I am Sam
Chapter Thirty-Seven

MALVESSA

If they honestly think that I’m just going to help them replace and summon Lisbon out of the goodness of my heart, then I suppose I should use their naivety to my advantage because, firstly, I don’t have any goodness in my heart, to begin with, and second, I know Ronan’s on his way, just like I know he’ll bring his power stones with him, the man is that cock-sure of himself that I will gladly hand mine over to him, pathetic old fool. He forgets that I made him, gave him a human form to escape the hideous creature that lurks beneath that mask; I can easily take it away.

In a dull world filled with Eve’s, I would rather be Lilith; the story of her wrath always seemed to tickle my interest when I was just a child. Back when my mother taught me the fundamentals of how to get what you want by having my father do unspeakable things to me. Then every one of their Unseelie friends had a turn-in and a hand in the fun; I was handed from one to the next with zero remorse on how it would affect me. Thinking back to those moments of what I perceived as darkness, they taught me so much about the kind of woman I wanted to become; I did become that woman in every way that gives true meaning to the word evil.

Do you know that if you spell evil backwards, it says live, and I chose to live after what they all did to me, live and watch them all burn and die in the most inhumane way, one by one. So the next time anyone calls you evil, maybe they should understand the true definition of the word and what you had to live through that contributed in you becoming that way.

And the moment I birthed my own son, who was given to me by none other than my own father himself before I killed him, I have to admit, I couldn’t have been happier with my little bundle of joy. By the time Perseus was fourteen, I gave him what my father had given me, and Perseus loved every moment of it. So he became my lover, and so doing, I was able to, in some way or form, get back at my father for all he had taken away from me all those years ago; Perseus truly is my one and only love, the only one I would die for if it ever had to come to that.

Vanya, on the other hand, even though she was planned, and by planned, I mean planned well, she is nothing short of a sickening abomination of what we, Unseelie, stand for. I should have known as much when I conceived her, her father being the Seelie King himself, whom I tricked and drugged to have her in the first place; I should have suspected that there would be good in her, what I didn’t take into account, was just how much good I would have to contend with. The girl is drowning in the Seelie goodness of her true father’s genes; sickening.

Luckily, she has no idea who fathered her, and I plan on keeping it that way until the time comes. Mating Vanya off with Perseus will be a delicious and deadly cocktail of our kind and the Seelie. Once I have the spawn of Vanya and Perseus in my grasp, my actual plan will kick into action; I'll send my little bomb into they're Kingdom, and pass it off as one of their own. The plan was to use Vanya, but the little bitch has too much goodness in her veins, and she refuses to go into the Seelie, refuses to hurt anyone. It doesn't matter how many times I tortured her, she would rather take the beatings from me than do what I ask. Brat.

The complete and utter downfall of the Seelie as we know them to be is what I'm after; and when it happens, I’ll be able to get my hands on their precious white stone. Finally.

In the meantime, however, I have a war to prepare for because Ronan is coming, of that much, I am sure, and I will be ready and waiting. If I have to help young Atlas summon Lisbon from where she’s hiding to get him to help me get those stones from Ronan, then so be it, I can play nice just this once.

SASHA

“What do you mean she wants to see us? With how things went this morning, what’s the point? She’s never going to help us replace Lisbon.” Atlas and Asher are facing me; the sympathetic look on Atlas’s face, as opposed to the annoyed look on Asher’s, makes me feel even more confused than I was a minute ago.

“Let’s just hear her out, and then we can make our decision from there,” Atlas shrugs nonchalantly,

“You know what she wants, man, she wants the stones, and you can’t agree to her terms; she’s just going to try and trick you like she did me,” Asher grumbles irritably,

“What do you mean?” I’m giving Asher a confused look, and he clenches his jaw as he shakes his head before looking down,

“When I found out she had our stone, I went after it; I went after her. She used what I wanted the most to curse me,”

“Which was?” I ask, my voice coming out small,

“My father. I wanted him back, she said she could bring him back, and I believed her. In the end, the only thing she did was use our stone to curse me, and now I’m this; and will probably be this way for the rest of my life.” Swallowing down hard, I look from Asher to Atlas, suddenly wondering if it wouldn’t be better if we just got out of here instead; I mean, the chances are pretty good that Malvessa is going to screw us over either way if she is as bad as I’m made to believe she is, then yeah, we shouldn’t even be here right now taking her up on any offers or listening to a word she says.

Except...

What else are we meant to do? We’re in the Unseelie realm, literally at the mercy of Malvessa herself to replace Lisbon.

“Look, we’re not going to be stupid about this; we won’t just openly trust whatever she says; I know who we’re dealing with, but if she happens to suggest something that could benefit us, then we’re going to take it.” Pulling me into his arms, Atlas crushes me against his warm chest, “We’re so close, Sash, we can do this.” He breathes.

~

“Let’s see how serious you are about freeing your sister’s wolf mate from his curse,” narrowing his eyes on Malvessa; Atlas gives her a suspicious look,

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I want the stones, and the moment I allow Ronan to enter my Kingdom, you will help me take the stones from him.” Atlas scoffs,

“You want me to help you get the other stones, and once you have them, you’ll destroy our entire realm, what do I look like, stupid?”

“You’re words really hurt, Atlas. Accusing me of wanting to destroy our entire realm.” Malvessa says, clapping her hand over her chest, suddenly feigning innocence, before finally bursting into a fit of cackling laughter,

“If you want Lisbon and my help to replace her, then give me your word. You will get the other two stones from Ronan; a trade for a trade, it's only fair.”

Staring hard at Malvessa for a minute, Atlas looks at me, his eyes searching mine for the go-ahead; as much as I think this is a terrible idea, what else can we do?

Finally nodding once, I swallow hard. I hope I don't end up regretting this.

Malvessa leads us into a large room, and my eyes are slowly scanning the entire area; there’s a sizeable five-pointed star painted on the floor, surrounded by a circle; off the side of the star, my brows furrow when I notice a large...

“Is that a pendulum?” I ask as I turn to look at Atlas, nodding he smirks,

“Yeah, it’s what witches use to replace things, or people, or whatever needs replaceing, actually,” Nodding, I slowly make my way over to the pendulum; it’s a large black crystal hanging on a rope over a circle on the ground. The moment I’m standing in front of the stone, Malvessa comes to stand beside me,

“If Lisbon is hiding in my Kingdom, then we’ll replace her with this.” Turning my head to look at her, I narrow my eyes questioningly,

“It’s that easy?” I ask her suspiciously.

“Pretty much,” She shrugs, “I’ll just need a little something from the two of you,” Frowning, Atlas comes to stand beside me as he stares hard at her,

“Like what?”

“A bit of your blood?” Both my and Atlas’s eyes widen as we shake our heads at her,

“No, no way. You can't have our blood,” He snaps at her.

“Well, you’re both related to Lisbon through your mother, so if you want to replace her, you need to spill some of your blood over the pendulum floor.” Swallowing hard, I slowly turn my face to look at Atlas, “Look, you want Lisbon, and I want the stones. Give me your word, young Atlas, that you will give me what I want the moment that I allow Ronan to enter my Kingdom, and I will not only bring Lisbon to you but so will personally help break the curse on you’re sister’s mate.” Atlas grits his teeth but then finally gives her a stiff nod.

"Fine."

Malvessa takes a sharp knife off a small table and hands it to Atlas; taking it from her, Atlas sighs; and then he quickly slices into the palm of his hand, gasping at him; I swallow hard. Blood instantly begins pooling in his hand as he holds it out over the circle.

Taking the blade from him, I hold it over the palm of my hand before slicing down, wincing; the blood begins running down my wrist.

Holding my hand beside Atlas’s hand, I turn my head to look at him, and he does the same. Frowning, he shrugs,

“Here goes nothing,” He mutters, and we both slowly open our hands as blood begins to drop steadily to the floor from his hand and mine.

Malvessa suddenly begins to chant words as she lets go of the pendulum crystal she was holding onto, and it begins to swing.

Looking over at Malvessa, I swallow down hard,

“How long will it take?” Smirking, she shrugs,

“It all depends on how well hidden Lisbon is; if she makes a move, we’ll know.”

~

ATLAS

It’s been four weeks, and the pendulum is still moving, swaying in a circular motion; it hasn’t found Lisbon. I’m standing in the five-star pendulum room, narrowing my eyes at the large crystal as it keeps moving. How is it possible that Lisbon is so deeply hidden? I mean, if she’s not in the Unseelie Kingdom, then where the fuck is she?

Sasha is freaking out over the impending full moon, I mean, it's been a month in this place, and I can see it's taking it's toll on both her and Asher. We're all feeling just as anxious over her heat as she is.

I've been looking for Caleb; I need some fucking direction here, he's good with dark; I need to ask him his opinion, but he's never around, and when he is, then he's acting so super weird that I can't speak to him anyway. I don't know what his problem is, it's like he's lost in his own head, battling with an inner demon, one even more lethal it seems than he's ever battled before.

“You want me to give you a room in the dungeons? Why?” And the curious look on Malvessa’s face as she raises a brow at me has me cringing because I don’t want to tell her why. Still, I also can’t not tell her the damn reason because, let’s face it, tonight, Sasha goes into heat again. With how bad it was last time, the pain of her heat is becoming dangerous for her; it fucking scares me; her recovery time takes longer the longer that she’s away from Wolf. Every time she goes into heat; a piece of her is dies inside; I can’t help her and it's fucking driving me insane.

I know she's slowly losing the battle; because I feel it when I connect with her, and that alone scares me to death.

“It’s for Sasha,” I grumble as I grit my teeth; narrowing her eyes on me, she tilts her head in amusement,

“And why would you want to put your sister in a dungeon?” Raising my eyes to her, I swallow down hard, fuck, really, do I have to do this?

“She’s going into heat with the impending full moon tonight, and I need a safe place away from everyone else where I can keep her until it’s done.” Watching as the corners of her mouth turn up into a devious grin, a low chuckle has her rising to her feet as she takes two gingerly steps towards me, tapping her finger against her chin; the look in her eyes irks me immediately,

“Why would you want to hide her away, a she-wolf in heat? Interesting.” Narrowing my eyes on her, my body tenses; I don’t like how she’s reacting to my request. “Why don’t you just sort her heat out yourself?” She asks, giving me a curious look, and my eyes immediately shoot up to stare at her in irritation.

“She’s my sister,”

“And?” Grinding my teeth, the way she rebuffs my response like she honestly can’t give a shit or see what the problem with that could be, has me scowling at her,

“I would never touch her in that way,” Smirking she shakes her head at me in amusement,

“And why not? It could be fun, you know,” She grins wickedly, and I can’t help swallowing hard, that night in her room; as much as I try to block it out, it always creeps back into my subconscious making me feel like the worst fucking person in the world.

“I’m not discussing my sister’s heat with you; now, do you have a place I can use or not?” Scoffing, she rolls her eyes at me,

“Okay, so you’re not into Sasha, although I don’t understand why not; she’s absolutely mouth-watering, so why don’t Perseus and I help her out with her... little problem, we would love to be of some... assistance.” The wicked grin reaches her eyes, and my dragon suddenly surges, swirling around in the irises of my eyes like an impending atomic bomb about to go off; the moment my elemental ability shimmers on top of my dragon, blue swirls dancing around with the strength of my beast, I can’t stop the deep growl that reverberates through my chest. Malvessa suddenly chuckles in amusement as she stares intentively at me,

“So overly protective of her. Are you sure you’re not into your sister, young Atlas?” Swallowing down the bile rising in my throat, I have to use all the strength in my power to push down the feeling creeping into my veins; because these are all things I’ve been shoving down to the deepest parts of my soul, not wanting to face the fact that they are still there. The truth is, I still want her; replaceing out who and what Sasha is to me hasn’t taken those feelings away; it just makes me feel like a sick monster for having them, a creep, some sick pervert looking at his own sister like she's...

Glaring at Malvessa, another low growl rises in my throat,

“I’m not like you; my moral compass isn’t fucked up; I know the difference between right and wrong. If you so much as touch Sasha, the deals off; if you want those stones, keep your hands off my sister. Now, do you have a place I can use or not?” My voice comes through deep and threatening; I’m expecting Malvessa to retaliate, the fact that I’m growling at her in her castle no doubt; surely should piss her off, but she doesn’t react. Instead, she shrugs with a smirk,

“Sure, I’ll give you a dungeon room all to yourself, and you and your... sister can do whatever it is you want to down there; no one will ever know.” She winks at me, and I swear the deep inner breathing technique Cal taught me is working fucking overtime right now. Just stay calm, Atlas. I keep reminding myself.

Nodding stiffly, I’m forcing the beast back down, but he’s an intimidating and overpowering piece of shit when he wants to be; I’m lucky I was able to get a handle on him when I did; otherwise, who knows what would have happened.

“Thank you,” I grumble through a clenched jaw, fucking breathe, Atlas. Stepping back, I swing around so fast; I need to get away from her before I lose it and do something that could jeopardize this whole operation.

~

Grabbing Sasha’s wrist, I begin dragging her along behind me, and I can see the confusion on her face as she reluctantly stumbles behind me,

“Atlas, what the... what’s wrong?” Her voice comes out unsure and slightly panicky, and in hindsight of what I just had to endure with Malvessa; I’m just not in the fucking mood right now; the exact words keep going around over and over again in my head, get Sasha back to Wolf, get Sasha back to Wolf. I need this goddam rollercoaster to end so I can finally get off and ultimately try and replace some peace because; I love Sasha as my sister, but, I don’t know how much more of this I’ll be able to take before I have a fucking nervous breakdown.

I’m dragging her behind me so harshly that she stumbles again, almost falling over her own feet when I swing back and catch her. Her big doe eyes looking up at me in confusion,

“Atlas, what’s wrong? Why are you freaking out? Did something happen? Is it the pendulum?” Shaking my head, I swallow hard, and when I look over her shoulder and see Asher as he comes running up behind us, my jaw clenches when I shout out,

“No! You stay, Asher; you’re not coming with us,” Asher abruptly stops in his stride, blinking back in confusion; he furrows his brows questioningly,

“What’s going on, man? Where are you taking her?” And I know I shouldn’t be snapping at Asher, but where I’m taking her, he’s the absolute last person I want around Sasha right now. Cocking my head, I narrow my eyes on him,

“What’s tonight, Asher,” He swallows hard because he knows what’s coming and can put two and two together. The moment he takes a step back, I know he understands, and now even Sasha gets it as she steps forward,

“Where do you want me to go?” She asks, her voice suddenly small as she looks down; I’m still looking at Asher, his entire body tense as he looks down. He takes another step back and then another before finally spinning around, hurrying away from us. Yeah, he gets it alright, and man, I admire his Ultima morals because it must be tough being a wolf and resisting a she-wolf in heat. Looking down at Sasha, I finally sigh,

“Come on; I’ll show you.”

Sasha doesn’t even fight me on it, doesn’t argue, even when I lead her down into the creepiest dungeon I’ve ever seen. Aeonian’s dungeons aren’t exactly fun, either. Still, this place puts the creep in a spine-chilling torture chamber.

I watch as Sasha swallows hard; I know she’s freaked out. Still, at least here, I can have some form of control over her heat without having to get too involved in it.

We’re both silent as I shackle her wrists against the wall; she keeps her eyes trained on the ground. I feel like a fucking asshole for doing this to her, Malvessa’s words coming back to haunt me when she said, ′You two can do whatever you want, and no one will ever know,′ At this point, my movements are completely robotic; I’m not thinking about Sasha’s emotions, or how smooth and warm her skin feels against mine. Fuck Malvessa and her sick, perverted ways; Sasha’s my sister, and I love her as my sister, only my sister; that’s all she is; that’s all she’ll ever be to me. The moment the second shackle locks into place, I groan, my eyes snapping shut as I take a step back from Sasha.

“Atlas, it’s okay; I know we have to do this; please don’t feel bad.” Clenching my jaw, I shake my head as I keep my eyes trained on the ground,

“Sash, I can’t help you this time with the pain; I wish I could, but it’s just...”

“I know,” She says, her voice suddenly so small. Looking up at her, tears are shimmering behind her eyes, “After what you said the last time I went into heat, I wouldn’t ever expect you to go through that again. You are my brother Atlas, and I love you as my brother, but that doesn’t take away what we started feeling for each other when we thought we were fated mates, and that night back in my room,”

“Sasha, don’t...” I plead with a groan,

“Let me finish, please,” She says imploringly, “We have to talk about it, Atlas; we can’t keep ignoring what happened like it never did.” Scoffing, I’m shaking my head at her. “What Ronan did, keeping the truth from us, allowing both of us to continue thinking that we were fated mates, that was so wrong.” She continues,

“It was way more than wrong, Sasha; it was fucked up. I love you, as my sister. It's just... memories don’t fade that quickly. Even if they do, being around you when you’re in heat just brings all those feelings back, especially when I’m linking myself to you to take away some of your pain.” Slowly looking up at her, her own eyes are bleeding with sympathy,

“I just want you to be able to talk to me, to tell me how you’re feeling, no matter how difficult it is; I want you to always be honest and tell me the truth.” Her voice is so suddenly so small, and I want to be her twin brother, but when she’s in heat, the memories haunt me, and they won’t allow me to be just that. Swallowing hard, I let out a slow breath before looking her dead in the eyes,

“I would rather endure the pain of a hundred spider bites and ultimately death over feeling your heat even again. Is that honest enough for you?” And I watch as her jaw goes slack, one tear falling as she silently nods before looking down; and there it is, the reason I can’t leave her to suffer on her own, the reason I would go through the most torturous of pain for her. Stepping toward her; I gently place a kiss against her forehead as I whisper, “Except I can’t watch you suffer, little sister, and if I don’t help take away some of the pain, the heat will completely consume you and ultimately kill you.”

Taking a step back, I swing around and step out of the dungeon cell, shutting the gate, I lock it before sliding into a seated position against the metal bars, fishing my air pods out of my pocket, I pop them into my ears when I hear her tiny voice say, “I’m sorry, Atlas.” Smirking, I let out a deep breath I didn’t realize I was holding as I flick through the music list on my phone that I got from Cal,

“Don’t be; let’s get on with it so it can be over, okay.” She doesn’t respond, but I don’t give her a chance to either before pressing play and having music blasting through my ears, immediately drowning out what I know full well, is going to mess me up so badly again. Her heat, my feelings. Fucking great.

~

Six days and Sasha’s still out, I took her to our bedroom once it was all over, and I was right; it was fucking worse than before. Her body was sopping wet from sweating; her high temps spiked so out of control that a normal human would have died.

She’s completely out, I cleaned her and changed her into fresh clothes, but again, each movement with her is robotic and detached when I have to wipe her down and change her clothes. Fate and the universe are pretty messed up in the way the two combinations enjoy causing havoc in my life; I mean, I wish that, on some level, I could replace my fated mate already, so I could just drown in her, love her, touch her and know that she’s mine and only mine. Funny thing is, I don’t see it ever happening; maybe I just don’t have a mate out there, another messed up fate versus universe practical joke on my life. Yeah, that's probably it.

The moment I enter the pendulum room, my jaw drops; the pendulum has finally stopped moving, and my eyes fly up to Malvessa, who’s standing on the opposite side of the pendulum, smirking wickedly when she looks at me,

“I’ve found her; now go get your sister; we need both your spirit elements to draw her out; teleporting her into this captivity star will need both of your powers.

Swinging around, I’m about to do just that when I freeze in my tracks; Sasha’s already standing right in front of me,

“Jeez, fuck.” I jump back in surprise as I stare down at her; she nearly gives me a goddam heart attack, but Sasha’s not even looking at me; she’s looking straight past me at the pendulum crystal.

“I felt it stop, and it woke me up.” And I feel all the air rush out of my lungs as I stare at her; yeah, that’s completely normal, right?

“It’s your curse,” Malvessa blurts out in a hurry, “Now come, both of you, stand on either side of the star, between the arms and the legs, while I stand at the head, quickly, we don’t have much time,” She snaps hastily.

SASHA

Both Atlas and I do as Malvessa instructs; I still can’t believe I woke up when the pendulum stopped.

Malvessa raises her hands out towards the massive star on the floor when she looks me straight in the eyes,

“You’re Maldovite stones, place them down in front of you, on the edge of the circle; quickly, we can’t let her get away.” Malvessa instantly looks giddy with excitement, the thought of trapping Lisbon has a wicked smile forming on her face I haven’t seen before; my brows furrow at her reaction, but between my own thrumming erratic heartbeat and Atlas suddenly shouting at me to place my locket down on the ground, I can’t even think straight.

Atlas suddenly mimics Malvessa, his arms stretching out on either side of him; I reluctantly do the same, my chest rising and falling as my breathing continues to pick up.

The energy begins to shift the moment Malvessa starts chanting, I understand her, but I’m too focused on the swirling energy forming in the middle of the star; it’s like someone’s switched on a massive industrial fan in the room or something, the swirling wind picks up, and as it does, I immediately notice my own energy and elemental powers eliciting in my arms, I’m not doing this, it’s doing it on its own; suddenly arching from the palms and fingertips of my hands in sporadic explosive bursts. I’m panting; my heart feels like it’s about to burst from my chest; turning my head to look at Atlas, his powers are doing the same, and his eyes have completely glazed over with swirls of blue arching from them. The moment my attention moves back to Malvessa, her eyes have glazed over, black darkness swirling around her in waves.

I’m suddenly petrified; I’ve never done anything like this before; is it safe? What if what Asher said is true? What if Malvessa’s just tricking us? What if... ′Urgh!′ I suddenly groan; the intensity of the pain shooting through my entire body almost knocks me to the ground when a loud thunderous crash has me instantly looking up.

My jaw goes completely slack at that moment, the entire room falling silent as all energies fade away; I’m standing there and staring out in front of me. I can’t believe what I’m seeing; blinking back twice, I’m suddenly staring straight into her dark eyes, the reason I’m here, the one who took away my happiness and replaced it with the chaotic nightmare I’ve been living these past four months; and she’s staring at me, her own eyes bewildered and filled with confusion when she murmurs,

“I saw you die; how are you still alive?” And it’s as if all rational thought comes pounding back into me as I clench my jaw, my eyes narrowing in on her as my nostrils flare,

“I’ve waited four months for this moment, and now you’ll give back what you took from me,” She’s slowly tilting her head as she keeps her eyes trained on me, curiosity and intrigue all swirling around in her dark brown eyes.

“I’m touched, but I’m not breaking that curse on you, not unless you’re willing to die for it,” She sneers at me. I’m about the step towards her when Atlas grabs my arm, my head swings back towards him as my brows furrow in confusion,

“You can’t go in; you’ll get trapped in there with her,” His voice is soft and sympathetic, but the moment Lisbon says his name, he immediately narrows his eyes on her,

“Still convinced she’s your mate, Atlas, or have you finally figured out the truth,” both Atlas and I are suddenly staring at her in shock,

“You knew, how?” Atlas grumbles, a wild swirl of his element instantly present in his eyes. Scoffing, she smiles, and it’s just as wicked as I remember from the last time I saw her,

“How indeed,” She smirks as she places her finger against her lips, making a sarcastic ′Shh,′ sound. “The walls keep secrets, Atlas; maybe if you were smart, you would have figured it out by now, but you believe every lie he’s ever told you, don’t you?” Lisbon looks amused with the dumbfounded looks on both our faces, spinning around, she suddenly faces Malvessa, and the tension in the room suddenly turns pungent and stale,

“What business do you have helping them?” She sneers, but Malvessa merely lets out a sinister chuckle,

“Is this how you greet someone you haven’t seen in years? You get back after all this time and don’t even stop in for a visit; I’m hurt that I have to summon you to spend some long overdue quality time with you,” Sighing, Malvessa finally begins chuckling to herself. Lisbon immediately spins back to glare at us,

“You would work with her; you must be desperate,” she seethes, ” Let me out of here or else...”

“Or else what?” Atlas smirks, “You want out, then break the curse you have on Sasha and her mate,” Lisbon’s mouth instantly turns up into a devious grin as she looks at me,

“Ah, true love is what it’s all about.” Scoffing, Lisbon cocks her head, “Wish I cared, but I don’t. I hope something terrible happens and you’re wolf mate gets attacked and killed for not being able to shift.” She shrugs as she begins cackling, which only turns into full-blown laughter.

My entire body begins to shake uncontrollably, sparks of rage exploding from my veins. I want to lunge at her when Atlas grabs and cages me to his chest,

“Fuck! Sash, you can’t go in there, remember,” He snaps at me, but I’m fighting to get away, my wolf swirling around in the irises of my eyes as I suddenly growl at her, instantly hating that these damn wolf cuffs are still keeping her bound,

“Let me go!” I shout as I begin clawing, my hands out in front of me, “Let me go!” I scream as I keep trying to break free from Atlas’s iron grip, but he’s strong, and he’s not loosening his grip, not even an inch.

“Sasha! Calm the fuck down, now!” He bellows, his dragon growling through him so loudly that my entire body freezes in response. Small pants escaped my lips as I glared at Lisbon, and she's still laughing.

The moment Atlas pulls something from his back pocket and holds it out in front of us, however, Lisbon immediately stops laughing, her eyes narrow as she stares at the object in his hand,

“My dagger.” She sneers, “Give it to me, now!” She seethes. And I'm completely dumbfounded the moment my eyes fall on the silver dagger in Atlas’s hand. True enough, that’s the same dagger Lisbon had in her possession the night she wanted to kill Wolf and me. How did Atlas get hold of it?

“You want this dagger,” Atlas seethes, “Then break Sasha’s curse, a trade for a trade, dagger for a curse.” Lisbon suddenly glares at Atlas,

“You think it’s that easy? The curse on Sasha and her mate is one of the most powerful curses ever conjured; the only way she can break the curse on him is if someone close to him dies, and considering you are his mate,” Lisbon snaps at me, “I guess that person is going to be you, and if you die, he dies. So you see, you can’t break the curse on him.”

“Bullshit!” Atlas shouts out, “There has to be another way,” He snaps. Scoffing, Lisbon rolls her eyes at him,

“Sorry, but that’s the only way, and not only will someone close to him have to die in order for the curse to be broken, but the only way of lifting it would also be for you to remove the cursed item off of your mate’s body, and that’s a bit difficult to do if your dead now isn’t it. It’s like a Romeo and Juliet curse; if it was ever a curse, then this would be it.” She bellows with laughter which only has me seeing red. But, instead of the rampaging rage, I had a moment ago, tears suddenly begin running down my cheeks in short sobs.

“Why...” I whimper, “Why would you do this? What did I ever do to you,” Sniffing back more tears, they won’t stop falling; I feel so helpless, so lost right now. All of this was for nothing.

“That’s easy; you were born,” She scoffs. Atlas’s arms keep me tightly bound to his chest; the only thing keeping me on my feet now is him. All the while, Lisbon’s eyes stay glued to the dagger in Atlas’s hand. The moment Malvessa leisurely walks around the star circle and comes to stand beside us, she sighs, staring at Lisbon; she gingerly taps the side of her cheek like she's deep in thought.

“Well, now, considering that you have nothing to offer us, Lisbon, I don’t see the point of discussing this any further. I think...” She says, turning her head to look at us, a sinister grin creeping up at the corners of her mouth, “That I would have more use for her dagger than she would, don’t you think, Atlas, Sasha?”

“Don’t you dare give my dagger to this bitch!” Lisbon snaps at us, anger and rage pulsating in her eyes as she glares at us, and Malvessa suddenly bursts out laughing but completely ignores Lisbon,

“And once Ronan comes, could you imagine the look of utter excitement on his face when we hand Lisbon over to him on a silver platter? He’ll be absolutely beside himself.” She sniggers. Lisbon’s eyes suddenly widen in horror,

“Ronan is coming here, to castle Mirk. I can’t be here; you have to let me go,” Her eyes are suddenly pleading with Atlas in panic, “You can't hand me over to Ronan; you don’t understand what he’ll do,” She shouts, and Atlas suddenly smirks as he narrows his eyes on her,

“Like I said, a dagger for a curse.”