The more he looked at her, the more he noticed subtle differences. Her arms were crossed over her chest as if she were closing herself off. She wouldn’t maintain eye contact, and her voice had a hard edge to it.
Some might see all of that as her being combative. Cain saw it as someone who was trying to protect themselves.
“Have you done something you believe Rhi knows about? She’s a good person. She would never harm you, and even if she tried, I wouldna let her.”
“For fek’s sake, stop!” Noreen yelled. “Just stop. Why do you have to be so nice?”
He hesitated as her words sank in. “Because I care about you.”
“That was your mistake.”
He could’ve sworn he heard her say, “And my mistake was caring for you.” But he didn’t call her on it.
Noreen’s face was a mask of indifference. “I’m not worth your time, and if you were smart, you’d forget about me.”
“I can no’. You’re my mate. I’ll stand by you through whatever it is you’re going through.”
She stared aghast at him. “Bloody hell. You really mean that, don’t you?”
“You say that as if you’re surprised. You shouldna be. We’ve shared a lot in the short time we’ve been together.”
“And you trust too easily.”
There was something in her words that made his gut clench. “Why do you say that?”
“Because,” she said with a shaky voice. She swallowed and looked away. “I’m not who you think I am. I’m … all of this, it was my idea. Moreann cast a spell so I wouldn’t remember anything, and you’d believe me.” She gave him a beseeching look. “I wasn’t after you. I never intended to have sex with you or fall for you or anything.”
“What were you after?” he asked stonily.
She swallowed again. “Rhi. Those bad dreams I told you about? I think it was the spell breaking down, which shouldn’t have happened.” Noreen glanced up and around them. “I think it’s the magic of this place that interfered with Moreann’s. And then touching Rhi. It wiped everything.”
Rage. Betrayal. It all swirled within him like a violent storm waiting to unleash itself on the one responsible. Cain managed to keep it all in check.
For now.
“The things you told us about the Others? About Moreann?”
A tear dropped down her cheek. “All true.”
“And you expect me to believe that?”
Noreen shook her head. “No, but it is. You can have Tristan check my memories, if you’d like.”
It shouldn’t surprise him that she and the Others knew of Tristan’s ability.
“I don’t know what to do,” she said and leaned back against the tree they had made love against not so long ago. “Everything is all mixed up in my head. I know what I once felt for the Kings, and my loyalty to the Others, but now…” She looked at Cain. “Everything is different.”
He couldn’t believe Con had been right all along. And to know that he was the one who had been betrayed hurt worse than he ever thought possible.
“Erith,” he said. “I need you.”
In an instant, Death was at his side. She looked at him for a long moment before she turned to Noreen.
Noreen pushed away from the tree. “What’s going on?”
“I’m giving you to someone who will make sure you can do no more harm to us,” Cain told her.
Noreen shook her head as she glanced at Erith. “You put yourself between me and her. You said you’d stand by me.”
“That was before you confessed to betraying me. What have you told the Others?” he demanded.
“Nothing! I’ve been with you.” She took another step back, unaware that Cael was there, waiting for her. “My target was Rhi. I told you that. Moreann wants her more than anything.”
Cain turned his attention to Erith. “It’s asking a lot, I know.”
“No, it isn’t,” she told him. “I knew something was odd about her, and I was able to see the spell fail when she touched Rhi. I suspected she would need to be … kept … for a while.”
Cain turned his back to Noreen and leaned close to Erith before he whispered, “No’ her soul.”
Erith frowned up at him. “She’s Fae. It’s my job as judge and jury to decide when it’s time to reap her.”
“No’ her soul,” Cain repeated.
A long moment passed before Death gave a nod of her head. Then she looked at Cael. Cain kept his back to Noreen. He didn’t turn around when Cael grabbed her. He didn’t turn around even when Noreen screamed his name or when the shout was cut short as they teleported away.
The silence that followed was even harder to bear. Cain wanted to bellow, he wanted to scream. He wanted to hurt something as badly as he was hurting.
He threw back his head and let out a cry that turned into a roar as he shifted. Then he took to the skies and broke through the barrier. He smashed through what was left of the buildings, rained dragon fire down on already burnt forests, and wreaked havoc on everything else.
But nothing soothed his battered heart.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
There was no denying that she was in a prison. Though it might be pretty. Noreen stood within the concrete walls, floor, and ceiling painted with various murals in so many colors, she couldn’t begin to count them all. The light, while not blinding, came from everywhere. She wished there was a window, but if there were, that might tell her where she was.
She had stopped fighting, stopped screaming when Cain hadn’t helped her. Though what had she expected? And she had told him to get away from her. Yet, she hadn’t lied when she said that everything was mixed up inside her.
Noreen rubbed her chest where her heart used to be. It felt as if it had been ripped from her, leaving a gaping hole behind. Emotion tightened her throat, but she wouldn’t shed any more tears. She had done this to herself. No one was at fault but her.
It was why she hadn’t wanted to tell Cain. She knew what his reaction would be. She’d known because she would’ve done the same thing.
You’re my mate.
His words rang through her head, making the ache within her even worse. Cain had looked beyond her past, beyond the coloring that signaled her as a Dark, beyond any of her deeds.
He had seen her. All of her.
And what had she done? She’d thrown it back at him in the worst possible way.
Noreen walked to the nearest corner of the large room and leaned against it before she slid to the ground and stretched her legs out before her. She remembered when she had come up with the idea for how to get to Rhi—through a Dragon King.
The Light Fae was Noreen’s main target, but she also thought it would be quite fun to betray a Dragon King. After all, a King had taken away her parents. Didn’t they deserve that and more?
She closed her eyes in remorse because she had thought that way once. She had also believed everything Moreann told her. Now, she knew most of it had been lies. She would’ve never learned that had she not carried through with her plan.
Noreen leaned her head back and opened her eyes. One thing she did well was plan meticulously. She’d known that in order for everything to work, she had to be believable. That meant she couldn’t remember any of her life before—and neither could anyone else in the Others, except for Moreann.