Gwen’s POV
I can barely see where I’m going as I take the stairs.
Nothing.
That’s all I got from him. Nothing.
While I told him goodbye, while my heart broke into a thousand pieces, while I wished he would tell me I was wrong and I was the one for him.
I blink to keep the tears at bay. They still break free, and I wipe at them quickly. There’s no time to cry.
It’s over. Like I should have known from the day I realised he had mistaken me for my sister. Along the way, I lost my mind and thought I could have a fairytale ending.
Should I be happy that it’s over soon? That I longer have to lie to myself?
I get to the bottom of the stairs and head towards the kitchen. My plan is to get out of here without anyone noticing.
Does it even matter?
Unless he gives the orders, nobody can stop me from leaving. And I’ve already confirmed he doesn’t care what I do or where I go. He has found the one he was looking for. He has no reason to keep me here.
I’m about to get into the kitchen when Andreas’s voice reaches me.
“So you’ve been fucking him all this time?”
I stand close to the wall, out of sight. If there’s anyone in the kitchen, I can’t go through there to the garage.
“What were you thinking?” Andreas continues, his voice angry. “What if he meets his fated one?”
“She is dead.” That’s Hanna’s voice.
“It doesn’t matter,” Andreas says with finality. “You cannot be with one of them.”
“It’s none of your business, soldier.”
Hanna’s voice is authoritative and even more final than Andreas’s. Soldier?
There’s a moment of silence. Then Andreas says in a much calmer voice, “It’s been years since you last pulled rank on me. You must really like him.”
“This is my personal business,” Hanna says, “so stay out of it.”
“My job is to protect you, and I think it’s time to leave.”
“We can’t. Not right now.”
“You are losing control.” Andreas’s voice is less angry and more tense this time round.
“I’ve got it. I’ll be fine for a while,” she says. “We can’t leave now when Stefan’s in the middle of a war. You saw him this morning. He is having problems.”
“You are what’s important to me. Not him.”
“You’d really abandon them at a time like this?” Hanna’s voice is tinged with disbelief.
“If you stay longer, you’ll be in trouble.”
“He saved my life! Did you forget about that?”
“I’m sure we’ve more than paid that debt,” Andreas says. “How many battles have we fought for him?”
“Is that what all this was to you? A debt payment?”
“My sole purpose is to protect you, My Princess. And that’s what I have to do.”
“You are right. I’m your princess. I’m the one giving orders here and for now, I say we stay.”
“Hanna, please–”
“Stefan might not need my help, but Gwen does. He is not being himself, and someone has to watch over her.”
“You are the dragon princess, not their servant!”
My heart speeds at Andreas’s heated voice. Nothing is making sense to me…did he say dragon princess?
“We stay,” Hanna says.
I get out of there, barely making it out through the front door before I hear her leave the kitchen. Her steps resound as she takes the stairs. I press a hand to my heart.
Hanna is a dragon princess, and Andreas is her bodyguard?
Why are they living as werewolves?
Hold on. Dragons? Dragons exist?
I get to the garage from the outside and get into my car.
Werewolves, shapeshifters, vampires, and now dragons.
What else is out there?
Nobody stops me as I drive out of the compound. I keep expecting Hanna to come after me, but I get out of the forested area and onto the main highway without spotting her car behind me.
As I approach the town, a look at my fuel gauge confirms my biggest problem at the moment. I need to get as far from here as possible. But I don’t have enough gas. Or money to fill up. Or for anything else for that matter.
By the time I drive into town, I’ve made up my mind. I head straight for a pawn shop I noticed once while in town.
When I tell the attendant that I want to pawn my car, he gives it one look and suggests that I would get a better deal if I sold it as scrap. In the end, he agrees to loan me a hundred dollars. He insists it’s a good deal. I don’t have time to haggle further–I need to go.
I ask him what’s the farthest bus route from here. He points me in the direction of the station. I get there and fortunately, there’s a bus about to leave. The destination is six hours away, to a town in the north that I’ve only ever heard of.
Once I get there, I’ll decide where to go.
For now, what’s important is putting distance between me and this place.
I get to the new town at about ten at night. I find a motel not too far from the bus station and rent a room for the night. I lay in bed sleepless for a long time, trying to figure out what I’ll do next.
I have to take another bus tomorrow, one that’ll take me farther away. I should be able to stay at my next stop for a while. I can’t stay on the road forever. The money I got from the car can only last so long. I must get a job as soon as possible.
I fall asleep while browsing through a list of towns farther up north.
***
I wake up to intense stomach pain. For a moment, I think I’m having period cramps. But that doesn’t make sense–I’m not even halfway through my cycle.
The pain intensifies when I move to get out of bed. The sharp smell of blood hits me just as my eyes land on the huge red stain in the middle of the bed. Something wet slides down my legs, and I look down to see blood flowing down my thighs. It’s too much.
Fresh pain sears through my abdomen and lower back as I cross to the bathroom. The only thing I can use to clean up is the toilet paper. But with every wipe, there’s more blood. This is not normal. I need to go to the hospital.
I barely manage to put on my jeans. I’m already feeling lightheaded as I leave the room and go to the reception. I distinctly remember from last night that there’s a clinic right next to the motel.
I make my way out of the motel in a daze–I think someone calls to me, but I don’t stop. If I don’t do something about the pain, I could faint from its intensity.
A woman rises from the clinic’s reception desk as I walk in.
“Oh my God,” she says, her face looking stricken as she runs from behind the desk and comes to me. “What happened?”
I look at my jeans, where her shocked gaze is directed. They are already soaked through with blood.
“I don’t know.”
She ushers me to an inner room and then rushes out to get the doctor.
A minute later, a grey-haired man in a doctor’s coat shows up. He takes one look at me. “When did it start?”
“I woke up like this.”
“You are miscarrying. You should go to an ER. I can’t help you.”
Miscarrying? “I’m not pregnant!” How can he just take a look at me and decide that? Another wave of pain sears through my body. I reach for him. “Please help me.”
He turns to the receptionist. “Call an ambulance.”
I shake my head as it occurs to me that I cannot go to an ER. I cannot go to a human hospital!
“No!” I call after the woman. She stops and looks uncertainly towards the doctor. “There must be something you can do to help me.”
He gives me a sombre look. “If you stay here, you’ll bleed to death. I don’t have the equipment to tend to you.”
The woman rushes off to call an ambulance. I cannot let them take me away. I’ll be breaking the rules that werewolves live by on my first day on my own! But the doctor is right…if this keeps on, I might bleed to death.
“Ma’am, where are you going?” he asks as I stand and head for the door.
I make it back to the motel, the pain making it harder to walk. I come across the motel’s receptionist outside, peering towards the clinic. She must be the one who called to me earlier. She asks me whether I’m okay…do I look okay?
When I get back to my room, I reach for my phone.
I have to call Hanna.
It’s the last thing I want to do, but it’s my only option.
To my horror, my phone has switched off. I fell asleep while using it last night and didn’t plug it in.
I rummage through my bag and take out my charger.
I wobble on my feet as I reach for the socket. Then I keel over.
Everything goes black even before I hit the floor.
When I come to, there’s a purple-eyed man watching me.