Chapter 11

Mia

I walked into the kitchen to grab myself something to eat when I saw Sophie, one of our maids, taking what seemed like a very stale piece of bread and a bottle of half-filled water on a tray. Damn, how scrumptious. Note the sarcasm. Who in the world would give that to anyone to eat?

"Whose feast is that?" I questioned, scrunching my face at the so-called meal.

"The prisoner in the dungeon," she answered softly.

"You mean Anastasia a?" I raised a brow, gulping down some water from a bottle nearby.

"If that's her name, then yes. I was just given orders to keep her alive and give something for her to have once a day." I felt bad comparing the food I got in my time I spent as the prisoner at the Red Moon Pack, and what they were giving her here. Although two times a day, they did give me at least some good stuff to eat.

"Give it to me here, I'll take care of it. I have to pay her a visit anyway. You go catch up with some other work," I said, taking the tray from her. I took a whiff of the bread and my nose scrunched in distaste, smelling the rotten bread. Was she actually going to give this to her? Why do we even have bread this old in the kitchen?

Shaking my head, I threw the piece in the bin before proceeding to make a simple ham sandwich with fresh bread for her. After slicing it into two, I gathered it on the tray with the bottle of water that was previously on it and moved out to make my way to the dungeon.

As I stepped into the little alley between the rock walls, a cold, damp breeze wrapped around me, carrying the scent of moss and decay. Eerie, flickering torches barely illuminate the darkness, casting long dancing shadows whispering ancient secrets in the air. The guards immediately recognized me, making way for me, opening the doors of the cell as I reached it.

A figure curled up in the corner against the wall, flinched at the sound as I entered. She immediately stood up from her position, looking alarmed as ever. My eyes took her in from head to toe.

Black hair reaching her elbows, sharp black eyes masked in exhaustion, and a few scratches on the face. She seemed more petite than the last time I captured her to bring her here. She cowered back as I took some steps forward to her. I saw her hands. They were wrapped in silver chains that had left bruises on her skin. Silver, of course, the biggest weakness of werewolves. Our cells were full of them.

"What do you want?" I caught the slight shiver in her voice.

"Nothing. Just..I brought you food. Thought you'd want a fill," I placed the tray in the corner before giving her another look from head to toe. She looked at me as if I had grown two heads. "Enjoy," I muttered before stepping out.

Reaching back to my room, I dropped on the bed, heaving a tired sigh. The event had surely taken a turn in my life. I was conflicted. Not all is what it seems like. Sylvia's words echoed in my head. What was it that I was unaware of? Was she betraying us? Was this some kind of her way to get information from us? Who was she working for? I wasn't dumb to realize things were just not adding up.

"Agh!" I groaned, pulling my hair just slightly before closing my eyes and rubbing my scalp, hoping to be rid of the thoughts invading my brain every now and then. If only.

My eyes snapped open as I sprung out of my bed. The book! I lifted my mattress slightly from the corner before pulling it out, glancing over at my door to make sure it was locked. Flipping the pages over until I found the same symbol tattooed on my wrist.

The charm of delusion.

I took a deep sigh before praying that I didn't find out anything that I was not supposed to. Was it too late to just shut the book and act like I had never found it?

My fingers skimmed over the cream pages, trying to process every word that was stated. There was a spell written and just below it, the explanation of what it was. But there were only certain words that caught my attention.

Control thoughts, make them believe what you want.

Who ever said ignorance was bliss, was absolutely sure of what they were saying. Because reading this in no way gave me the satisfaction I wanted. Rather, it made my skin crawl and my mind go in every possible direction to put a meaning to the situation. I was going to read further when a knock on the door broke my concentration. I quickly hid the book under the mattress before hearing the knock again. Getting up, I rushed to the door, making me slightly breathless and worked up.

"Why was the door locked?" Seriously? This grumpy man came all the way here to ask that, to me? And what is it to him if my door was locked or not? The last time I checked I could lock my door as I wished. Who was he to tell me anything?

"I wasn't informed you were also appointed to babysit me, Desmond. When did dad exactly promote you?" He glared at me before speaking the next words.

"In fact he did. Sire told me to make sure that you don't slack off from the training. He wouldn't want his greatest weapon to not be charged when it's needed. Looks like you didn't quite manage to impress him either after getting kidnapped by those dogs. Would you like to explain why daddy's musketeer is not able to live up to her words, hm?" My blood boiled as rage took over me. How dare he speak to me like that? I was no weapon or a thing to be used! I was a living being. I had feelings and emotions! He had no right.

"You've grown some balls to speak like that. You do understand, one word to him, and you are done for good. Where is it even coming from? Did mommy not inform you who your daddy was?" I smirked, knowing I would hit the sensitive nerve there. However, what I didn't expect was for him to smirk back at me with his dead eyes.

"You darling, are in no position to even question that." He scoffed instead of being offended, and for some reason the smug look on his face told me he was implying something much deeper. Something he knew he had the upper hand on. "Wouldn't you want to miss dinner now? Sire wouldn't like his only daughter getting sick before important events now, would he?" And with that he left, leaving me in utter confusion. Is this what he came here for?