Chapter 224

I was so mad; I didn’t even want to talk to him. How was I supposed to know that when he said the forest was on our side for now that it would get us from Wolf Fang to Full Moon so quickly? Besides, he was completely wrong. There was no way that anyone could run for a full day fast enough to cover the distance between the two cities.

“I know you were just trying to make me stay behind,” I said as I walked into the room past him.

Candido said nothing.

“I’ll take the left side. This shouldn’t take long,” Cillian said, scanning the room.

He was right. There wasn’t much in it. Either mom’s things had already been sold or given away too far to be recovered, or she never had much in the first place.

I went to the back of the room to do my best to look for it. It had to be the Heart of the Room, so long as I found it first, I could lie and say that I didn’t find anything. When the Moon Goddess taught me how to use it, I’d get through the rest of my plan.

We searched for what felt like hours before Candido announced that he hadn’t found it.

“Same,” Cillian said.

“Well, let’s trade spots,” I said. “It has to be here…”

Cillian cocked an eyebrow at me. “Do you even know what we’re looking for?”

“Of course I do.”

“Then, you’d know we’ve turned the whole room over, and it’s not here.”

“We can’t just give up,” I said.

I turned to look at Candido, who was holding something in his hand. I walked over to get a good look, but it was just a hairpin.

“That’s not what we’re looking for.”

“… your mother was wearing this the first time I met her,” Candido said. “I remember my mother asking her where she got it.”

He turned to Cillian. “Is it an heirloom?”

I went still, my eyes staring at it before I took it out of his hands, and Cillian came over. It was a bit tarnished, but the stones in it gleamed. Could this be the Heart of the Moon, or was it some other artifact that they would be looking for?

“Oh, I remember this….” Cillian said, looking over my shoulder. “It was one of her favorites… It’s not an heirloom in the way you’re thinking, but it was made in Lunae.”

He paused. “Now that I think about it, I’ll ask Raven unless Hedy plans to keep it all.”

I scoffed and dropped it in the open box in front of us.

“If it’s not the artifact, I don’t care about it.”

“You said once you always wanted to know more about your mother,” Candido said. “You talked about how much you resented Bella wearing her jewelry… you don’t want any of it?”

“No,” I crossed my arms. “I’m a werewolf. Trying to have any connection with a vampire would be a betrayal.”

Candido tilted his head. His mouth opened, but then he shook his head and looked over at Cillian.

“We can wait for her to get here unless you plan to pack it up for her?”

Cillian nodded. “I’ll ask.”

He walked away from us and called Raven. I looked back at Candido.

“You’re not going to say anything?” I asked. “You said that you took it all for me.”

Candido met my gaze. “You’re not a child.”

I blinked. What was that supposed to mean?

“And I’m not going to treat you like one. You have the right to feel how you want about your mother.”

He fell silent again.

“That still doesn’t explain why you’re so prepared to give it all to Raven.”

“Raven is her daughter as well,” Candido said. “You might not want to acknowledge your connection to Hedwig, but I’m certain Raven does. A bit of closure is… good. It’s the least I can do.”

“Maybe I didn’t want her to have any of it,” I said. “Or maybe it’s in something here, and Cillian’s just hiding that.”

“It’s not your place to decide whether your mother’s things are better off down here completely forgotten or in the hands of her other daughter.”

“Raven wouldn’t even have access to any of it if I weren’t over here.”

“She would also still have her mother if you weren’t here.”

My jaw trembled. “You sounded almost relieved at that thought.”

Candido shook his head. “I’m not going to argue with you, Hedy. Stop trying to get me to.”

“Be honest,” I said. “Would you be relieved if I weren’t here?”

I set my jaw.

He tilted his head. “I can’t even begin to describe… how I would feel if you weren’t in my life, Hedy… And if you think you can simplify the impact you’ve made in my life to something to be relieved about, then I’m not sure why you’re so adamant about staying by my side.”

He turned away from me and walked towards the entrance, leaving me with my thoughts and the silence. I went back to searching through the drawers. Candido’s words churned through my mind, even as I tried to ignore them. Was it a necklace or maybe something heart-shaped? That would make the most sense. It had to be here.

Candido was just avoiding saying it.

“Raven’s heading our way,” Cillian called.

“I’ll head out to meet her,” Candido said and headed back down the way we came.

I kept searching through all the things that were there. I recognized a lot of the pieces as ones Lilian and Bella had worn over the years.

“Considering that you never knew her, I expected you to be a bit more invested in keeping some things,” Cillian said lightly as he sat and fiddled with the clasp on a jewelry box. “So I have to ask if you’re just in denial or if you just resent her.”

I scoffed at his question. “Of course I do.”

“Resent her?” He asked and tilted his head. “Why?”

I clenched my hands at my side. “If it weren’t for her, I would have a full moon mark already, and Candido wouldn’t be able to treat me like this. He’d never even doubt that we were meant to be together.”

Cillian snickered. I turned to look at him. Then, he burst into laughter. His whole body shook with it. It felt mocking, and I growled.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh,” he shook his head. “It’s just… so telling, and honestly ridiculous the things that come out of your mouth sometimes. Refreshingly silly, too.”

He chuckled a little more.

“How is what I’ve said silly or wrong?”

“If you weren’t Hedwig’s daughter, whose daughter would you be?” He cocked an eyebrow. “Lilian’s?”

I cringed at the thought.

“Some other random werewolf, sure. You’d be just as normal as you are right now, but you would have never met Candido.”

“You’re wrong,” I said. My gut churned at the thought. “We’re mates. We were destined to meet no matter whose daughter I would have been born.”

He chuckled again and stood.

Raven came down the hallway. Her eyes were misty. Candido had a hand on her shoulder as she dabbed at her eyes. She turned to him with a small smile.

“Thank you,” she said softly. “And you should know that the goddess is always on your side.”

She reached up and cupped his face. Her eyes filled with light. “You should know that she is also furious with what you will ask of her, but she would not deny you anything….”

Candido went still, then he nodded. “Thank you.”

She released his face and turned back. She didn’t spare me a glance as she went to Cillian and embraced him.

“There, there, princess. I know. Did you bring it?”

“Yeah… Uncle Ian said he wanted it all brought back if she brought it from home.”

“All right.”

She pulled back and sniffled. She pulled a box from her cloak and set it on the ground. It grew in size until it looked like an ornate trunk. Then, she paused and looked at me.

“Is there…” Her jaw trembled, and she looked away. “And I hate myself for feeling like I should ask, but is there anything you want?”

“No,” I said, crossing my arms. “If the artifact isn’t here, it’s not important.”

She blinked at me and then looked at Cillian. He smiled. His eyes twinkled, then she shook her head and turned. Her cloak billowed around her.

“What an idiot.”

With a wave of her hand, a lot of objects lifted into the air. They glinted with light like moonlight and sunlight. My heart lurched as the room was filled with light, and it all began to pack itself away into the bag she’d brought. It closed with a click. Then, she headed out of the passageway, and we all followed her out. Candido closed the passageway again.

“Let’s head out.”