Chapter 184

Sebastian

“Daddy?” Wrenley whispered in a confused tone.

Her eyes were closed, and she was gripping the sofa tightly. She had been watching Hannah the entire time. She mentioned that Hannah had cuffs on her, and Sebastian knew right away that it meant Hannah didn’t have her wolf abilities. It worried him, but it was to be expected. No way they were going to trust her with her wolf that easily.

Wren also mentioned that Hannah found her mother. This was good; that meant Hannah was doing what she can to get her mother to trust her. But Wren had paused and whispered the word “daddy” in a question.

“What is it?” Sebastian asked, taking a hold of Wren’s trembling fingers. “Do you see something?”

“I see you, daddy…” Wren said in a worried tone. “You’re there. But you aren’t there.”

That didn’t make any sense; she was seeing Sebastian? He wasn’t anywhere near the palace. Unless that meant the shifter had turned into him. Shifters had the ability to turn into anybody they have seen during their lifetimes. If the shifter really did turn into Sebastian, that meant it was onto Hannah’s antics and she was in danger.

…

Hannah

I stared at Sebastian from across the foyer and could hardly believe that he was there.

What the hell was he doing here?

I wanted to ask my wolf, but with the cuff locked onto my wrist, I couldn’t channel her. Sebastian was going to ruin everything. I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat and kept my head down as I continued to follow Gabe until we reached the entrance of the ballroom.

I was so close to Sebastian at that point, and he hasn’t taken his eyes off me. He looked me over briefly for a moment without saying anything and I turned away from him, trying to pretend that he wasn’t there right now. He must have gotten worried and wanted to make sure that I was okay.

Gabe didn’t seem to notice his presence though. He continued walking until we were inside the ballroom. The music only grew louder. I was surrounded by people I didn’t recognize, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit uncomfortable.

“Enjoy the ball,” Gabe muttered. “And don’t think about escaping this time.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I said, trying to give him a kind smile, which he didn’t return.

I turned around and started walking through the crowded ballroom. Everyone was dressed so elegantly, and they danced beautifully. There were no signs of Xander though, or my mother.

I made my way toward the buffet line; no use starving while I waited. I wondered if Wren was watching me right now. If Sebastian was here; I was hoping she was at least safe with Liz and not hiding somewhere in this palace as well. I couldn’t help the knot that had formed in the pit of my stomach, tightening with each passing moment.

I felt a set of hands on my back, causing me to tense.

“Hey,” I heard a low murmur from behind me.

I turned to see Sebastian staring down at me with a twinkle in his eyes. I could have killed him at this point. I couldn’t believe he was standing before me. He was about to ruin our entire plan. What was he thinking?

“What are you doing here?” I scolded, trying to keep my tone low to not cause a scene. Although, the music was so loud it was drowning out my voice.

“I was worried,” he said to me gently. “I needed to see you.”

“What about Wren?” I asked. “Is she okay? Is she still with your sister?”

“Yes…” Sebastian said, keeping his eyes on me like he was trying to process something. “She’s with my sister. She’s safe.”

“Good,” I whispered. I lifted my arm to show him my cuff. “I have a cuff locked on me that blocks my wolf ability, or else I would have reached out already. I spoke to my mother earlier, but we were interrupted by Xander.”

“Xander?” He asked, raising his brows. “What did he want?”

“He wanted to see for himself that I was really here. Then, invited me to this ball.”

“He invited you to his ball? You mean he still wants you to be his wife?” Sebastian asked a little too loudly.

I was taken aback by his question, but he clears his throat and tried to recover himself.

“I’m sorry; I mean… do you want to marry him?”

“Of course not,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him confusingly. “I’m married to you; we have a daughter together…”

“Right,” he said. “We should get out of here. I don’t like it here.”

He grabbed my arms to pull me away, but I kept my ground, pulling my arm away from his.

“We aren’t done here, Sebastian,” I told him. “You shouldn’t even be here. This wasn’t a part of our plan. I need to find my mother. You need to give me some more time. Just meet me in the library with the scepter as we planned.”

“It’s not safe,” he said with a head shake, “I’d rather stay with you.”

He wrapped an arm around my body and pulled me close to him.

“Because I love you and wish to stay with you through everything.”

“I appreciate that, but we have a job to do. We are doing this to protect your kingdom. Did you forget?”

“Of course not,” he said with a light laugh. “I just wanted to make sure you remembered. I was testing you.”

“Sebastian… are you feeling, okay?” I asked, raising my brows. “You aren’t acting like yourself.”

“I’m sorry,” he breathed. “I guess this place just gives me the creeps. Bad memories, you know?”

“Yeah,” I said, peering up at him curiously.

There was something off about him that was giving me a weird vibe. I was assuming I couldn’t sense him because of the cuff that was around my wrist.

“Can we just go?” He asked. “We can figure out a new plan. Our daughter misses you and we should get back to her.”

That didn’t sound like him at all; he never went back on a plan out of fear. Especially without further explanation as to why. I grabbed a knife that lay on the buffet table from behind me and started shimmering with the lock on the cuff. I was being careful to not cut myself in the process. I tried to keep up a casual conversation while he pleaded for me to go with him while I struggled to get the cuff off.

“Sure,” I said with a light laugh. “We can go. But are you sure you don’t want to stay for any food? It’s really delicious.”

“I’m not hungry,” he said, his tone going flat.

I peered behind him and caught the eyes of someone I recognized. It was Scott, Caroline’s friend. She had mentioned that he was awake and pretending to be brainwashed by Xander. She also wanted me to get him out of the palace. I wondered if she tried reaching out to him about anything going on. He could be my ticket to escaping. He paused when he saw me, tilting his head in confusion. I knew he was probably going to mindlink Caroline and ask her what was going on; at least I hoped he would so I wouldn’t have to explain to him the entire story.

Please… mindlink Caroline… I pleaded with my eyes.

He squinted his eyes at me like he was trying to read my face. Then, he turned away.

What was he doing? Was he mindlinking her?

“Are you coming?” Sebastian asked, eyeing me carefully.

I finally was able to unlatch the cuff with the knife and held it firmly in my hands, not letting him see that the cuff was detached. Because I was still holding it, I could still feel the effects of the cuff.

“Yes,” I answered with a fake smile. “We should get back to your sister, Jennifer.”

“Yeah, definitely. She’s probably worried.”

My heart stopped in my chest at his words. I glanced at Scott again who was back to watching me, his eyes wide with curiosity. Then his eyes landed on the back of Sebastian’s head, and he furrowed his eyebrows together.

Then, I noticed Scott glancing at the back door and then back at me.

“Right…” I breathed, looking back up at Sebastian. “Except your sister’s name is Liz.”

I dropped the cuff onto the table and ran.