Lucy’s POV
The cliffs gaped wide open, waiting to swallow us whole. From the palace, I had always seen it from the palace. An endless, pitch-black abyss just waiting patiently for someone to fall straight into its maws. Never could I have imagined myself being right at its edge, close to meeting such an end.
Back at the basement, Gert and Finn had taken Shaun and I captive with the use of silver knives, artefacts that had been banned from werewolf territory for years to protect us from those who sought to do us harm. Silver weapons were undoubtedly fashioned by humans, who had taken an interest in our kind, and often looked for ways to overpower us, which led to the rift between our races. Of course, as with all people, hearts were capable of treachery, and wolves would align with humans and vice versa every once in a while in order to achieve certain goals.
Now, it appeared that silver weaponry was still very much in operation, which meant that even werewolves could gain access to them. People like Gertrude and her brother.
We were very well into the cold dark of the night, and it seemed that the wind had chosen the worst time to finally accept cold into its waves. I gritted my teeth out of anger and also to chase away the cold, but it didn’t do much to help. I felt useless and annoyed, because this was happening for the second time, and I had gotten fed up with always being subdued by others.
I looked around, taking note of our surroundings. The triplets and I were placed between the cliffs and Gert and her brother, who stood conveniently behind us as they waited, discussing in low tones to each other. As though we wouldn’t have been able to hear them either way.
“Where is he?” said Gert impatiently.
“He said he’d be here soon, we just have to be patient a little while later,” replied Finn in that weaselly voice of his. Right from the very first day that I had set my eyes on him and his sister, I should have gone with my guts and kept an eye on them. Perhaps if I had been wise enough to do that, they wouldn’t have gotten this far with whatever nefarious plot they were concocting.
The triplets were wide awake as well, looking very calm and collected for people that were tied up and placed right beside a cliff. Seth even caught my eyes at one moment and winked at me, indicating that he wasn’t even bothered at all. Did they perhaps have a plan?
Finally, the Exiled Wolf of the North made his appearance, walking elegantly across the grass like he owned the very ground underneath his feet, eyes bright with a strange joy that I had little understanding of.
He caressed his little goatee as he regarded the four of us that were tied up, looking very pleased with himself.
“You have done very well, Gertrude. I knew I could trust you with this task,” he said to his daughter, gently touching her shoulder. As he did so, I saw her face go from serious to calm and . . . happy?
All the times I had seen her, she always had a terrible frown on her face that marred her exotic appearance. She didn’t possess the normal type of beauty that often drove people to great heights of madness, but if you looked at her in a certain light, appreciated the sharpness of her cheekbones and the slanted nature of her eyes, it became easy to see that her beauty wasn’t loud, but waited for the right moment to strike.
The kind of beauty that was akin to the camouflage of a green snake underneath green grass.
“Thank you father,” she said, still smiling to herself. She noticed me looking at her and instantly put back on a look of arrogance, retracting her obvious joy.
Vladimir Vinci stepped over to stand before us. “I believe I told you that soon, things were going to change, didn’t I?”
The triplets were quiet. Which was highly unusual for them, especially Shaun, who usually had something to say in situations like this. When I glanced at them I saw that they were all glaring at him, looking like they would have loved to pounce on him at that very moment.
I could feel the rage spilling out of all three of them. And since they were all Apex wolves, the stronger their emotions, the chance that it was going to spill into the surrounding environment for other werewolves to fill.
But Vladimir didn’t seem to care. He just kept on ranting. “I had to wait for five years just to get this opportunity and now Moongrow is finally within my grasp, waiting for me to seize it. My brother was such a fool, thinking that he would rule forever, even though it was obvious right from the beginning that that weak of his wouldn’t have let him, but still his greed didn’t allow him relinquish the throne. I thought the death of his wife was going to speed his inevitable end along, but that man refused to give in.”
He faced his nephews, knowing full well that by now, the meaning of his words would have sunk in. “But in the end, all it took was a poisoned arrow to finish him.”
So he had killed his own brother.
“You bastard,” Shaun said in a low, dangerous voice. “So it was you all along.”
“I didn’t think I would have ever had to bring myself into the equation to get things done, but you three proved to be more of a thorn than I had bargained for. Even my assassin couldn’t finish you off.”
Nameless. The assassin had been working for Vladimir. It all started to make sense. The way the assassin seemed to know his way around the pack, and his great reluctance to reveal his master.
“But fortune always favours the wicked, or so, I’ve learnt.” He collected the silver dagger that Gert had used to threaten me, and held it up to the moonlight. “I apologise that it had to come to this, but your four stand in the way of my ascension.”