Page 51 of Chasing Luna
“Well, she found out. Princess Katarina tried to persuade Princess Katya to join us, but Princess Katya refused. I guess she cared for you more than Princess Katarina hoped for.” He coughs up blood and heaves.
Katya died because of me?
“When that happened, Princess Katarina asked us to assassinate Princess Katya, and, well, the plans have changed since then. A hostile takeover had to happen before you turned eighteen, and here we are.” He laughs humorlessly. “Princess Katarina helped us plan our attacks, including the ambush inside your estate. She also planned the attack on the orphanage so we could confront the Queen there, but our Alpha had other plans and split up the pack.” The man steadies his breathing, before continuing.
“One would stay in the orphanage to attack the Queen, and the other would ambush the estate while you all were vulnerable. He thought Princess Katarina was on his side, and would welcome him with open arms.” He shakes his head. “He wasn’t counting on her actually killing him.” Kenji gently touches me on the shoulder and I feel myself start to seethe.
“Why should I believe you?” I spit out.
The man scoffs. “You don’t have to believe me.” Kenji interrupts him before he can speak again.
“He’s the Beta, Isabela.” I shake my head. My blood runs cold as I repeat his words over and over again in my head.
“But you need to be careful, Princess Isabela. I think she’s getting desperate, which means you’re in trouble.”
I’m in a daze as Kenji tugs my arm and leads me back outside.It’s not real. This isn’t real. No. We’re her sisters. We’re family. We had so many plans together. It can’t be real.
“Isabela, how are you holding up?” I stare at his worried face.
“I thought you said this was a date?” is all I can say as I pout and just let myself cry in his car.
“Sorry about that. It was the only way for me to tell you without anyone else getting suspicious.” He grins cheekily as I sniffle.
“We have a book of spells.” He turns his head in confusion. “It’s a book that contains every spell or magic-binding incantation known to the Esperanza clan. It spans centuries of knowledge, and it’s given to the chosen one once she takes over the pack. It’s going to be mine soon. Well, it’s supposed to be mine.” I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose. “But Eliza said she saw Katarina with the book, and at first, I didn’t know that she could conjure the spells. Because how could she? I’m the chosen one.” I laugh. “But it explains how she got so powerful. It explains how she gained new abilities. I guess there must be something she did so she could use the spells for herself. I don’t know how, but she did something,” I ramble. “Although, I can use them too,” I reveal and show Kenji my new abilities. “Even though I’m not eighteen yet. I have powers, too.”
“Maybe it’s the book itself?” Kenji offers and I shrug, completely burned out.
“Thank you for telling me, Kenji,” I whisper after a moment of silence.
“What are you going to do now?” he asks.
“Well, first, I need to survive until I turn eighteen.”
He nods. “And?”
“And I don’t know what else to do except keep an eye on Katarina.” I shrug. “That’s all I can do right now at least.” Kenji reaches out to hold my hand. “Are you sure your men won’t say anything about today?”
He shakes his head. “Not if they know what’s good for them. Besides, they’re loyal to me.” He squeezes my hand before letting it go. “Now, let’s actually go out and have fun.”
“What?” I say, wiping my tears away.
“Oh, sorry, did you want to spend the rest of your day crying?” He raises an eyebrow.
“No.”
“Great, then let’s go,” he urges, and we speed away once more.
It is past midnight once we get back to the estate, and since I was with him all day no one batted an eye.I guess people don’t mind me as much if I’m with Kenji. We creep into the house, giggling to ourselves when the lights suddenly turn on.
Chapter Forty-Nine
“Didn’t think you’d get caught?” a scruffy, deep voice scoffs. My eyes adjust to the person in front of me, though I knew who it was already.
“Not so loud, dude,” Kenji whispers harshly. Gregory steps forward a bit menacingly.
“You’ve been very irresponsible, Your Highness.” He towers over me. “Coming home late doing God knows what, with God knows who.” Gregory side-eyes Kenji, who stares back unamused at the former. I feel irritation take over me.
“I’m not doing anything wrong with anyone. Kenji is my friend and I trust him wholeheartedly. I know he’ll never do anything to hurt me,” I spit out.