CAS SANDRA


    Asher approached us silently, and once Helene stepped away from me, I nced at Rayden, who was


    rubbing his shoulder with an unpleasant expression on his face.


    “What happened?” I asked him directly. “Where are your people, Rayden?”


    Rayden rolled his eyes at Helene. “Ask her. She’s responsible for what happened.”


    I frowned. “What do you mean?”


    The Alpha of Wild Crawler gestured around the area. I peered over the bushes and noticed several


    people were lying on the ground, clearly unconscious. When I turned back to Helene, she simply


    shrugged nonchntly.


    “I saw this man and the others sneaking around the grounds with arge wooden box,” she answered,


    her eyes watching Rayden suspiciously. “I supposed they were nning on taking something out of the


    castle, so I used some tricks.”


    “What tricks?” I asked as fear swelled within me. I could see the men’s chests rise and fall with their


    breathing, so it was obvious they were still alive, but that didn’t mean that Helene hadn’t done


    something lethal to them. The ne weapon she’d gifted me proved that she was capable of plenty,


    and besides, I was still a little hesitant toward her after the way she’d acted around Ronald,


    She had been under his spell for a good deal of time, and while she seemed fine now, I was still


    cautious.


    “I wasn’t going to fight against so many men alone, so I used some drugs to make them pass out,”


    Helene answered calmly. Her tone was so casual that it was a little rming, and I fought the urge to


    groan.


    Instead, I nced at Rayden, who very much didn’t appear to be drugged.


    “What about him?” I asked her as my eyes trailed over my friend from Wild Crawler.


    that he’s your


    “I needed at least one conscious man to negotiate with,” she answered. “So I gave him an antidote.


    And then you walked over here: Is it safe to say friend? You seem quite worried about him.”


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    I sighed and then nodded.


    Though I’d been initially cautious, Helene seemed to have recovered from her state of hysteria. She


    was speaking calmly and seemed to be making sense. But now we had a bunch of unconscious allies


    around us that needed to be roused at once. We needed all of the manpower we could muster if we


    were going to leave Yurene for good.


    “I’ll keep my promise to help you get out of here, but I need these men in order to carry out the n,” I


    said. “Can you wake them?”


    Helene let out a small gasp of happiness and then nodded quickly.


    She got to work administering the antidotes, and as we waited for the men to wake up, Rayden asked


    us what happened.


    “I saw smoke and then watched a bunch of soldiers rush to the checkpoints,” he exined as he


    rubbed his neck. “I was so worried about you guys. Thank the Moon Goddess you’re alright. What


    happened exactly?”


    I nced at Asher and struggled to find the right words to say. How could I summarize this madness


    when I didn’t understand the details myself?


    “This country is doomed,” Helene spoke up, and Ronald isn’t any better than his cousin.”


    and all eyes fell to her. “Kaleb is crazy


    Rayden furrowed his brow. “What does that have to do with the fire? I don’t understand.”


    This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.


    “Kaleb set fire to the main building,” I exined. “He was trying to kill Ronald and his aplices, but


    they managed to escape somehow-”


    “It wasn’t ‘somehow”,” Helene interrupted boldly. “It was magic. I saw it with my own eyes!”


    I shot her a re. “Stop, Helene. Things have beenplicated enough. We can our escape n,


    alright?”


    discuss the detailste For now, we need to figure


    out


    Helene didn’t seem too keen to let it


    go


    but nodded anyway.


    Asher finally spoke up.


    “The men are all awake,” he pointed out. “We should be good to move out. We just


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    A


    need a n.”


    Rayden offered him a polite bow of respect. “Your Majesty, it’s good to see sorry for not bowing


    sooner-”


    you.


    I’m


    “Don’t worry about it,” Asher assured him with a nod and when Rayden softened, he continued


    speaking. “Where is the Alpha of Red Stone?”


    “He left the castle earlier today,” Rayden replied. “He should be waiting for us with a few of his soldiers


    in the nearest town.”


    Asher nodded thoughtfully and then turned to me. “I suppose we return to Erika. We need to take


    advantage of themotion over there.”


    I nodded in agreement, and when Helene, Rayden, and Rayden’s men obediently did the same, we left


    the area surrounding the bushes and reunited with Erika.


    Once everyone was in ce, we observed the gate. A bunch of guests were running toward it, hoping


    to leave the castle, but it was soon made obvious that no one was allowed to leave. One of the guests


    tried to forcer through the checkpoint without permission and was shot immediately. Based off his attire,


    the guest seemed to be a high-born from one of the Packs outside of the country.


    Everyone was shocked. Both us and the other guests stared on in shock as the high-born man fell to


    the ground dead.


    My heart sank and I turned Finnick away so he couldn’t see what was happening. He buried his face in


    my neck again and I held him close.


    “I wonder if the other gates are the same,” I whispered as my eyes scanned the perimeter of the castle


    grounds.


    “Most likely,” Asher replied, much to my dismay. “No one will be able to leave this ce tonight. I’m


    certain of it.”


    I wanted to fight against this idea, but I knew he was right. The guards must have received orders from


    someone. Ronald or Kaleb. It didn’t matter. The cousins likely knew the other had tricks up their


    sleeves and we were all coteral. They didn’t care about us. They just cared about killing each other


    and maintaining control of this country. This fight was inevitable.


    past


    few


    I wanted to pull my hair out at the very idea. I’d seen more violence in the months than any person


    should have and I yearned for a more peaceful existence


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    O


    Δ


    Your sign-in rewat.. Come to im your free coins.


    with my family. But here for good.


    and then get out of


    So, I reached into my pocket and retrieved one of the syringes of sedative. I injected Raven with it and


    then we put her in the wooden box. We delegated responsibilities amongst the group and decided that


    Erika and one of Rayden’s


    for taking care of Finnick, L, and the box while the


    gate.


    men would be respons through the


    rest of us would fight to


    Helene had originally been appointed to stay with Erika, but she insisted on fighting with us.


    “I don’t know how to fight with ws, but I know how to use poisons,” she argued, and she showed us


    her knife. I suddenly remembered the eagle ne she’d given me and pulled it out of my pocket.


    “You might need this,” I said as I handed it to her. She epted it and stared at me.


    “Did


    you use it?” she wondered.


    I shook my head. Helene snorted.


    “If we fail, I’d better use it to end our lives,” she said bitterly. “Better that than being caught and tortured


    to death by those crazy Northerners.”


    I didn’t like the sound of that but nodded my


    head anyway.


    him a hug.


    Once the n was confirmed, I kissed Finnick and gave


    “I love you,” I said as I held him close. “Listen to Aunt Erika, okay?”


    He nodded his head. “I will. I love you too, Mommy.”


    We parted ways a momentter, and after Asher and I shared a nod, we headed toward the gate.