A Curse of Shadows - Page 87

“Yes, you will, love.” I lean in to kiss her forehead. “And I’ll be right on the other side of that door should you need me, but you’ll need to use our bond connection to let me know. The room is soundproof.”

This is one of the bigger aspects of this situation that I hate. I won’t be able to hear their conversation, but maybe that’s for the best. Noen will know this and I trust my mate beyond measure. If there’s anything to learn from him, she really is our best option.

She swallows thickly. “I won’t put myself at risk.”

“I know.” My arms wrap around her. “You proved that last night—not that you needed to, but the fact that you called for me instead of trying to handle the fight on your own showed me what I already know.”

Isla hugs me back and shudders. “I’m ready for this to be over. I’m ready for us to just be us, even if just for a few hours at a time.”

“Me too, love. Me too.” Lifting her chin again, I kiss her then move toward the door. “Let’s get another step closer to that.”

“I’m ready,” she confirms again, her gaze going back to Noen, and as much as it kills me to do so, I slip out of the room before I change my mind and yell into the mind of the man I currently hate most in this world.

“Wake up, you worthless piece of shit,” I snarl. “Isla is waiting to speak with you. Just know if you even flinch in her direction, I don’t care if you can help us find Declan or not, I will finish what I started last night and rip your head right from your shoulders.”

“Asher, I didn’t?—”

I cut the connection off because if I hear his pathetic pleas, I’m going to be tempted to storm back into that room and my mate won’t get the closure she seeks.

I won’t do that to her unless I’m forced. Though I can’t deny a part of me hopes he tries something just so I can watch the life leave his eyes as I end him.

That’s the only satisfactory ending I can picture, but it will come in time, that I know for sure.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

ISLA

Watching Noen become aware again, seeing how his face pinches and the tears that fall down his cheeks, I want to help him, to do something to ease his pain, yet that’s likely exactly how we ended up in this situation. I spent our childhood always attempting to heal the emotional and physical wounds his father had inflicted.

I can’t do that again. I won’t. Not when he could be responsible for taking the last five hundred years from me. No, not could be. He is. Why else would he be speaking with Declan, arguing about a dark object and me?

“Isobella,” he mutters, his mouth barely moving.

“It’s Isla,” I correct with a sneer. “You killed Isobella, stole her life—all because you couldn’t have her.”

He manages to lift his head up and look me in the eyes. “The only thing I’m guilty of is loving you more than I should have. I never could have hurt you, not then and not now. I mourned you just like Asher did.”

Damn it, he’s good. There isn’t an ounce of insincerity in his tone. Even my wolf remains at the surface, curious about what the truth actually is.

“Then where’s Declan?” I ask, crossing my arms and taking another step closer.

“I don’t know,” he says devastatingly. “Like I told Mali, he misunderstood the argument we were having. I’m not working with Declan. Hell, I didn’t even know he had that damn orb until he tried to use it on me.”

“He’s talking about an orb that Declan had,” I tell Asher. “Should I ask him more about that?”

“Mali didn’t find it,” he replies. “We need to know how they got it and what it was used for.”

Giving Noen my attention again, I struggle to see him as a murderer when he looks so weak lumped over in the chair, barely able to move and openly sharing his anguish like a beacon within the room.

“Where did the orb come from?” I ask, keeping my tone even.

“I don’t know,” he says pleadingly. “Declan was waiting for me in my room when I returned before heading out to the pack run. I knew something was off with him and at first, I was trying to help him, but then he started rolling the orb between his hands. It was pulsing with dark magic and I could feel the energy trying to latch on to me. I smacked the sphere from his hands and that’s when he became uncontrollable.”

“How so?” I press, hating that I’m finding his words so easy to believe. Still, I have to admit that’s likely only because believing I could have been friends with someone who would do this to me isn’t the best feeling.

Noen starts to answer but then coughs until he begins to choke, fresh blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

I step forward again, the instinct to help something I can’t fight, regardless of what may or may not be true.