Ella
“Estoy en el Palacio Real”. finalmente estallé. “El tercer piso, mis ventanas dan a
la puerta sur… es una suite de esquina”.
De inmediato, el peso aplastante de sus órdenes se disipa y me quedo como un charco en sus brazos.
“Buena niña.” Sinclair me alaba y me siento realmente mal del estómago. “Todo va
a estar bien”.
No puedo dejar de llorar. Estoy golpeando mis puños contra el pecho de Sinclair, más enojado de lo que puedo
recordar haber estado con él. “¿Cómo pudiste, cómo pudiste?” Gimo, todo mi cuerpo
temblando con la fuerza de mi llanto.
“Lo siento, Ella”. Me deja atacarlo y nunca se mueve para defenderse, solo
sosteniéndome firme mientras desahogo mis sentimientos sobre él. “Cuando todo esto termine, te prometo que
te lo compensaré, pero mantengo lo que dije. Has terminado de hacerte daño por el bien
de los demás.
“¡Pero el mundo te necesita! ¡Yo no!” Exploto, encontrando cada vez más difícil tomar
aire. ¿Y qué crees que me harán si mueres? ¿Cómo va a ayudar eso
en algo?
“Te necesito, Ella”. Sinclair argumenta: “Te necesito como mi compañera, como la madre de mis cachorros
, mi Luna. No voy a morir, Ella. Sinclair promete. Y tú tampoco. No vamos
a dejar que gane, cariño.
‘¡Tú no sabes eso!’ Lucho, lanzando otro sollozo. “Nunca te perdonaré por
this, Dominic. Not for as long as I live.”
‘The point is that you will live, trouble.” He murmurs, his lips against my temple. ”
That’s what matters most. I’d rather you hate me and live, than love me and die – and
for that, I won’t apologize.”
“Well I do hate you!” I try to say, but it sounds about as fierce as a wounded butterfly.
“Do you really?” He inquires, a teasing note in his voice. ‘You don’t sound convinced.”
“Just don’t die.” I beg, and I realize that I stopped fighting him at some point. Now I’m
clinging to him the same way I had been when he first arrived in my dream, and part
of me wishes we could never leave this fantasy realm. We’re both safe here. I can be
my wolf here without harming my baby, he can claim me and we can be together
forever – just the three of us.
“Shh,” Sinclair croons, cuddling me to his chest. “We can work with the Palace, Ella.
There are passages in and out of the building intended for Royal emergencies.
There’s a chance there might be some in your rooms, and even if there aren’t, I might
be able to find some in order to get inside.”
“But how are we supposed to tell each other if we’re able to find one?” I sniffle, more
confused than anything else. “It was hard enough to fall asleep the first time – I’m in a
cupboard.”
“A cupboard?” Sinclair repeats, a note of amusement in his voice.
“Se sentía más seguro que cualquier otra cosa”. Lo defiendo acaloradamente, sabiendo que probablemente no pueda entender
la lógica de mis hormonas y mi trauma. La cuestión es que no puedo garantizar que pueda
volver a dormirme y ninguno de los dos tiene tiempo que perder. No puedes planificar si
estás dormido”.
“Bueno, puedo decirte esto”, reflexiona Sinclair en voz alta. “La opción más segura para todos
sería si puedes encontrar un pasadizo. A menudo, la familia real son los únicos que
saben que existen, lo que significa que no estarán protegidos.
Además, se usan para evacuaciones, lo que significa que conducen fuera de los
muros del palacio.
“¿En realidad?” susurro, mis lágrimas disminuyendo ahora.
“You see, sometimes telling me the truth has its benefits.” Sinclair states, only slightly
smug. The worst part is that he’s right. I always feel better after I’ve come clean to him
about my secrets, and the co cky bas ta rd knows it.
“How do you know all this?” I inquire curiously.
“You forget that my father was almost King once, and we keep very close ties with the
pack elders. Besides, the royal family and the Moon Valley Alpha are supposed to
function as each other’s backup in times of emergency – we know the protocols for
evacuation and everything else in case the worst happens, even if we don’t know the
specifics.”
“But what if there aren’t any passages in my room?” I ask nervously, knowing it will
mean I have to wait for his rescue.
“Then I come to you.” Sinclair shrugs. “Hopefully you’ll be able to get out before that’s
necessary. If you can escape then you can get in contact and let us know to call it off.”
“Call what off?” I fret, blinking up at him with wide eyes.
“The Prince is waiting until the end of the day to hear from me. I’ll set the meet and tell
him the location fifteen minutes before the planned rendezvous – just like we did the
ransom meeting.” I’m surprised to hear that Sinclair already met with the man, and
that the Prince is still standing afterwards, then again, he has a very strong trump card
as long as I’m in his grasp. “But instead of going to the meeting, my men and I will
infiltra rse en el palacio. Me pondré en contacto con Adolpho y veré si conoce alguna de las
entradas de los pasajes.
“¿Y si no lo hace?” Presiono, viendo demasiadas formas de que esta situación salga mal.
Sinclair deja caer una rápida sucesión de besos en mi mejilla. “Estás decidido a
hacer agujeros, ¿no es así? Si no lo hace, lo ha remos a la antigua usanza y pasaremos
por encima de las paredes. Si encuentras un pasaje, déjanos alguna pista en tu habitación:
cierra las cortinas y deshace la cama”.
“Por qué, si llegas allí y está vacío, ¿no sabrás que logré salir?” Objeto
, tratando de seguir su lógica.
“No, podrían trasladarte a otro lugar, o podríamos terminar en la habitación equivocada.
thinking it’s yours and accidentally leave you behind. If we arrive and see the room in
that state, we’ll know we’re in the right place but we need to retreat. Is there anything
else distinctive about your room? A color scheme, or something?”
“The walls are green.” I share, “and there are yellow flowers on the armoire.”
“Okay, that’s even better.” Sinclair nods. “Actually, it would be good if you can try to
leave some sort of clue about where the passage was – so we can follow you out that
way and catch up.”
I shake my head in awe, not understanding how he can be so calm about all this. Our
very lives are on the line, but Sinclair is the cool and collected strategist, working out
the problem as if it’s a ji gsaw puzzle. “What kind of clue?”
He pauses to think. “Is there anything in your room you can use to write a coded
message?”
“I think there’s a notepad and pen by the desk.” I recall.
“Then write a message to the prince, but spell out the location of the passage using
the first letter of every sentence.” He instructs, and I can see the gears whirring in his
mind.
“Okay, where should I look for passages?” I inquire, trying to picture the opulent
bedroom.
“Start with any furniture or decorations against the walls – the back of your cupboard,
paintings, fireplaces. Pull down vases, cot h o oks, anything that might trigger a wall
opening. Do the same in the bathroom. Pay attention to scuffs on the floor from sliding
furniture, or drafts of air. If that doesn’t work then just start pushing on the walls – you
remember the entrance to the safehouse?” I nod, and he continues. “It could be a
pressure sensor like that.”
“How can you possibly be so calm about this?” I breathe, feeling my pulse fluttering in
my veins.
“I’m not calm, Ella.” Sinclair corrects me, looking down to meet my gaze. Sure nough,
I see fire blazing in his brilliant irises, and a muted rage I know he’s saving for the
Prince. ” Trust me, I’m the fa rthest thing in the world from calm, but the best thing I
can do to help you right now is figure out a plan, so that’s what I’m doing.
Asiento, cerrando los ojos con fuerza. “¿C uánto tiempo tenemos?” Pregunto, teniendo el mal
presentimiento de que nuestro indulto está llegando a su fin.
“Si no tienes más preguntas, debería irme”. dice Sinclair con pesar. ”
Ojalá fuera de otra manera, pero necesito comenzar a poner en marcha los planes, y tú debes comenzar a
buscar tu escape”.
“Está bien”, murmuro, tratando de no desmoronarme de nuevo.
“Te amo, problema”. Sinclair responde, inclinando mi cara hacia la suya y reclamando un beso profundo.
“Yo también te amo.” Respondo, en caso de que todo esto salga terriblemente mal. No quiero dejar que mi
anterior proclamación de odio se mantenga. “Siento haber dicho -”
“Lo sé”, me asegura, besándome de nuevo. “Va a estar bien. Ahora despierta – el
Cuanto antes lo hagas, antes podremos estar juntos de nuevo.
Me despierto con lágrimas en los ojos, pero con nueva determinación. Salgo del armario
y empiezo la cacería.