Chapter 166 – Saying Goodbye
Arabella
“What fresh hell is this?” I mutter, staring at the news coverage from Elysium in horror. I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Frederic, who is by far the most conniving wolf I’ve ever met, is on screen getting tricked into admitting his crimes by that little W***e, Selene. The worst part is that she drags me into it too, and he doesn’t deny a single word.
My mouth falls wider and wider open with every word that passes between them. The cunning b***h clearly knows they’re being watched, and she eggs him on for the cameras. A dozen questions flood my mind as their conversation escalates. How on earth did this happen? How did she even find out the truth? She isn’t smart enough to figure it out on her own.
Igasp when Frederic raises his hand to strike Selene, clamping my own hand over my mouth and knowing the answers aren’t important. The only question that matters now is how in the hell I’m going to hide this from Bastien. This is going to be at the top of the news cycle all week long – at a minimum. I can’t keep breaking the cable and making fake newspapers. Making a few edits to one or two articles is one thing, but I simply don’t have the time to do it every day.
Not to mention Bastien is already getting too impatient to return to Elysium. Even if I can find a way to cover this up, he’s going to keep pressuring me to stop stalling and return home. He already sent the annulment papers to Selene, as far as he’s concerned every moment we delay is another day for her and Frederic to make a head start.
Even now, I can hear him stirring in the other room. I have to think fast, I have to find a way to delay him and hide the news at once. Desperation takes hold of me as Bastien appears in the doorway, and I slam my finger down on the remote’s power button.
His handsome brow furrows as he looks between me and the television.” What was that?”
“Nothing!” I exclaim, much too quickly. “Just more of the same nonsense they’re always spinning. You’re a monster, Selene’s a goddess – you know.”
“I know you hate it, Bella.” Bastien sighs, coming forward and reaching for the remote. “But it’s important I keep up with everything happening in Elysium, even if it’s infuriating.”
He pries the black rectangle out of my fingers, and I panic, turning and
Nat
grabbing the vase of flowers sitting on the coffee table. The screen comes to life and a reporter sitting behind a news desk only has time to say, “the shocking video-” before I bring down the heavy glass on the back of Bastien’s head with all my strength.
He crumples to the ground, unconscious, and I pull out my phone, dialing swiftly. The man who made me Bastien’s memory potion gave me his number on my last visit, a gesture I’m now eternally grateful for – especially considering the fact that I don’t want to risk Blaise’s fury by returning to the undercity again.
The line only rings twice before a gruff voice answers, filling me with instant relief despite his hostile tone. “I told you only to use this number in case of emergency.”
“This is an emergency.” I breathe nervously, “I need help.” I wouldn’t normally trust an underworld potion maker with anything so sensitive, but I don’t have anyone
else to turn to. “I’ve got an unconscious man who needs to be moved, and I need a strong sleeping potion- something that can be injected.”
“That will cost you.” The slimy shifter tells me, sounding annoyed and excited for such a profitable opportunity at once.
“I’ll pay any price.” I answer foolishly, wincing after the words are out of my mouth. That was stupid.
“Any price?” He repeats gleefully. “Well then, I’ll be right over.”
Selene
“I don’t know if I can do this.”
My reflection stares back at me in the bathroom mirror, both thoroughly familiar, yet strange. Helene concocted a potion that would disguise my eyes after a few drops have been applied directly to my cornea, and we’re testing it out for the first time. Now instead of the ethereal combination of blue and violet I’m used to seeing, both of my eyes are an unremarkable shade of brown.
Of course, as surreal as it is to see myself this way, my altered image is not the cause of my unease. We’re supposed to leave within the hour, and while I’m still confident that this is the right thing to do, leaving feels much harder now that the time is upon us.
intervention, but I’ve learned the hard way that a wounded animal is the most dangerous by far. He’ll feel he has nothing to lose now, especially with the constant news coverage. In a matter of 24 hours he’s gone from a potential alpha to the most reviled man in the territory, and I wouldn’t put it past him to do something desperate.
Aiden and Donovan immediately put out a warrant for his arrest, but of course by the time the enforcers arrived at his apartment, he was gone. I hate knowing he’s out there somewhere probably plotting his revenge, and I pray that if he’s watching us he’ll choose to follow me and not Lila.
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