#Chapter 151: A Promise
Nina
My heart dropped at the girl’s words. “Too merciful?” I asked. “What did I do to you to deserve any of this?”
The girl merely shrugged. She seemed so nonchalant that it made me sick, but before I could say anything else, she suddenly looked at her watch. “Oh!” she said, grinning at me. “It looks like it’s time for me to go. Enzo will be ready for me any minute.”
I opened my mouth to ask her what she meant, but before I could, she opened a portal and vanished. Was she meeting Enzo to marry him already? I felt a pit form in my stomach at the thought. What if they mated and he forgot all about me, leaving me in here until the day I died?
No, I thought to myself. I couldn’t lose hope. I couldn’t be sure exactly how long I was trapped there. It could have been hours or even days simply because it felt as though there was no real passage of time; the sun never rose or set, and it was always in that constant state of eternal twilight.
I tried at first to see if there was a way to leave, but the girl, whose name I still didn’t know, wasn’t lying when she said I wouldn’t be able to get out. There seemed to be some sort of invisible force field around the place, like a spell had been cast on it. I could still walk out a ways into the woods all around the cabin, but about half a mile into the woods was when I would encounter the invisible dome keeping me there. No amount of force could break through it. It was impenetrable, and it made me Chopper & Prom
wonder if I could even be seen from the outside or if the force field made me invisible, too. I really was trapped there forever, it seemed. But I held out hope that Enzo would come for me. He always came for me.
I spent my time there reading mostly once I realized I couldn’t get out. There was a supply of canned food in the
cabin, which I cooked on the little wood stove. Some firewood had already been chopped for me, so I was able to heat the cabin. How long had it taken for her to build this place? Or was it even a physical place at all? Perhaps a witch made it with magic, which would explain the invisible barrier. Sometimes I wondered if I was even awake at all, or if this was fabricated in my head and I was really put under a spell somewhere, unconscious.
Sleeping wasn’t easy. It was too quiet, and I was lonely. Thankfully, I didn’t really feel tired, so I just stayed awake most of the time and read books or walked around. The only thing that kept me going was knowing that Enzo would come for me, as always. If I didn’t have that hope, I knew I would go insane, because even my wolf seemed to have disappeared, leaving me with no one to talk to.
At one point, however, after being
there for what felt like ages, I suddenly shot up in bed when I heard the distinct whirring sound of a portal opening outside.
Not only that, but I smelled something familiar, warm, and comforting… Enzo.
1 jumped up and ran to the door. ” Enzo!” I yelled, flinging the door open. I felt my heart leap as I saw him standing on the lawn, looking confused – but I was quickly accosted by the girl from before. My twin.
She jumped in the way and pushed me backwards. Her hand shot out and she grabbed a fistful of the front of my shirt as she forced me back into the cabin.
“Hey!” I said, holding up my hands in surrender. “What are you-”
“Listen,” she snarled, her face mere inches from mine, “I’m only doing this because I pity you, and because I don’t want anything to happen with my marriage… So don’t think that I’m doing this because I have any sort of warm feelings toward you. Understand?”
I gulped, blinking as I nodded rapidly.
“Good,” she said. “Now get out there.” She pushed me back toward the door, still holding onto my shirt. She then flung the door open and shoved me outside. I fell on my hands and knees in front of the cabin, but I didn’t care because Enzo had come for me after all.
“Nina,” he whispered, running up to me. He helped me stand, then pulled me into a tight hug. “You came for me,” I murmured into his chest.
Meanwhile, behind us, the girl tapped her foot impatiently. “Hurry it up,” she said, her tone of voice grating and annoyed. “We’ve got a dinner to get to, Enzo.”
“Can we have a moment of privacy, at least?” Enzo asked.
I glanced over my shoulder. The girl sighed annoyedly, then waved us away dismissively with her slender hand and retreated into the cabin. Once she was gone, I grabbed Enzo’s hand and pulled him further away from the cabin, toward the pond. We stopped there and
looked at each other in the dim light. “Who is she?” I whispered. “I know she’s my twin, but… Is she your mate?”
Enzo nodded soberly. He glanced over at the cabin, then back at me. “She’s the Alpha King’s daughter,” he whispered. “Her name is Selena. Listen, Nina… I told her I would stay with her if she let you go. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to see you again after this, but you have to understand that I only did it to help you get home… I wouldn’t choose to stay with her otherwise. She’s nuts.”
I felt my stomach twist into a painful knot, and as it did, tears started to prick at the backs of my eyes. I shook my head vigorously. “No,” I whimpered. “You can’t stay. Isn’t there some way?”
Enzo sighed and pulled me into another hug. I sobbed into his shirt, but he only stroked my hair. I knew, deep down, that he was trying his best, and that the politic’s behind this marriage were too important… But it didn’t make me feel any better about this situation.
If It wasn’t for the Crescents, he could come home with me. Would this be the last time I ever saw Enzo?
Enzo then pulled away. We looked into each other’s eyes for the longest moment. I wanted to kiss him so badly, and I could tell he wanted to kiss me, too. But then, the screen door to the cabin creaked and slammed and Selena came storming over to us. “Lori and Jessica are rogues,” Enzo whispered, his eyes full of pain, as she approached. I felt my heart drop, but before I had the chance to react, Selena grabbed my arm and yanked me away from him roughly.
“That’s enough of that,” she growled. ” Come on. Let’s go.”
She pulled me over to a clear area on the lawn, then made a motion with her hand. As she did, a swirling portal began to open. “This will take you back to your precious campus,” she said. ”
Don’t show your face again. Understand me?”
I nodded, but I couldn’t look at her. I could only look at Enzo. And as she shoved me through the portal, the last thing I saw was Enzo’s pained, somber face staring back at me.
