Chapter 202

I sneered at her. If it wasn’t for that man, I guess it would have been snowing in hell already.

“That’s what you say,” I said. “But I’m not going to let you continue to poison Candido against me.”

She cocked an eyebrow at me, and the man looked at me as if I was crazy.

“You’re poisoning him against yourself.”

I glared at her. “No, I’m not! Ever since you showed up—”

“Hedy,” Estella cut in. “The number of times I could have killed you and didn’t… The number of times that it would have saved us all the trouble is too numerous to count.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“If I had,” she said. “Candido would mourn you, sure. I would tell him exactly why I did it, and eventually, he would move on.”

“He would never forgive you!”

She shrugged. “That has absolutely nothing to do with this conversation.”

I hissed at her. “How could anyone think that you’re his mate? How could anyone think that you’re a better luna than I am!”

“I wouldn’t wait until you were unable to defend yourself to try and push you off a moving vehicle in the middle of a battle.” Estella narrowed her eyes. “I’m not a coward.”

“You don’t know anything about me. You’re just accusing me–”

“I watched you,” the man said softly. “I watched you plan it. I watched you push her. I watched the way you were just waiting for it to happen.”

I glared at him. “You’re delusional. She’s just poisoned your mind to! That’s all she does. Can’t you see that she’s just–”

“However you feel about me,” Estella said softly. “Even if you had managed to push me off, no one would believe you didn't do it on purpose.”

“Of course, I did it on purpose! You’re trying to take Candido from me. If you were a real woman, you wouldn’t be after someone who is already taken.”

Her eyes narrowed a bit and she shook her head. She looked up at the moon and murmured something before turning and pulling out a roll of bandages. She wrapped another length of it around the man’s waist and pulled out a vial from one of her many pockets. She tipped the vial into his mouth and slumped against the side of the truck.

“The only thing that is keeping you alive is Candido, who has decided for some reason that you shouldn't be killed for everything you've done.”

“I haven’t done anything,” I sneered. “And Candido loves me.”

“But are you worthy of that love?” Estella asked, narrowing her eyes. “At this point, I doubt even Candido would be able to stop someone from killing you if you managed to fuck up anything else. Remember that the next time you decide to try and roll me off the back of a truck."

I glared back at her, but I said nothing. Candido wouldn't care about her once she was dead, and the sooner I could make that happen, the better we would all be. The sooner Candido would love me again, the sooner we would be together.

“Next time I won't fail.”

I took stock of the man who was looking at me. I’d have to get rid of him too. I bet he was already half dead even if she gave him some fancy potion. sometime during this ambush, I was going to have to find a way to get rid of him or at least keep him quiet.

The jeep turned in front of us the truck turned with it, but it didn't look like we were really changing course. The trees grew thicker around us. The terrain turned smoother. The air got drier like we were headed out of the forest. Estella looked grim and pale as the truck jostled us around. The man grimaced and held on to the side.

“Estella!” Candido called and leaped into the truck bed. His gaze was on Estella he didn't even seem to notice that I was there. “You need to rest. We just passed the river.”

“Fuck!” Estella cursed. “Who the hell is leading the caravan?”

“I don’t know, but everyone has the same orders. What's this about a gorge? The lead driver didn't say anything about a gorge heading this way.”

Estella looked up at him. I braced myself for when she would tell him that I tried to push her off the truck, but then she said, “The maps on your phones would not say that there's a gorge there, but the maps on mirrors will tell you.”

Candido pulled something out of his pocket. I couldn't see exactly what it was, but I bet it was a mirror.

He growled. “We’re only supposed to only be using mirrors to navigate!”

Estella glanced at me again, then looked up at Candido. She grabbed him by his jaw and made him look at her. I growled wanting to lunge across the truck bed and push her away from him, but I didn’t move.

At any moment she and the other man would tell Candido what had happened. It was one thing to have her word against mine, and something else to have a witness. I kept waiting for him to push her away but he didn't he stayed right there, and for several long moments, they were just looking at each other.

“We can't focus on the what if and whys right now. We need to make a plan. Trucks behind. Jeeps behind them. Get everyone you can into the gorge as fast as you can. Get everyone armed that can stand upright or walk.”

“But what about—”

“I can send word to Cillian about getting up an opening in the gorge somewhere. It’s possible that it’s not too far, but if I'm right, they're probably planning an ambush which means we don't have a lot of time. That means everyone who can walk and can walk quickly needs to pull their own weight. If an opening isn't an option inside the gorge will have to get out of it somehow which means everyone is going to have to fight and maybe just maybe most of us won't make it out.”

Candido nodded and stood before looking back at me. He looked shocked, as if he hadn't realized I was there. My eyes filled with tears. He looked at me as if he wasn't sure what to say.

“Candido, I can’t…”

Candido set his jaw. His gaze dropped to my chest. He stared at me for a brief moment before turning and leaping away. I looked at her as Estella pushed herself onto her knees before turning and calling across the caravan.

“I need a gun! Who took my rifle?”

The rifle came sailing back through the air, and she caught it with ease even as she leaned against the truck bed. She looked weak and pathetic. She talked a lot but if that man hadn’t stopped me, I could have pushed her off with no problem. She would have been dead and no one but me would know what had happened. How could a woman like that stand next to Candido? How could anyone think that she was a better Luna candidate than me? I bet she was lying. There was no way we were headed toward a gorge or a valley or whatever.

Then, someone further ahead screamed. “Narrow passage!”

The jeep in front of us started to slow down. The truck slowed down as well until it came to a complete stop. I turned back about to scream that we couldn't afford to stop, that all of this was ridiculous, but then I saw the golden barrier between us and further back on the path we’d just come down. People limped past the truck and the jeeps. Estella pulled herself over the edge of the truck bed and onto the ground. The man followed just after her, staggering after her until a large man swept in and lifted him onto his back, and began to hustle forward. Estella stopped a few feet in front of the leading jeep, shouting and giving orders that I couldn't make out over the sound of gunfire. Still, people seemed to be listening to her. They moved quickly, sliding out of the cars and helping each other towards the opening. I kept looking for Candido expecting him to come back and carry me, expecting him to show up at all, but I didn't see him. It was as if he was either already in the gorgeous still fighting back there. If he was still fighting back there, I couldn't just leave him he needed me nearby to use his full strength because he was always stronger when he was protecting me whether he realized it or not we were mates we were always stronger together.

Soon, I realized that I was the last person near the vehicles aside for the people who were firing into the distance behind us.