Chapter 227

Cara’s POV

Back under the pavilion for another break before the next contest, I sat at one of the picnic tables with my arms stretched out and ice packs over my aching muscles.

“There’s no reason for you to participate in the final event,” Charlotte said to me, echoing previous warnings made by both Georgie and Claudia. “You’ve done well in the other events. No one will fault you for sitting this one out.”

The next event was a race through the forest. It was intended to be competed in shifted form, though there was no rule that said it had to be done in that way.

Against the shifters, I knew I had no hope of winning, but I didn’t intend to sit out the race either. Even if the course took me three or four times as long to finish, I would get the credit for finishing.

“I’m not going to sit out any event,” I said.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Georgie said now.

Typically the trio were supportive of my endeavors here, but right now, they seemed adamant about me backing out, at least of this particular contest. It was frustrating because it felt like they were doubting me with the rest.

“I lose points for missing the event,” I said.

“Only a handful,” Claudia said.

“I can’t afford to lose even a handful,” I told them.

“You aren’t thinking this through,” Georgie said. “You will be well behind the pack of racers, so neither I nor the Claw Sisters will be able to support you. And the race goes through the woods, so there are far too many blind spots where anything could happen.”

“You want to compete, but there’s no sense in being reckless,” Claudia said.

“I can do this,” I said.

“If Lilia wasn’t out to kill you, then yes, certainly,” Georgie said. “But as things are, she has that vendetta to carry out, and this is the perfect time to carry that out. You told us what she said to you.”

I knew they were worried for me, and truthfully, I was worried for me too. I knew this race was high risk, low reward, but to back out because Lilia had threatened me felt like I would be giving into her wishes, giving her just what she wanted.

“This isn’t worth your life,” Charlotte added.

I loved my new friends for being so protective of me, but they couldn’t feel how I felt. They didn’t know how much I was fighting for, not just a spot on the podium but to prove myself worthy of being here at all.

With my diagnosis everyone had acted like I already had one foot in the ground. No one could see how hard I was working to stay fully out of it.

“It’s a needless risk,” Georgie said.

“We won’t be able to protect you,” Claudia said.

Backing out was just what Lilia wanted, and Melinda, and the commission too.

But if the Claw Sisters and Georgie thought so too…

I would be on a trail in the woods. Though there would be cameras and security along the way, they couldn’t watch every corner every minute. There would be times and spaces where I would be alone.

I wished I had time to talk to Alaric about this before he had been pushed out and all the competitors whisked off back to the pavilion.

He had promised to protect me, as had my brothers and Noel. Could I trust them to keep me safe on the course? Would they even be allowed past security?

The commission seemed to hate Eamon just as much as they disliked me. I doubted he would be allowed any special treatment.

But with how dedicated and protective Alaric was… I didn’t think there was anywhere he wouldn’t go to protect me, no matter if he was allowed to or not. And then there was Noel, who moved so silently and mysteriously.

Without talking to them, could I trust them to simply be there? Or were my friends correct, and I was taking needless risks?

With the start time looming, I just wasn’t sure.

Alaric’s POV

I couldn’t stop pacing, even as Noel watched me. He sat on a park bench with me just in front of him, walking back and forth at an agitated pace.

The race was the next event. It was another one where Cara would be in extreme danger.

“Short of jumping the barriers and tailing her ourselves through the woods, which I’m not against, mind you,” I said. “There has to be something else we can do.”

“Lilia would have no reason to be as slow as Cara during the race,” Noel said.

That was true. Lilia might be underprepared for these events, but she still had a wolf. She could still shift. Four legs was much faster than two, no matter the case.

“She could sneak out of the field and double back,” I said.

“Not with the Claw Sisters watching her,” Noel said. “Or the panther. She’s observant, that one. She even almost spotted me on a number of occasions.”

I had half a mind to ask why that would be such a rare occurrence, but there were more pressing matters on my mind right now than whatever was going on with Noel.

Cara’s life was at stake here.

“So she’ll need an accomplice,” I said.

“Yes.”

“It was Melinda before,” I said.

“It could be Melinda again,” Noel replied.

I wasn’t so sure. Melinda had been an accomplice to Lilia, even in the kidnapping, but she had never actually done any of the dirty work in the past. I struggled to imagine her lifting a weapon and actually using it.

She would make cruel and bloodthirsty decisions, but to dirty her own hands? Unlikely.

That being said, if there was another person they had pulled into helping them, to actually pull the trigger so to speak, then Melinda might be the weakest link. She might be the one most likely to actually reveal the truths that were meant to be secret.

“We should talk to Melinda,” I suggested.

“I know where she is,” Noel said.

“You do?”

“I saw her heading toward the grandstand at the finish line of the race,” Noel said. “If we want to talk to her, we should move quickly.”

“Let’s go, then.” No time to waste.

As fast as we could without shifting, we made our way to forest track. Melinda was indeed there, sipping a cocktail while standing under the shade of a tree.

As Noel and I approached, she lifted her drink and cheered us. “Here comes an unlikely pair,” she teased. “To what do I owe the pleasure? I don’t suppose you’ve come to accept my generous offer, Alaric?”

“We want answers,” I said.

“I will be able to tell if you are lying,” Noel replied coolly. Gods, he was so different than how he had been before. It was as if something inside of him snapped in a way, and the darkness that he had hidden within was let loose.

Even Melinda considered him with a long stare. “I have nothing to hide,” she said.

Noel narrowed his eyes. “You are lying.”