He just shakes his head, confirming what I already know. Maeve is gone forever and I don’t know why.
“Let’s go,” he says. “If she took her up to the battlements it canno’ be for a good thing.”
I just nod and push to my feet as we race out the door and right into Dahlia.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?” she asks.
“I need you to go to your room and lock yourself in,” I tell her. “Do no’ come out for anyone other than me or Leo.”
“Why?” she asks.
“Stella is gone,” I tell her.
“She said she was going to the library.”
“I figured as much but her cat just ran out so I know she was there and—” I snap my mouth closed, not sure how much to tell her. I’ve always tried to protect my sister from the uglier side of things.
“And what?” she asks.
“Maeve is in there,” Leo tells her.
“Good. Is she under arrest?” she asks.
“No poppet,” he says. “She’s dead.”
“What?” she gasps. “Where’s Stella?”
“Maeve said she was at the battlements,” I tell her.
“Rhys,” she starts to panic. “You have to get her. She’s pregnant.”
“I know,” I tell her. “I’ll get her, I promise.”
She nods and takes off toward the office. I watch her swing open the door and call to my dog before racing down the hall to the residence.
Leo and I race toward the stairs that lead to the battlements. I have to get there in time.
I can’t lose her.
I can’t lose them.
Chapter 25
Dahlia
Stella
“Not so fast,” Saoirse says, stepping into the room with a gun. “Neither of you are going anywhere.”
“We have to help her!” I scream as Saoirse waves the gun at me and Maeve lies there on the library floor with blood blooming across her belly. She’s still, too still, and I want to scream and cry.
“There’s no helping her,” Saoirse says. “Gut wounds tend to be both messy and fatal. Now move it.”
“Why are you doing this?” I ask. I let her lead me from the library and down the hall to a series of stone steps.
“Because it is my destiny,” is all she says.
We climb more and more stone stairs until we get to a door that opens to the outside of the castle. She’sled me to the battlements that overlook the cliff face. Rain is pouring down now and the wind is whipping all about.