“Why do you think I wanted to get away?” Elise glared.
“Why else would you let me escape if you’re working against them?”
“I am working against them, but I can’t very well do that from here, now can I?”
“We’re working against them, too. You can help us.”
“Oh, please,” she scoffed. “You’ve been about as effective as a pebble against a rockslide.”
“I’m doing my best, but—” Holly paused and barked out a laugh. “I don’t actually have to justify anything to you.”
“Damn right, you do!” Elise snapped.
“Keep mouthing off, and you’ll end up cuffed again. Do you want that?” A sense of control and power Holly had never felt before seeped into her blood. She was the one in charge, not Elise. She was done sitting passively while everyone around her told her what to do and who to be.
Now, it was her turn to call the shots. “We can do this one of two ways.” Holly clasped her hands together in front of her mouth. “I’m grateful to you, Elise. That means something. If you want that to continue to mean something, you’ll tell me what I want to know. In exchange for your help, we offer protection.”
“And if I refuse?”
“We’ll hold you captive, for insurance.” Holly nodded. “Or maybe we’ll throw you into the wild and let you take your chances. Do you think your brother would welcome you back?”
Elise’s face darkened.
“What do you want to know?”
“Why aren’t you in any of the family records?”
Elise looked away. “Ask another question.”
“This isn’t an interview,” Holly scoffed.
When Elise said nothing, she decided to try a different approach.
“I want to be friends,” she said. “Truly. I think you have the power to save a lot of lives and I think you know exactly how to do it. Why stand against your brother alone if you don’t have to?”
“I don’t have friends,” Elise spat the word as if it were a curse. “They only get in the way.”
“Whoever told you that is a damn liar.” Holly shook her head. “We’re gathering an army. Wouldn’t you rather be part of it than fight alone?”
“I never expected to fight.” Elise sighed. “I don’t want to fight my brother if I don’t have to. I just want to help him.”
He’s lost. The words of the Maiden echoed in Holly’s mind.
“Why does he need help?” She took a seat on the stool beside Elise. “Trevor is a firstborn son of Silver Spruce. That means something to me. That means something to the Maiden. Whether he knows it or not, he’s under my protection.”
Elise looked up from her untouched tea. Her pale eyes searched Holly’s face. “You believe that, don’t you?”
“The Maiden told me that Trevor is lost. Would you agree?”
Tears filled Elise’s eyes. She looked away. “Yes,” she said in a barely audible whisper.
“Then let’s start from the beginning. I want to know about you.” Holly placed her hand on Elise’s arm. “Why aren’t you on the family tree?”
“My family, the Charmains, have an archaic view of the world,” Elise said. “They believe only the males of the family should be able to shift. When I came of age and started to show signs of being a shifter, they were furious. They treated me as if it were my fault.”
“That’s terrible,” Holly murmured.
“They restrained me,” Elise continued. “They paid a powerful witch to take my shifting ability from me.”
“I didn’t know that was possible,” Holly gasped.
“It violates every shifter law we have, but they didn’t care. They removed themselves from shifter society. We lived in this old house far out in the mountains on the edge of Silver Spruce territory. Not far from the silver mines, actually.”
“What did they do when they stole your power?” Holly asked.
“They gave it to Trevor. They wanted to make him stronger. Everyone knew he was a firstborn. Should a Maiden arise in our lifetime, they wanted him to have the best chance at becoming the King. I never thought it would actually happen, yet here we are.”
“Don’t they know the Maiden has the final choice?” Holly said.
“The Maiden is a female presence. Even she doesn’t have the right to choose in their eyes.”
Anger sparked in Holly’s chest. “How delusional,” she muttered.
“After my powers were stolen, I was struck from the family record. It’s like I never existed.”
“Does your family still live near the mines?” Holly asked.
“No. The witch who performed the spell on me must’ve bragged or told the wrong person because the town leaders of Silver Spruce found out. They banished my family, though Trevor was given the option to remain due to his status. He refused.”
“Where did your family go?”
“They went to Golden Oak,” Elise said. “I never made it across the border. I saw a chance to escape my family, and I took it. My only regret is leaving Trevor behind with them. He didn’t want my power. He hated our family for forcing him to take it.”
“But he went with them anyway?”
“He didn’t feel like he had a choice.” Elise shook her head. “He returned to Silver Spruce a month ago. He found me immediately, but he was…changed.”
“How so?”
Elise frowned as she tried to find the right words. “I don’t know. He started going on and on about how he knew how to save Silver Spruce. Even now, I don’t quite understand what he means. He’s never told me what he’s trying to save Silver Spruce from.”
“Interesting,” Holly murmured. Interesting, and certainly a cause for concern. “Is that why he didn’t kill me when he had the chance?”
“I think so. He wants to be the King. He wants to father the Maiden’s child, but what he calls peace might
