***SPOILERS AHEAD FOR WICKED ENCOUNTERS, SEASON 1 OF THE WICKED SERIES***
After the betrayal that shattered Cordelia's world, she finds herself in the arms of Elias's enemy--his twin brother. Cane has trapped her in an icy paradise with no friends...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
When Jolene was in the middle of attacking all of us, Cane said that Elias tried to kill him to "get his crown." I heard those words come out of his mouth. But somehow, when he said them, they didn't compute. It didn't fully sink in.
I was angry with Cane for not warning me when in reality, nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to witness.
What Elias did to Cane was brutal. It was cruel, it was...coldblooded and calculating. No wonder Cane holds a grudge against him. So would I.
In fact, I...I do. I do hold a grudge against Elias because that is my soulmate he tried to kill. Even if I wasn't around back then, even if I had nothing to do with it, knowing that he inflicted that kind of pain on Cane makes me physically ill.
How could he do that? And how could I not see that side of him?
"Cordelia?"
Cane's voice breaks me out of my thoughts, and I nearly drop the cupcake I've been staring at for way too long. "Huh? Sorry...I zoned out."
"I see. Where'd you go?"
"I was just thinking about how stupid I feel. For defending Elias to you so many times after seeing what he did to you. How fucked up it all is...God, I just feel horrible about everything."
He leans across the kitchen island and hooks a finger under my chin, making me meet his eyes. "It's not your fault. The fact that you know my story and believe me more than makes up for any doubts you once had."
I nod and take the wrapper off my cupcake. "All right. I'm going to take your word for it and not wallow in misplaced guilt, even if I've had a lifelong tendency to do so." I take a bite out of the cupcake and giggle when the tip of my nose sinks into the icing.
Cane mimics the bite I took on the opposite side of my cupcake, pulling away with icing on his nose. "You should take my word for it. I'm a very respectable vampire."
"Oh, are you now?" I ask, raising an eyebrow as I swipe the icing from my nose and lick it from the tip of my finger. "Do all respectable vampires eat cupcakes like chaotic, messy Dreamwalkers, or is that just you?"
"I'll do whatever it takes to make you smile. Respectability be damned."
My heart flutters at that. The only person who seemed to care about my happiness the past couple of weeks is Ruth. I doubted Cane's reason for taking me. There was no way that it was really about me and what I needed to get through all of the drama with Elias.
Everyone seemed to have had an ulterior motive. Jolene wanted me dead so she could get Cane's soul again. Elias was looking for someone to protect from all the big bad supernaturals in the universe. Even my parents gave me the Wicked Encounters trip as a way to help me find a better boyfriend than my ex.
I'm starting to think that Cane was the only one who was truly concerned about me. Just me.
I lean in and make the same motion with my finger and swipe the icing off his nose, bringing it to my lips. "Well, it's a worthy sacrifice, because you're doing a pretty good job considering the circumstances."
