Chapter 394

I groan, my hands locked firm on the wooden bed post, as Pippa tugs hard on the strings of my corset. “Pippa,” I pant, trying hard to look at her over my shoulder, “are you sure this is necessary? I’ve already got a pretty small waist…”

“I’m so sorry, Ariel,” Pippa says, the strings so tight in her hands that her fingers are laced red and white. “Gabriel’s orders. He said he wants you turned out in the height of fashion and…” she shrugs, looking down at my elaborate undergarment, implying that this is indeed necessary.

I sigh and nod, knowing it’s not her fault, and turn around, letting Pippa continue.

When she finally ties off the strings and I stand straight, running my hands down over the corset, I’m kind of…appalled at the bizarre new shape my body has been morphed into. My waist is so small, and there’s all sorts of ridiculous padding sewn in over my breasts and my booty. God, I look like…some weird fantasy of a woman all covered in fabric. Not a real girl at all.

Which, I suppose, is the point.

“Ready?” Pippa asks, panting a little herself as she hefts yards and yards of grey-blue silk over towards me.

“All of that?” I ask, pointing at it with wide eyes. “Is one dress!?”

She laughs a little, grinning at me, and nods.

“Oh goodness,” I mutter, ducking obligingly and letting Pippa lift the entire assortment over my head to drape over my body. Then she gets to work with all the buttons and zippers and ties and ribbons, getting me all prettied up.

I look at myself in the mirror as she does, wondering at myself, the change my life has taken. I’ve been dressing as a boy for months now, Ari becoming part of my identity. And neither Jackson nor Luca had complained once to see me without makeup, and in slacks, my hair messily tucked up beneath a black cap all day.

I mean, they’d liked me equally dressed as a girl too. But I got the impression with both that…it just never really mattered what I looked like.

But with Gabriel? Clearly…he cares.

“How are you, love?” Pippa asks, her voice soft. “I know you were in bed all day. Are you…okay? Do you have any questions I can answer, maybe to make things better?” I turn my head to look into her face, not really surprised to see true concern there. Whatever his motives, I don’t think that Elias truly lied about Pippa being the essence of goodness. She seems at all times to be genuinely kind.

I sigh, shrugging a bit, hesitating. But then I let myself ask, truly curious and needing information. “Is he always like that?” I whisper.

Pippa instantly intuits who I’m talking about. “He didn’t used to be,” she whispers with a grimace, as if she’s aware that that news doesn’t do anything to soften the meaning implicit in her words: that yes, he’s like that all the time.

I sigh, settling myself into the knowledge that my newset mate is kind of a nightmare.

“Well,” I ask, my face screwing up in confusion. “When did he…start being like that? And why?”

“It all started four or five years ago,” Pippa murmurs, working hard at the line of buttons that trail down my back. I watch her in the mirror, paying close attention to her expression. “When he…”

She sighs, though, and shakes her head, as if deciding that’s not the right place to start.

“When we were children,” Pippa says, beginning again, “the three of us were very close. Our mothers were best friends, which explains the rather uncommon instance of a younger girl being so often in the company of two older boys.”

“How much younger are you?” I murmur, curious.

“About three years younger than Elias,” she says, almost passive as she concentrates on my dress.

I blink in surprise when I realize that that makes Pippa just about Juniper’s age. God, Juniper, pregnant…but she’s just a baby. It’s a ridiculous thought.

“I’m about five years younger than Gabriel,” Pippa continues. “But it didn’t seem to matter that I was a girl and a baby – the three of us just got along so well. Gabriel – he was always so funny. He was full of pranks and energy. Elias and I are more restrained and…bookish, I guess is the right word. But Gabriel – he really got us to go on adventures, brought such spirit to our lives.”

Pippa looks up at me with a great deal of sadness in her eyes, her hands falling from my dress as she finishes the last button. I turn towards her, concerned and sad for her sake.

“I’m really sorry,” she whispers, shaking your head. “That you didn’t get to meet that Gabriel. That you have this one instead. I think…” she bites her lip and shrugs. “I think you would have liked him.”

I frown, desperate to know more and concerned. “What happened?” I ask, stepping close, intuiting that it’s some sort of secret. “What…changed him?”

Pippa glances towards the door, anxious, clearly weighing the consequences. “Look, Ariel,” she whispers, “no one knows this, so please don’t tell, but if you’re to be his Luna you should know, and…you’re going to figure it out sooner or later.”

I nod eagerly, my wolf standing up straight, her whole body still as she waits.

“Gabriel…about five years ago he pledged himself to the God of Darkness,” Pippa whispers, looking into my eyes, her own shining. “In exchange for the power to protect this palace, and all the people in it, from the weapons and the magic of Moon Valley.”

My mouth falls open a little, my eyes going wide. “What does that mean?”

“He mentioned it today,” Pippa says, lifting a cupped hand and making a little side to side motion with it over her other hand, like she’s forming a snowball. “It’s like…a dome? A magical dome of protection? When Gabriel is here in the palace, none of your Goddess magic can work inside the dome. And none of your country’s weapons – any country’s weapons – can penetrate it. No matter how powerful. No one can get in and no one can get out without Gabriel opening the barrier for them.”

I gape at her, shocked. But suddenly it makes so much sense – why the Atalaxians famously gather all of their nobles together in one place. Why Moon Valley has never just…exploded the entire thing. I mean, beyond the ethical concern of murdering thousands of innocent people – women and children included – it…would end the war.

Still, I shudder at the idea, knowing that my father would never do it. That even if I’m angry now, I wouldn’t want him to.

“Wait, so,” I say, frowning and turning my attention back to the woman who is supposed to become my sister-in-law in a week. “And that dedication to Darkness…it made Gabriel different? Changed his personality?”

Pippa glances again at the door, anxious. “It corrupted him,” she whispers, leaning close to me. “He told us once, early on – he sobbed and cried – and said that he could feel his wolf being enclosed in the darkness, that he was losing himself to it –“

Horror fills me as I remember, suddenly, the glimpse of his wolf that my wolf saw. Of the horrible wolf in his soul, with glowing eyes, and panting breath, his legs sunk low in darkness like oil, like tar. I gape at Pippa, who nods to me.

“Did you see it?” she asks, her hand reaching out to clasp my arm. “Did you…did you see his wolf? I know that sometimes mates can…”

Slowly I nod. “Pippa,” I breathe. “It was…horrible.”

Tears fill her eyes – tears for a friend she’s lost, one she can’t help. A man who has…disappeared from her life, replaced by a terrible stranger.

A knock comes at the door, making us both jump.

“Oh no,” Pippa whispers, straightening up, wiping hastily at her cheeks. “Am I okay?”

I smile softly at this poor girl who doesn’t want anyone to see her cry. “You’re stunning,” I murmur, reaching up and wiping a stray tear that she missed from beneath her eye. Pippa laughs a little and gives me a lovely smile before she turns for the door, dashing towards it.

I watch her go, scowling a little because…damn it. I really like her. As determined as I am to not like or trust any of these Atalaxians…Pippa seems to somehow be immune.

She pulls open the door a little, peeking out, and then pulls it open all the way. “Oh, hello!” she says, half excited, half wary. I peer beyond her and instantly see the reason why.