After a long moment of brooding silence, Killian muttered to Rea, "We're gonna have to call Kaizel and Raizel."
His jaw clenched. "We'll have no eyes on Arthur."
Rea cursed under her breath. "Damn it. Let's do it."
The crew moved fast, slipping through overgrown trails and spell-bound shortcuts until they caught up to Issey. She gave them a sharp signal from her ridge. From her vantage point, Annabella's convoy was still moving steady. No disruptions. Yet.
Annabella's entourage wasn't just any royal escort—it was a moving fortress of mage-knights, trained in both blade and arcana. But Harry was still riding close to her, glued to her side like her personal shadow. Every now and then, he leaned in, whispered something with that flirty smirk. Annabella didn't seem to notice or mind it.
But that wasn't the problem.
The problem was that Harry wasn't supposed to be there.
Killian scanned the field, eyes cold and calculating. "If we can't remove him physically… we outplay him."
"A perfect distraction," Issey said, already shifting her weight forward, ready to move.
Her voice dropped. "We need to make it happen soon. We won't get another clean window."
Everyone could feel the tension in the air. Being this far from school grounds—unauthorized—put their necks on the line. They were risking everything.
Rea's eyes darted between them. "I'm sorry, guys. Just go back... too much is at stake here."
Kaizel placed a hand on her shoulder. "You made our lives better, boss."
Raizel offered a small, calm smile. "This is the least we can do for you."
"Easier said than done," Rea muttered. "He's latched onto Annabella like a damn psychopath."
Killian exhaled sharply. "Then we give him a reason to leave."
Killian pulled out the flask from beneath his cloak. The liquid inside shimmered a deep, unnatural blue, laced with silver flecks—Ambrosieus-grade shapeshifting brew.
Powerful. Dangerous. But they only needed it to hold for a short while.
He handed it off without another word.
Kaizel nodded, drank.Raizel followed, grimacing at the metallic tang.
Issey downed hers last, and immediately wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "Ugh. Tastes like betrayal."
Moments later, their bodies began to shift, bones cracking, skin reshaping. In their places now stood: Miren, Tomas and Ellis.... Harris' buddies.
They mounted their horses, ready for action.
The convoy moved forward under a warm sun, hooves beating a steady rhythm on the dirt path. Mage-knights flanked Annabella, ever alert.
Annabella rode like sin wrapped in silk. The wind toyed with the loose strands of her hair, and when she turned to speak, Harry barely hid his desire for her. He was too caught in the way she leaned forward to whisper to her steed with her voice calm, lips poised. When she turned her head, eyes locking with Harry's, her mouth pulled in the hint of a smile. He felt his pulse spike like he'd touched fire.
Then Hoofbeats from behind.
A single knight raised a hand in warning. "Incoming!"
Three riders burst through the dust trail, cloaks whipping, breath ragged.
"Harry!" the first rider called out—Miren's voice, breathless, panicked.(Issey, flawlessly in character.)
Harry whipped around, startled. "Miren? What—? Why are you here?"
"Miren" didn't stop. "Your father's back. Early. He's at the school already. He's furious you're not there and demanded to see you immediately! We managed to win you some time"
Before Harry could get a word out, the second rider thundered in—Toma, Raizel beneath the illusion, eyes wide with fake concern.
"Yennifer and the Council are with him, man. They've been throwing your name around like it's mud. "
Then came Ellis or should we say Kaizel, relaxed as ever, yawning from his saddle. "Okay, less talking. More moving. This is not the meeting you want to be late for, Harry."
Harry's jaw slackened. "Father never asks for me! Is it a prank?"
Ellis snorted. " I would love it to be true but nah... it is for real."
Harry's horse shifted beneath him as anxiety coiled in his gut.
Before he could speak again, a warm hand touched his shoulder.
Annabella. calm and composed.
"You should return to the Academy," she said softly. "Thank you for coming all this way...but it seems urgent. Reassure your father that all is well. Then come back so we may enjoy that wine you promised."
Harry hesitated... then nodded.
With a gust of air and a sharp whistle, he spurred his horse forward, chasing after the three riders. The dust curled behind him. Killian stepped back, eyes still trained on the horizon. The tension in his jaw slowly eased, replaced by a quiet weight that settled between his shoulders.
Rea stood beside him, silent, watching.
He finally spoke, voice low. "That's it, then."
Rea nodded once. "For now."
Killian turned to face her, something almost melancholic in his expression. "You know he's going to figure it out now."
She didn't flinch. "Let him. It's about time"
Killian studied her, the quiet steel in her gaze, the fire she never quite put out. Then he gave her a nod—one part farewell because after this nothing will ever be the same, one part respect because now she was really free to pursue her woman.
"This is where I step back. The rest is yours."
She didn't respond, not with words.
Just with a warm, tight hug—arms around him like she was trying to hold on to something that had already begun to slip away.
Later that night
the convoy had finally stopped.
Rea moved like a shadow through the camp, her assassin's stealth mode keeping her steps soundless. The flap of Annabella's tent was barely disturbed as she slipped inside.
But the moment she crossed the threshold—
Cold steel kissed her throat.
A dagger.
Annabella held it with effortless grace, wrist steady as she tilted Rea's chin up with the flat of the blade.
Their eyes met.
A shared smirk. A flicker of familiarity.
Then, just as swiftly, Annabella withdrew the blade, turning away.
That's when Rea noticed.
The glass of wine, still dangling from Annabella's delicate fingers.
Her grip was too loose.
Her pupils, too wide despite the dim lighting.
She was drunk.
No—not just drunk.
Rea stepped forward, plucking the glass from her fingers. She brought it to her nose, inhaling deeply.
Under the rich, expensive scent of aged wine was something else. Something laced.
Her stomach dropped.
"Why are you drinking yourself silly?" Rea asked, straightening.
Annabella shrugged, the motion effortless, graceful. "I have things I'd like to forget."
It wasn't the words that made Rea go still.
It was the faint slur in Annabella's usually pristine voice.
Her stomach twisted—not just in concern, but at the realization that the extra scent wasn't just alcohol.
It was a drug.
Rea's expression darkened. "Who gave this to you?"
Annabella leaned back against the luxurious sofa, legs crossed, a lazy smirk tugging at her lips. "A gift from Harry," she mused, running a finger along the rim of the empty second glass.
"He does have excellent taste in wine."
Rea's grip tightened.
Murderous rage boiled beneath her skin.
Harry.
That bastard.
He had planned to be here. To come to Annabella—drugged, vulnerable, pliant.
If the plan hadn't kept him occupied at the academy, who knew what would have happened?
The thought of his hands anywhere near Annabella—his lips, his weight pressing down on her—
A sharp crack filled the silence.
Rea had crushed the fragile glass in her palm.
Annabella rolled her eyes. "You are such a bore nowadays," she muttered. "Enough of this."
She waved a hand dismissively, but then—
The air shifted.
Rea's breath hitched.
Annabella was no longer just sitting there, slightly tipsy, slightly seductive.
Her entire aura changed.
Her eyes burned a deep, glowing purple.
And before Rea could react, before she could even think—
Her body moved on its own.
A pulse of energy hit her like a command, wrapping around her limbs, sinking into her bones.
Her knees hit the floor.
Right in front of Annabella's leg that were beautifully oiled and crossed.
She tried to fight.
But the more she pushed back, the more Annabella's pheromones flared—stronger, sharper, coiling through her senses like a vice.
"Stop this, Anna," Rea forced out, her voice strained.
"You might be drugged."
Pulling Rea by her collar, Annabella whispered on her lips
"Oooh? I feel perfectly fine."
Rea clenched her jaw.
Heat coiled in her pants, low and deep.
She was trapped.
Not just by Annabella's power.
But by the ache for her.
Even now. Even like this.
gods, she was so fucked
Annabella pushed herself off her seat and raised an eyebrow, taking another sip of that damned wine, before chuckling.
"You would be a perfect sex slave," she mused. "You're more instinct than brain."
Wow," Rea muttered, hands pressing between her thighs, trying to hide what Annabella's presence did to her.
"You've graduated from Queen B to Cruel Bitch."
Her laughter was soft, almost cruel.
"Well… life happened." She leaned down, her breath brushing against Rea's hears.
"Or should I say—you happened last night."
Rea stiffened.
Guilt knifed through her.
"Anna—"
But before she could beg for forgiveness, before she could even say another word—
Annabella kissed deeply Rea grabbing Rea's hair and caressing her throat with the other hand.
It was a deep, fierce and possessive kiss. She explored Rea's mouth with her tongue mercilessly.
When Rea started enjoying the kiss,
She raised a hand.
And Rea obeyed.
Her body was no longer hers.
Like a puppet on invisible strings, she was lifted—weightless, helpless.
Dragged through the tent, her limbs moving against her will.
And then—
She was thrown.
Rea's back hit the mattress.
Soft sheets. Plush pillows.
She barely had time to recover before Annabella climbed over her, straddling her waist.
Looking down at her.
A slow, knowing smile stretched across Annabella's lips.
A touch of amusement.
A touch of cruelty.
A touch of something darker.
"You will entertain me tonight," she said, voice like silk.
A single hand wrapped around her throat, thumb pressing just enough to make her shiver.
Then—
Teeth.
Annabella bit her bottom lip, tugging just hard enough to send a sharp spike of arousal through Rea's already weak body.
This was wrong.
Annabella was drugged.
Annabella was angry.
But Rea—
Rea was weak for her.
Annabella's golden hair cascaded over her shoulders, shimmering in the dim light like liquid sunlight, a cruel contrast to the dark, merciless gleam in her innocent purple eyes. Voluptuous breasts, and perky tits, barely concealed by the thin silk of her nightgown, rose and fell with each measured, controlled breath
"You're trembling," Annabella murmured, the heat radiating from her skin.
Rea sucked in a sharp breath, her crotch hardening despite herself
"I'm not."
Annabella squeezed her thigh putting more pressure on Rea's arousal
"Oh, but you are."
Rea swallowed hard, muscles tensing beneath Annabella's weight.
"You're such a liar " she whispered as she rolled her hips.
Slow, deliberate.
"Stop this... please....I don't want to do this," Rea rasped, desperate, wrecked.
Annabella sighed—almost sweetly—before leaning in, pressing a slow, open-mouthed kiss against the sensitive skin of her throat.
Then another.
Then teeth.
Don't fight it," she murmured against her skin, her hands now mapping Rea's abs, fingers ghosting over Rea's collarbone, down her chest and nipples. "You didn't last night."
Rea groaned into it, hands flying to Annabella's waist, gripping, digging in, her resolve slipping between the spaces of her fingers.
If you do this....this...this will ruin everything...ngnn...aaahh... if you force me like this, we won't have any chance of fixing us...of finding our way back to each other"
"Oh, now you care? Annabella pouted mockingly ...Now, suddenly, you have a conscience?"
Annabella tilted her head, eyes gleaming with unnatural purple light, the seal on her shoulder burning to life—a mark of power unleashed.
Rea felt it coil around her, pressing against her skin, demanding compliance.
"Strip."
Rea squeezed her eyes shut
Rea's body went rigid.
"Anna—" she gasped. "No, please, don't—"
Annabella's smirk widened.
"You beg so prettily now," she mused,
This was payback.
This was punishment.