Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose.

Leilani.

I woke up with a start to my heart racing and to my entire body feeling so wet, one would think I had slept in a pool of water.

My entire body hurt too, like I had been dragged across the entire city on my back. But that wasn’t the worst that could happen to me.

Goddess, the worst was the fact that my hands —wrists— were clasped together behind my back with a very large metal band. I couldn’t see it but I could feel it, and I could feel the way the heavy metals bit into my flesh every time I strained my muscles.

My eyes brimmed with tears at the pain and forcing myself to sit up on the damp floor where I laid, I whimpered; "Who is there?"

But there was nothing. Not even a sound.

It was also pitch black, so dark that I couldn’t see my feet which were in front of me.

This scene and the fact that it was dark where I was, coupled with the fact that I didn’t know where I was plus how I’d gotten here in the first place, made me insanely afraid. My heart pounded against my chest, so much that I feared it would jump right out of my ribs.

My throat also felt very dry and sore and again I winced when I tried to move, only to be met with a sharp pain that lanced through my midriff.

A movement in the shadows caught my attention and I found myself gasping when I smelled the strange sugary scent filling the air and my senses.

I groaned. "Who is there?"

But still... silence.

No one spoke, no one responded and all I got were the familiar sounds of approaching footsteps, making me panic even more than I already was.

When the heavy footsteps got too close— so close that I could swear that whoever it was was right in front of me, it stopped. And then I felt someone crouch before me before cold deft fingers hooked under my chin.

"Leilani..." a feminine voice drawled.

She sounded familiar... smelled familiar... but I just couldn’t place who it was.

"I never thought I’d see you again... and alive."

The way she said that word: ’alive’ made a tremor run up my spine. However, before I could I ask her what that meant, and why she sounded so... familiar, she cut in;

"I thought you had died in the fire. I made sure to have you killed. How could you, a dunce, outsmart me so easily?"

Something about those words made my heart skip a beat. I wanted to remain mute, to not speak until directly asked to, or perhaps until I knew who the fuck I was talking to; But I just couldn’t.

Her words tempted me to speak. It triggered something in me that I thought I never had and I found myself lifting my sore chin until I was sure that I was looking in the direction where her face was, and then I hissed;

"You caused the fire."

It was not a question but a statement. And to my utmost dismay, she didn’t deny it. If anything, she chuckled like I had just told a joke and then I heard the shuffling sounds her clothes made as if she had shrugged or moved... or something along those lines.

She drawled; "Took you long enough to figure that out."

"So you killed Agnes."

"Who the hell is Agnes?"

Her very nonchalant words squeezed at the remnants of my already shattered heart. It brought tears to my eyes, and at that moment, I couldn’t help but think about Zevran’s words. About the things he’d said to me on the day he was giving me reasons to listen to control my wolf.

I could still remember the look he had on his face when he asked me what I would do when I was attacked and I had no one to fend for me.

—And now, I had no one to fend for me.

I hissed; "My friend. The one who you killed."

The lady scoffed at me like I had just said something of zero importance, and that in itself was enough to have my blood boiling even more. I wanted to speak but next thing I knew, she had leaned away and began to walk off.

And I do not know why, but that made me very desperate.

Why?

Because I didn’t want to be left here alone. In the dark. I didn’t want to be left to death without knowing who was— is— responsible for mine and Agnes’ deaths.

"Wait!" The words rushed out of my mouth before I could stop them, and once again, my breath hitched when her loud footsteps came to a stuttering stop.

"What is it, Leilani?"

"What did I do to you?" I found myself asking even before I could stop the words from leaving my mouth; And as soon as I asked that question, I heard someone snap their fingers in the distance.

My eyes widened when two people materialized from the shadows to rope their arms in mine, and I cried out in pain when they roughly dragged me to my aching feet, forcing me to stand.

—Wait, why the hell do I feel so weak? Why is my entire body sore? And why do I feel disconnected from my wolf?

Speaking of my wolf...

"Nyx? Nyx?!" I screamed through the bond but my little hybrid was nowhere to be found.

"Nyx?!" I tried again, hoping to hear her voice, or perhaps feel her presence... but there was nothing.

All I felt was a blockage between us, holding me off from reaching her, or her me.

Panic crashed into me like tidal waves, but before I could recover from that, cold fingers hooked under my chin again and I cringed when someone’s warm stinky breath fanned my face.

"Did you just ask to know what I did to you?" The person asked, and while I understood what she meant, I couldn’t help but say slowly;

"No, I’m asking what I— me, Leilani— did to you."

Her fingers dug into my chin, drawing blood, and reminding me of who the real boss was amongst us. Or maybe she’d just hated my guts and the fact that I had taken it upon myself to correct her— I didn’t care. All I cared about was that if she must kill me, then she would do it with frustration.

She snapped; "I lost my daughter because of you."

I froze, blinking. "Because of me?"

"Yes, because of you." She voiced, and just when I was about to respond, the lights flickered on and my eyes widened upon seeing the familiar face belonging to...

"Keisha?" My voice was cold. I was stunned.

She smiled cockily. "Yes, in the flesh. And mind you, I may have failed to kill you before, but I wouldn’t anymore."

I should be mute right?

I should not say anything to her especially since she’d mentioned losing her child, right?

But seeing her so smug... and so cocky, twisted at something hiding low in my guts, and that annoyance was what fueled me into meeting her gaze.

I hissed; "Or I may be the one to kill you this time around."