Chapter 61: Chapter 61

Lily

Lily was jerked awake by the groan of the cell door opening. Still exhausted, she moved on fear alone as she pulled herself upright and combed her fingers through her knotted hair.

Morvand stood in the doorway, glistening in the ethereal purple light of the veil that hung there. His long, bony nose looked particularly crow-like with the way the unusual light hit it. Lily recoiled at the sight of him.

For his part, Efaffion – who had taken the form of her father again before falling asleep – just grumbled something unintelligible and shifted in his sleep. Lily envied his poise, his utter disregard for the Red Ripper pack. Now she knew him better, she supposed she understood. He had got himself into this situation, after all. He had trailed them, had picked out their weaknesses. To her, they were still very much unknown.

“Get up, Princess,” growled Morvand, his eyes sparkling as though he took delight in her unkempt state. Lily tried not to cower away from him in the corner, but his grisly appearance and dishonourable behaviour was so detached from everything she had known, particularly over the past months in the Sea Pine pack. Elijah, especially, was a man of honour and dignity. And, oh, how she missed him.

Sighing at her lack of movement, Morvand stormed into the cell and grabbed her by the arm. “I don’t have all day.”

“Where are you taking me?” she asked through gritted teeth.

“You’ll find out when we get there.”

She looked back at Efaffion as Morvand dragged her out of their shared cell. It would have once seemed implausible, but Lily wished he would wake and be dragged out along with her. He offered some comfort, albeit not much. He was the enemy she knew; Red Ripper were entirely untested.

* * *

It didn’t take a genius to work out where they were going. Morvand walked beside her, one hand on her arm. The sun was low in the sky, and Lily wondered how late in the afternoon it was. She’d lost track of time since arriving at Red Ripper, disorientated after stepping through the veil.

Morvand shoved her through the front door of the pack house. Inside, Apollo was waiting with a small, cowering woman in what looked like a comfortable meeting room. A grand desk was pushed to the wall at the back of the room behind them, and two plush blue sofas with golden feet led the way to Lily’s captor. They even had plants. She’d imagined blood and gore, not stylish upholstery and a monstera deliciosa.

“Ah, Lily.” Apollo smiled at her, all teeth. “Meet Eryne.”

Lily stumbled as Morvand let her arm go. She turned to glare at him, not interested in whomever else the Red Ripper pack were toying with. She had to escape somehow – hopefully with information that would help Sea Pine – and she needed to tell Elijah how she felt about him. She could only hope that he’d somehow found her ring, despite the impossible odds, and that he knew she’d been captured. It hurt her heart to imagine him thinking that she’d chosen to leave him, as she had once chosen to leave her pack. He knew her past, but she hoped he knew her well enough to know that underneath her flash of rage she’d been more scared, more confused, than angry. Anger faded, but the bond they shared would last forever.

“Eryne is our pack witch,” Apollo added, and Lily swung around to face her.

Eryne did not so much as raise her head. Limp, matted black hair hung past her sallow cheeks and hollow eyes, which shone with an unnatural yellow light. She looked sickly, as though her life was being drained from her where she stood. Lily didn’t know how to feel. This witch was powering so much malevolence, but she did not seem to be benefiting from it. Were Red Ripper lying? What would be the point?

Morvand elbowed her in the ribs. “Say hello to Eryne, Lily.”

Lily sighed, though she did try to meet Eryne’s gaze. “Hello,” she said dutifully, her voice flat.

Apollo kicked Eryne in the shin, swift and cruel. “Be polite, witch,” he hissed under his breath, but Lily did not miss his words. Her eyes narrowed, but she quickly smoothed out her expression.

“Hi,” Eryne managed to say. Her voice was hoarse. Lily knew not whether it was an act, but her heart ached for the witch. Her treatment did not seem so harsh in comparison.

Apollo gestured for them to follow him to the sofas. Lily sat down gratefully; she was just glad to be seated on something that wasn’t rock hard. Her whole body hurt. Rolling her neck, she watched as Eryne stepped into the centre of the two sofas. Lily frowned at her, confused. Why wasn’t she sitting down too?

Morvand grinned beside her. Lily wanted to squirm away from him, but she locked her muscles in place. A shudder ran down her spine; she hoped he didn’t notice.

“We are not sure how much your father has divulged, sweetheart,” Apollo purred from his position opposite her. “But we would like you to talk to your pack.” His eyes narrowed. “We need Omegas, you see. We function well enough with no hierarchy at the upper end of the spectrum – we have no Alpha, Beta, or Gamma – but there are jobs that are left undone at present.” His lips twitched. “To become truly powerful, we need loyal servants and loyal followers. We are all warriors. But, so they say, too many cooks spoil the broth.” He bared his teeth at Lily in a twisted, demented smile.

She cocked her head, focusing on keeping her breathing steady so that she could pretend to be at ease even as panic flooded her veins. “You have offered others an equal share in your power,” she said, surprised by how steady her voice was. She sounded far more confident than she felt. “Why should my pack suffer?”

“Because, darling, you have no choice.” Lazily, Apollo flicked his index finger. He frowned at it and shook it, as if waiting for something to happen. To his side, Eryne smiled. It was a small movement of her lips, barely a quirk, but Lily saw it. Either she was a gifted actor, or the witch that powered Red Ripper was just as much a prisoner as she was.

Efaffion’s earlier words set into her shoulders like stone. To stop her from powering them, they’d have to kill her. But what if there was another way out?

Apollo huffed haughtily and then glared at Eryne. Eyes wide, she shook her head and mumbled, “I don’t know why.”

Too fast for Lily to react, Apollo shifted into his wolf form. He glowered at everyone in the room, teeth snapping. He was huge, imposing; his brown body shoved aside the two sofas as his body morphed from human-like to wolf. Eryne cowered beneath him, jaw clenched.

On her other side Morvand raised his palm as though he were cupping an invisible bowl. Lily stared at it, more curious about their other powers than the one she already knew of. Slowly – ever so slowly – his hand began to change. Fur sprouted from the back of his fingers. When it reached his nails, they elongated into claws. Lily stared, her mouth dropping open. The shift was meant to be complete, a one-a-month change from person to beast. Morvand held out his hand until it became a claw, neither fully human-esque nor fully animal. Lily swallowed hard.

Morvand grinned at her, his eyes dark. “We hold all the power, you see.” He moved to stand beside Apollo: they were both creatures of horror, abject and painfully real. It looked wrong, in such a nice, normal room, for a wolf and a man with a beast’s arm to be beside a pair of plush sofas. The witch held her arms over her head between them, as if terrified that they’d hurt her. Lily’s hands curled into fists at her sides. She powered them, but she could see her life force draining more every time they used her magic.

Curiosity ate away at Lily, present despite her niggling fear. They had had ample opportunities to kill her. This was for show – she was sure of it. For whatever reason, they thought they needed her. She would let them believe she was Sea Pine’s Luna as long as it benefitted her.

“You can shift parts of your body at will?” she asked, looking at Morvand. He nodded. Lily bit her lip. “So – hypothetically – you could choose not to shift at all?”

He frowned, and Apollo growled low and deep in his throat. “Technically, yes. But why anyone would want to use magic to become less powerful is beyond me.”

Apollo’s huge eyes followed her every moment as she rolled an imaginary ring around her index finger. Without warning he collapsed in on himself: fur retracting into his skin, bones shrinking and snapping as they did so. Hocks became knees and paws became hands and feet. He wet his lips and said, “Would you want that, sweetheart? To be less powerful?”

Lily’s lip curled. Putting steel in her gaze she met his eyes with fire. “No. But – but we could force wolves to never shift again. Making Red Ripper’s power even more complete.”

All three of them turned to look at her. Morvand appraised her with what felt like new eyes; he seemed genuinely curious in what she had to say. But Apollo did not seem fooled.

“You know what he have planned for your beloved Sea Pine pack,” he said, one eyebrow raised, “and yet you are making suggestions that would harm them further?”

Lily knew she had to sell her bluff. “Have you not all left behind packs – families – in order to become stronger?” She smirked, but she had no idea how convincing it was. “I would do the same.”

Apollo stepped closer to her, a slow smile unfurling on his own lips. “Nice try, sweetheart,” he purred. “Had you wanted to join our cause you would have. We have two wolves from Sea Pine here already, remember? Surely – surely – you would have come with them.”

Lily raised an eyebrow coolly. “I had to put things in place before I left.”

“Give it up, doll. You wouldn't have come with us willingly.” He raised an eyebrow, coping her stance exactly. “You can’t fool us.”

Lily hadn’t noticed Morvand moving, her focus having solely been on Apollo, but cold hands grabbed her from behind. “I think it’s time we take you back to your cell,” he drawled, giving her a sharp nudge against the back of her knee. She fell forwards, and he dragged her back upright again.

“We don’t need you to speak on our behalf, it seems,” said Apollo as Morvand dragged her away. “You won’t be our messenger. No – you’ll be our damsel. We’ll get our servants, our followers, as we have acquired everything else we now command.”

Lily turned to look at him, struggling against Morvand’s grip. It was no use.

Apollo smiled, and it was pure evil. “We will take them by force.”