No! I remember screaming. No, no, no. This can't be happening. Anyone but him. But none of my screaming matters because it was all just in my head as I feel myself getting pulled out of whatever fantasy I had been swept into.

"No... no...no......."

And that's when I felt it. Axil's hands grip my shoulders as he shakes me violently. My back hits the ground over and over.

"Crista! You... you..." he trails off and I can tell he's furious. I know he's thinking he never should have allowed me to follow him and that he'd just blame this on himself, and it's the only thing that can make me open my eyes to reassure him it's not.

"Axil..." I say, but it comes out more in a slur.

"Crista, wake up! You wake up right now!"

"Axil..."

I don't pick up him rummaging through his bag or the sound of him unscrewing the cap of his canteen, until all of a sudden—

"AXIL!"

The ice-cold water on my face surges my adrenaline and I snap fully awake.

"Oh, good. You're awake," he says sarcastically. "Crista, what happened?!"

I rub the back of my head as it throbs from him slamming me into the ground. "You..." I start. "You had to have heard that too."

"What? The screams or the voice?" he asks out of breath, still in a bit of hysterics.

"What exactly did you hear?" I ask cautiously.

"Stay away from the man with the answers," he repeats. "You know who that must mean?"

I shake my head as I take a deep breath.

"John."

"Mr. Griffin."

We look at each other both confused.

"What?" I ask. "What does my father have to do anything with this?"

I've been absent from some dinners at the palace to catch up together as a family; roast some meat and bake some bread just like old times.

It's the strangest feeling ever. It sounds awful, but I was getting used to it being just my father and I, and when I had come up with a plan to get her back I... thought it would be different. I hate myself for feeling almost ungrateful when in reality I am more than grateful to have her back.

I remember what he told me when I said what I was going to do.

***

"Don't do it, Crista." He shakes his head. "You're messing in arts you should never associate with. It's dangerous and to get her back you have to go to Eden. No!"

"But I do know her," feeling quite betrayed. "She's your wife. Your everything. And that woman took her from you. took her from me!" I take a step closer. "You know that girl that I told you about? Zaria? The one who doesn't know she's a witch?"

He nods his head.

"Her mom was killed too... at the same time, Mom died. You can't tell me that's a coincidence!" I yell in his face. "So, what? What, you want me to just do nothing? Not even try?"

His face tenses. "It's not that at all," he says calmly, reaching his hands out. "I've lost one of you to her." He shakily says looking me deep in my eyes. "I'm not going to lose you too."

***

That had been the last night before the ball. I had gone there to invite him to come with me. I could finally introduce my father to Zaria, who is my only friend outside the palace.

I could finally tell her about the sacrifices my father had to make to keep me alive. I could tell her how he met my mom while he was Malakan. A true love story they had. My dad fell in love with the enemy, and holding his pride aside he ran away from Malaka to be with my mother. But Eden knew about them and it wouldn't be long until she came after them.

They lived separate lives, secretly together. Different houses, different statuses, heck my dad even changed his last name so the connection would be as little as possible. Norwood is the last name my mother and I took, his true family name but he was famously known as Mr. Griffin, the tattoo artist.

"Zaria went to visit with him. He was able to tell her things about the slave marks not many people know."

"Zaria... met my dad... and he didn't tell me... she didn't tell me?" I ask more myself than him.

"That's beside the point, Crista. What's important right now is figuring out what person the voice is trying to warn us from and stay far away."

"Stay away? How could you possibly mean that?"

He looks at me puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"That voice along with the shrieks of terror... that's Eden. That's her shrill voice."

His face goes white. "How can she get in our heads like that?" he whimpers.

"Doesn't feel so good, does it, when dark magic controls your life?" He looks up sympathetically. "Sorry," I change my voice. "I don't— I don't mean it. I just... your wrong."

"Wrong?"

"About my dad being the man with the answers." I go on cautiously. "I don't think she meant my father, and I certainly don't think we should listen to her. Whoever it is she's referring to, is exactly who we must see."

"And, who do you think it is?" he asks quietly.

"I don't think." I take a deep breath. "I know it's John."

His face screws up. "What?" His voice gets higher. "Why?"

"Come on," I plead with him still on the ground. "Doesn't it make sense? The one who would know all about her plan would be John. We've known it since the beginning when Zaria interrogated him."

"You weren't there. How did you know about that?"

While I was under the close eye of my mother, I was still able to sneak out. I wanted to help. I wanted to do whatever I could to help them crack whatever code this was, but the closest I could get without my mother noticing was eavesdropping in the hallways.

I had heard Zaria's voice. Different, like it was masked with a thick bite that I had only heard the time she talked to her father in the mansion.

Laced with poison, I watched from the side as she circled John, closing him in while he sat motionless in his chair... dead looking. And for a moment... just a moment I felt my heart skip like it did in my dreams. I had never seen a more horrible scene since Lucy returned to the palace after the incident, bloodied and broken.

"There were times when I was there and you didn't notice it," I tell him under my breath. "Besides, he told me himself."

A part of me withers at the thought of having to explain to Axil the deal I just made. I might as well be telling him that I signed and stamped my death certificate myself.

His voice becomes dangerous, his eyes lowering until they are only slits. "What do you mean, he told you?"

"While I was passed out, he... visited... me?" I tell him, not sure if 'visit' is the right word. "He was the one that I had been hearing in my dreams. I spoke to him just now and he told me he could give me all the answers we need."

I brace myself for the hellfire that's about to rain down on me, but to my surprise, it never comes. My eyes finally drift towards him and I never knew someone could look so white and not be a ghost.

"Axil?"

"What have you done?" he whispers, barely moving his lips.

I stay silent looking to the trees behind him and then to the grassy slopes that surround us. Anywhere besides him.

"What have you done?!" he stammers. "Have you learned absolutely nothing!?" he yells standing to his feet and looking down at me. I hug my knees close to my chest which sputters with anxiety.

I've made this so much worse. I've endangered all of us, but it's the only way to save all of us. Why can't he see that? Why can't I contribute anything good anymore?

Maybe Zaria was right? Maybe I have lost myself because of my magic. What if I'll never be the same again? What if—"

"What did he say?" Axil snarls dangerously.

I bury my face into my knees. Hugging them as close as possible, my fingers start to go numb and cold.

"Crista," he warns. There is an edge to his tone I had hoped to never hear again. I've only ever heard it from him twice. When Lucy was taken and when Zaria had been shot.

"He— hesaidthathecouldgivemealltheanswersifIcontinuetoseehim." I mumble under my breath.

"Sorry?"

I sigh. "He said... that... he could give me all the answers if I continue to see him." Hanging my head, I let go of my knees.

He pinches the bridge of his nose. "And you said yes, I presume?"

I don't know where it comes from, but suddenly I'm on my feet and in his face. "What else was I supposed to say?! He may be our only chance at surviving... I don't know... whatever this is." He blinks. "Think about your sister," I plead with him. "We don't know where she is. We don't know if she is safe and we are nowhere closer to figuring out how to get these off," I shove my arm in front of him.

"Why did—" he takes a deep breath. "I don't know if that was the right thing to do."

I press my lips together because I know in a sense, he is right. He's right about everything. Was it stupid? Yes. Did I make a deal without knowing all the details? Yes. Could this end worse, now that I did what I did? ...Yes.

"I know," I mumble. "But I had to do it. I have to take the risk." I fold my hands together to warm them up. "Axil." I wait for him to look at me. "Not many have been able to survive a slave mark. And if this was cursed on us by Eden, who knows how complicated it will be to get it off."

"But... her son... John is just as evil as her. You weren't there that night."

"I know," I say again. "But what if there's more?"

"Does it matter?" he says with almost no emotion.

I don't know what to say. It shouldn't matter, but what if it does? "Zaria trusted him."

"Trusted," he repeats, letting the past tense settle between us.

I throw my hands up the tiniest bit in defiance. "There's nothing I can do about it now. No point in arguing." I sigh. "A deal's a deal."

And without another word, he turns around and continues on the path. My feet stay planted where they are and I question if I should follow.

Of course, I have to. I can't just leave him.

I promised myself I wouldn't run.