him and I saw him smile for the first time. He grabbed her neck so quickly I didn't see his movements. All I could see was how he held her in the air high above him and she lay wriggling in his grip.

He walked her to the patio door while she struggled in his tight grip. Cyril slowly opened the door, as if in no hurry. Elisane only gasped in his tight grip around her neck.

He stepped out and was throwing her across the lake in a second. I saw and heard trees cracking and falling at the other end of the lake. Anyone would be dead now. That was actually aside from anything Jade had talked about Lycans.

"Stay here," Cyril said calmly. He looked at me for a moment. A small moment when his eyes turned from gray to green. "You're safe here. I'll take care of the rest." Cyril disappeared so fast that my eyes couldn't see it.

I was sure that despite my bitchy wolf, I still had the senses of a wolf, but my eyes didn't see him go.

It took me almost ten minutes to get to the spot where I saw the trees fall. It looked like storm damage and I saw more trees falling further away. Again and again I hear Elisane's screams, which echoed through the night until they suddenly fell silent.

I clambered over the fallen trees and saw her dangling far above him again in Cyril's grasp. Her head was purple and Cyril held her very still, high above him. I just stood still and couldn't process the chaos in the forest any more than what I saw in front of me.

"Do you really think you could continue with Casimir by killing Caspian's Erasthai?" he hissed at her.

"You're spinning that together!", she gasped and Cyril squeezed her throat tighter.

"I was with Casimir, Elisane. You are so careless. I was there when you suggested he make you his queen after Caspian dies."

"You're lying. It's all in my imagination."

"What about Caspian loving her so much that if she dies he perishes?" I could hardly believe my eyes.

"Conceit. Caspian is incapable of loving anyone," she croaked at him.

"Maybe he's never met the right one," he said dryly.

"She's nothing. She doesn't even have a wolf anymore." Elisane squirmed in his grip and I was shocked at how much she knew about me. She must have been here for days.

"Who cares. Once Caspian marks her, she becomes the second most powerful lycan right after him. Shall I clarify your place a bit?" I saw him grab her arm and crush the bones in his hand like they were paper. Elisane howled loudly, but I had no sympathy for her.

Elisane cried out in pain under his grip, but as soon as he released her, she healed at breakneck speed. Her arm tried to grab him, but he held her far away so she couldn't reach him.

"Why don't you kill me?" she snapped at him.

"That's not my job, Elisane."

"What is your mission? To torment me?" She laughed bitterly.

"My job is to protect the king." Cyril said it again. He had said it to me too.

"You and Callum really are the worst." Callum. I heard the name again. The triplets had mentioned him before.

Cyril swung the arm he was holding her in and threw her through the woods like a tennis ball. I saw the trees in the distance collapse under her weight. On the one hand I wondered how that was even possible, on the other hand I was glad that she was gone.

Any wolf would have hit a tree and come to rest under it. Nobody would have brought it down. How could you even survive that? I had seen in the last few minutes that she would.

"Didn't I tell you to stay at the house?" Cyril turned to me and looked at me blankly.

"She has Grayson." Cyril nodded.

"I know," he replied calmly. So calm, as if none of this had just happened.

"You knew?" I asked through tears.

"Yes."

"Then why didn't you do anything?" I accused him.

"I needed to know where he is," he said calmly, rolling down the sleeves of his t-shirt.

"And now you know?" There was more hope in my words than there were tears in my eyes.

"I guess so." He continued to adjust his things and now looked as if he hadn't just fought with Elisane.

"Why didn't you ask her? Now she's gone."

"She will go to him and tell him she hurt you just to see him suffer." I felt sick at his words and the thought that he would suffer. If only she would describe where she found me, he would believe her.

"I will follow her." Cyril looked in the direction he had thrown it.

"Then why are you still here?" I gritted my teeth.

"She needs a head start. Besides, she won't be for a week, just before she expects you at the fox hunt and returns to you. I'll be there and you'll be at the hunt." Cyril was now walking towards me and standing close in front of me. "We should get back to the house."

"No, I want to go to Grayson," I whined.

"You'll have to be patient. She won't hurt him, not yet. I'll be there before she can hurt him. If he died, Caspian would feel your pain and never forgive her. Not that he wants her anymore, but she doesn't know that."

"Then why should I go back there? It's dangerous. She's dangerous and you won't be there. Only her." I didn't understand any of this. When I didn't move he picked me up and in a few seconds we were in front of Grayson's house and he got me back on my feet.

"And so Caspian, my Queen. He will be there to take care of you. Don't worry." Cyril stroked my cheek and his eyes lit up green. They were like the young grass in spring, the innocent leaf on the tree that longed for the light.

"I'm worried about Grayson though," I murmured.

"That's a good thing. Caspian will feel that, and so will Elisane. She needs to feel safe. You don't know her family. If the empire isn't to fall to pieces, then we'll have to wait until we have a reason to kill. All will fall into place, little queen." Cyril smiled at me and turned to go.

"Wait. Why are you calling me that? I want to be with Grayson, though," I called after him.

"No one minds."

"Caspian?" I asked doubtfully.

"He wants you to be happy. Time is relative, Tara. Be happy and he will be too." Cyril grabbed his coat that was lying by the door and calmly put it on.

I could only hope that Grayson and I would get a chance. But I also felt ashamed that Caspian was doing so much for me that I knew nothing about.

"Caspian wouldn't want you to feel bad." Cyril shook his head and when I stepped out of the house, Trevor and Jade were already waiting for me. Their faces spoke volumes and Cyril gave them a knowing nod.

"See you again in two weeks when you leave for St. Vincent," Cyril turned to her and disappeared in the next second.