Following Elnora, Sunni and Kai was Tharin Elmwood, the Amulet of Pele dangling in his hand.

He was part of it too. But that didn’t surprise her, not as much as Elnora did.

‘Did you know they were going to kill her?’

Elnora shook her head, biting her lips. Her eyes looked as if nothing were behind them; she appeared cold and cruel like her parents she stood beside.

At least she didn’t know the extent of their plan.

‘But you knew they did it,’ Bethan spat.

Elnora’s eyes met hers, and Bethan couldn’t even stomach looking into them. Because all she would see were the memories they had together flushed down a drain.

‘You’ll understand, eventually,’ Elnora offered.

Kellan stepped forward.

‘Is that all you have to say to her? I think she deserves a little more than that,’ he roared across the room.

Edington struggled against the enchantment, wiggling and writhing. His mouth moved, but she knew it would be no use.

Elnora remained silent, and Sunni stepped in front of her daughter; Bethan rolled her eyes at the display.

‘Bethan, do what they say,’ Tharin said in a cautious voice.

Kai nodded.

Kellan and Bethan were outnumbered since Edington was incapacitated. They couldn’t do anything but listen to what they had to say.

There was still a fair bit of distance between them, but they had blocked the only entrance out of the room. No way out, only by fighting. Or cooperation. Kellan wasn’t the type to cooperate.

‘We were waiting for your powers to manifest,’ Julius started.

Bethan scrunched her face.

She shot a look at Elnora. Her bottom lip quivered, and her mask faltered.

‘That’s what I don’t understand. If you needed my powers, why bother taking them away. Why wait this long? Why bring in Kellan?’

Kai squinted his eyes. ‘Our potion was supposed to give your powers back.’

‘We gave you the original brew that caused the illness so you would lose your memories with the rowan leaves. We then switched it for another to give the powers back. It worked for your parents; we were concerned when it didn’t work for you.’

Bethan shook her head. ‘You have been giving me a different potion from my parents.’

‘We have not,’ Sunni snapped.

She opened her mouth to speak again, but for a second, as if a thought flashed over her mind, she froze before she slowly turned to—

‘Elnora,’ Kai barked.

‘Lying bitch!’ Sunni’s voice cut like a blade. ‘Do you know what you’ve costed us? How much time we could’ve saved?’

Bethan could feel her heartbeat out of her chest, adrenaline racing through her. It was solely Elnora.

Tharin shook his head; he handed the amulet over. ‘Let’s get it over with.’

Julius stared at his watch and nodded.

chapter thirty-four

chapter thirty-four

bethan kore