– Chapter 168

Arabella

I have to admit, I like life much better with Bastien unconscious. It’s so much less stressful not having to play pretend every second of every day, especially with the constant news stories about Selene and Frederic. Part of me feels vindicated that Frederic exposed himself through utter overconfidence and stupidity – after all the times he called me names and criticized my mistakes, it feels good to see him get his comeuppance.

Still, there’s no denying it’s inconvenient. Not to mention I very nearly slipped up with the memory potion. It hadn’t occurred to me that if Bastien wasn’t awake to drink the potion, it’s effects might have worn off by the time things have finally settled down enough for him to rejoin the waking world. It wasn’t until he started muttering Selene’s name in his sleep that I realized my oversight, and I very quickly called in another favor from my underworld contact.

The injections won’t take away the memories of his dreams, but they’ll certainly ensure he doesn’t recall the distant past. If I wanted to start this entire process over again and have him forget all the progress I’d made with him in the past few weeks I could have arranged for a different concoction, but in the end I decided dreams are always so strange and mystical that it will be easy to convince him whatever truths they showed him were just his imagination.

After a week of planning my wedding in blissful silence without any interference from bossy Alphas or having to worry about counterfeiting newspapers, I finally let Bastien wake. Selene and Frederic are still frequently in the news, but at least they’ve stopped playing the videos of their confrontation on loop. There’s a chance that Bastien might catch some coverage about it, but if it comes to it I should be able to convince him that Selene betrayed Frederic in order to take over the pack on her own. As long as he doesn’t see Frederic admitting to his crimes, my plans can still move forward.

When he emerges from the bedroom the morning after I cease giving him the sedative injections, he looks drowsy and confused. “You’re finally awake!” I cry, throwing my arms around him.

“How long was I out, I feel… Goddess I’m starving.”

“I bet,” I nod in understanding, moving into the kitchen to prepare some food. I wouldn’t normally cook for anyone, but I need to stay on his good side right now. “You’ve been really sick.”

His brow furrows in confusion. “I don’t get sick.”

“Well you’ve slept the week away with a fever.” I inform him wryly, “if that’s not sick I don’t know what is.”

“That must be it.” He mutters to himself, elaborating when he sees my confusion. “I had the strangest dreams. They must have been from my fever – only they didn’t seem like nightmares… they were more like memories.”

I freeze in place, “Oh? What kind of memories?”

“All kinds of things.” He answers vaguely, “Flynn when we were little, my father teaching me to run the pack.”

“Is that all?” I press nervously, slowly chopping up some vegetables to throw in an omelet.

“Yeah.” He sighs, scrubbing a hand over his face. “There were a few more recent ones, but they didn’t make any sense.”

He sounds dangerously conflicted, and I decide to face the issue head on. “I heard you say Selene’s name a few times.” I tell him, drawing his rapt attention. “You have to remember what a good actress she is, Bastien. I can see that you’re confused, but know whatever you saw was probably her manipulation.”

He frowns deeply, “Maybe my head is playing tricks on me, if what I saw was an act…”

“Remember she’s a Volana.” I caution, “She has powers you and I cannot fathom. I’m sure it’s how she fooled you all these years. She’s practically a witch.”

“The woman I saw didn’t even have a wolf – she was so helpless.” He argues.

“Of course she was, helpless people never raise suspicions.” I remind him. “She needed you to underestimate her at every turn so you’d never view her as a threat.”

He thinks about it for a long moment before nodding, “if you say so.”

“I do.”

Selene

“How are we going to find them?” I ask Helene as we near the border. “Tartarus is a huge city, they could be anywhere.”

“We should be able to narrow down a radius easily enough.” My mentor answers. “How much do you know about the Calypso pack?”

“Only that my parents were Calypsos and that it’s another mountain pack – that and their Alpha is a major piece of work.” I answer dryly.

“Well, that piece of work has a very interesting way of segregating his city.” Helene explains, “in fact he and your step-father had a few things in common.”

“What do you mean?” I inquire, smothering a shiver.

“Only the wealthiest wolves and nobility are allowed to actually roam the city freely, everyone else: the poor, other shifter species, his political opponents, they’re forced to live underground. You see Tartarus was rebuilt over and over again over the centuries, but instead of expanding outward, they just kept building on top of what former civilizations left behind. The subterranean city is ancient – it goes very deep and it’s just about the most miserable place on the continent.”

Now I really am shivering, “And that helps us because?”

“Well is Arabella the type of she-wolf to associate with the masses, or would she force her way into the most elite circle she could manage?” Helene prompts.

“Clearly you already know the answer to that.” I chuckle.

“So you see, already we’ve eliminated three quarters of the city.” The old woman smiles. “My suggestion is that we head for the center city and wander around a bit, that way we can get our bearings while also seeing if we can pick up either of their scents.”

“And if we can’t?” I fret.

“Always so pessimistic.” Helene clucks, “if we can’t find them then tonight we’ll start practicing some of your other skills in earnest.”

“Respectfully Helene, sometimes I think you speak in riddles just to toy with me.” I remark pointedly.

“You know I thought the young were supposed to be more fun.” She quips in return, “Take my advice darling, we’re headed into the most difficult challenge of your life, you have to try and find the light where you can, and that includes humoring an old bat’s riddles.”

Her wry words sober me completely, “You think it’s going to be that bad?”

She frowns at me. “Lesson number two, Selene. Challenging does not mean bad. Nothing worth having in life is easily won, and it will be all the more rewarding when you overcome it.”

Fear gnaws at my insides. That’s certainly easy for her to say, after 150 successful years in our world. But my life is just getting started. I have a child to worry about and another on the way. I have a mate to save. I can’t afford to be so philosophical about my future. “Can you promise I will?” I counter, “Overcome it, I mean.”

“That is up to you and you alone, little mother.” She replies, making me grit my teeth in frustration. “I can tell you that you are capable of overcoming it, but I cannot give you the drive to do what you must or promise circumstances will be favorable. I can only tell you that there is reason to hope.”

“Reason to hope.” I repeat bleakly. “And exactly what powers that I haven’t even begun to practice are supposed to help me find my husband in the chaos you’re describing?”

“Selene.” I can tell from her tone that Helene is genuinely becoming frustrated by my bleak outlook. “Stop assuming the worst and use your head. He’s your fated mate isn’t he?”

“Of course.” I confirm.

“And who fated you?” She encourages.

“The moon Goddess.” I answer automatically.

“Okay, so what power can help you find him?” She’s laying a trail of cookie crumbs with the demeanor of someone speaking to a toddler. Granted, I’m less than a toddler to her when I think about our age difference.

Of a sudden, the answer comes to me and a wide smile takes over my features. “Moonlight.” I supply, preening under her approving grin.

“That’s my girl!” She praises, patting my shoulders as I drive through the winding mountains. We’re just rounding a bend of thick forest when something catches my eye, a strange glimmering in the distance. I squint towards the object, realizing that it’s not one object but many. The closer we draw the clearer it becomes: A shimmering gold city sprawls across the horizon, glinting towers of metal stretching as far as the eye can see.

Helene confirms what I already suspect. “We’re here.” Her hand slides from my body as we both take in the daunting sight, scarcely believing the size of the metropolis. “Welcome to Tartarus.”