“In case Moreann added something to the spell. It’s exactly something she’d do. I’ve already hurt enough people. I don’t want to be a part of this anymore.”
“Perhaps that’s what she added in,” the man stated. “To make us feel sorry for you and not kill you.”
Noreen shook her head, her gut churning with the possibility that she could do even more damage. “I can’t remember, and I don’t want to take the chance. The look in Cain’s eyes when I told him…” She shook her head, but no matter what she did, she’d never forget that. “I can’t do that to anyone else.”
“You think that now. You might not tomorrow.”
“It’s the now I’m most concerned with,” she said, her voice growing louder. Noreen took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. “I know what I was. I still have those memories, still feel some of the anger and resentment I lived with all these centuries. But I also continue to feel the things that happened after the spell. This”—she waved her hands at herself—“new me is the one concerned about my situation. I know what I’ve done. I know the people I’ve hurt. I know what’s planned, and I’m begging you. Please, end my life.”
There was a flash of sadness in his eyes before he looked away. “That isn’t my decision to make.”
“If it were?” she prodded.
Hard eyes looked at her. “I’d have killed you the moment you revealed your betrayal.”
“It might not carry much weight, and I know I have no right to ask, but could you tell Cain that I’m sorry?”
The Fae stared at her a long time. Then he said, “No.”
She shouldn’t have expected anything more. He’d shown a smidgen of sympathy, or what she believed was compassion. But she’d been wrong.
There was no fight left in her to lash out or say anything to attempt to get the upper hand. For one, because there was nothing for her to gain. This Fae, whoever he was, had her in a tight spot.
He turned his back to her and took a step before he stopped. With his head turned to the side he said, “You said Moreann is powerful enough to have remained alive for untold centuries.”
“Yes.”
“You believe she has the magic to put a spell such as the one she put on you to remove your memories temporarily and replace them with something else so that everything reverted back as it should have?”
Noreen nodded. “Without a doubt.”
“You’ve seen her do this spell?”
“No, but I’ve seen her do things that others couldn’t. During her long life, she’s acquired a tremendous amount of knowledge and power.”
The man let her words fade. “So, how then did the spell malfunction? How is it you have your old self mixed with this new one?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been trying to figure that out.”
“Do you want this new you removed?”
Noreen shook her head before she had time to even think about it, because the idea of her memories of Cain and their time together gone was too much to bear.
The man turned his head away. “Of course, you’d say that. You may claim to want to die, but inside, you’re fighting to stay alive.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Cain couldn’t watch anymore. He pulled his hand from Noreen’s body and turned away, but Con stood in his way. The King of Kings didn’t say a word, but then again, he didn’t have to.
“She feels no pain,” Erith told Cain as she came to stand beside Con.
Cain glanced behind him at Noreen lying still upon a concrete slab. They were in an abandoned human fort on an isle off the coast of Scotland near Edinburgh, which was once a Reaper base. It had been shrouded in both Reaper and Death’s magic for months now. The Dragon Kings had added theirs, making it impossible for anyone to get through it or detect that Noreen was there.
“Cael put her under the moment he took her from the Fae Realm,” Erith continued. “She has no idea any of us are here or what is happening to her.”
That didn’t help Cain much. “I know exactly what she’s feeling and seeing since I was touching her.”
“I never said this would be easy,” Erith replied.
Actually, she hadn’t said shite, but Cain didn’t point that out. All she’d done when she took him from the Fae Realm was bring him here and tell him to lay his hands upon Noreen. Cael and Tristan were already touching her, their eyes closed. Tristan had the ability to get into someone’s mind, and Cael was there simply to interrogate her so Tristan could determine what was truth and what wasn’t.
The moment Cain came into contact with her, he was able to see the entire scene. The concrete box she was in, which was similar to the room she lay in except every surface had a painting upon it.
What struck him the most was how sad she looked. She hated herself for what she’d done. That was obvious. And he wanted to believe it. With all his heart, he wanted to think that she hadn’t meant any of it, but he couldn’t.
She had fooled him so perfectly, and he wasn’t going to allow her to do it again.
Cain had listened to her speak to Cael for several moments. Then, out of the blue, Tristan put one of his hands on Cain. In a blink, Cain was able to see what Tristan saw. Cain was then able to tell that the words Noreen spoke were truthful.
But, as Cael had pointed out, were they the entire truth, or only what was left of the spell that had somehow gone wrong?
That’s what Cain couldn’t handle. He wanted to believe Noreen, he wanted to protect her and fight for her. She was, after all, his mate.
But he couldn’t.
His heart hurt too much.
Erith walked to stand beside him. She briefly put her hand on his arm and met his gaze before she moved past him to join Cael and Tristan.
Cain then met Con’s black gaze. He was surprised that Con hadn’t demanded Noreen’s death already. Cain wasn’t sure what he would do when that came about, because he knew it would. Eventually. When everyone had extracted all the information they could from Noreen and when she was no longer of use, she would die.
The thought made Cain want to lash out at someone, anyone—himself included. He had, under the most incredible circumstances, found his mate. His mate! She was his match in every possible way.
At least this version of Noreen was. The old Noreen, the original one, wanted him dead.
Con motioned with his head for Cain to follow him. They walked out of the room and down the concrete corridor until they came to a door. Con walked outside so they faced the North Sea. The water was calm, in complete discord with Cain’s own emotions.
“You knew,” Cain said.
Con blew out a breath. “I didna know it would be Noreen, but I’ve long suspected that a woman would betray us once more. It left too deep a scar on us for it no’ to happen again. I’m sorry it was you.”
“Nala wasna Ulrik’s mate.”
“But Noreen is yours.” Con’s chin dipped to his chest for a moment. Then he lifted his head. “There is nothing I can say that will make any of this better.”
Cain shrugged and put his fingers into the front pockets of his jeans. “I’m no’ asking you to.”