RYKER''S POV


    No one made a move to touch the cloth. There was just so much fear and concern filling the room, it was almost


    suffocating. I sighed and reached out with my toe to push open the rag but nothing would have prepared me for


    what was in there. Inside said rag was one of the dolls but it didn’t look normal, it was ck, almost as if it had been


    burned and it had the most putrid smell I had ever been unfortunate enough to encounter.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g


    I knew what it was immediately, we all did. Christine had a hand to her nose and I watched her rush over to a corner


    to throw up. She should have left, I wanted to force her to leave but she didn’t, instead, she came right back and


    stood next to us.


    “What the hell is going on?” she asked. “I was watching it and all of this happened within seconds. Something weird


    is going on.”


    Cami agreed but as I nced back over my shoulder at the rotten body in the cell, it all made sense. “The cell


    keeps out every form of magic. The moment we put her in there, the magic keeping the body alive started to leech


    away, it had to go back to its original state. My only question now is what happened to the person in her body?”


    No words were spoken as we all wracked our brain for any possible responses, the honest truth was that we didn’t


    know. This was magic and it waspletely out of our pay grade. We didn’t have a resident witch who could answer


    all of our questions and tell us what was true and real or not. All we had at the moment was a dead body and a


    rotten doll.


    “Peggy!” Cami eximed after a second. “Shit, how are we going to exin all of this to her? She is going to be


    devastated. I have to tell her what happened.”


    She looked to me and I knew she wanted me to handle it. It was clear that she was emotionally invested in this and I


    couldn''t expect her to be at her best in this situation. I turned to the guards who were still watching us with close


    curiosity and anticipation.


    “Get rid of the body, I would prefer that you burned it. Make sure to take this doll with you,” I gestured to it, not


    wanting to go any closer. “Do not touch it with your bare hands. We don’t know what it was used for or if there are


    traces of magic inside of it”


    “Yes, your majesty.”


    “Speaking of magic, do not take that body out until the fire is ready. I don’t know if the magic will seep back in or


    not. This entire situation screams foul y and I don’t want to make it worse,” I turned to the women. “We should


    go.”


    “Don’t you think we should let Peggy see her first?” Cami asked in an unsure tone. “She might want to say good


    bye”


    “It is best that she keeps whatever image she has of her daughter right now over the image of that rotten corpse,” I


    knew my worse were harsh but I needed to drive my point across. “We will break the news about Marie. I will be righ


    there with you the entire step of the way.”


    She nodded and I reached out to intertwine my fingers with her. I turned to Christine who had been silent the entire


    time.


    “Thank you,” I whispered and she waved me off. “I think we can handle it from here. You should go and rest, I cannot


    imagine how exhausting that ordeal was.”


    It was a testament to how tired she was because she didn''t even protest, she just gave me a small smile and walked


    away leaving Cami and I. My mate definitely didn’t want to see Peggy, she dragged her feet the entire time and I


    knew it was worry for how she would behave and take the news.


    When we arrived at Peggy''s door, I had to knock because I knew that in the moment, Cami couldn''t bring herself tc


    do anything. I knocked quietly and there was some mumbling before the door opened. Peggy took one look at us an


    she frowned deeply. I opened my mouth to speak but she held up a hand to stop me.


    “l already know what you are about to say and I would rather you didn’t,” she cut me off. “Can I at least see her?”


    “No, you can’t,” I hated doing that to her especially when her eyes widened and her frown deepened. “You don’t wan


    to see her in that state, I assure you. You want to keep whatever memory you have of her as pure as possible. Do not


    taint it with this.”


    “That was not your call to make,” she spat and I knew that I had sessfully pissed her off. “You can leave now,


    thank you for informing me.”


    She turned on her heels and walked into the room. I knew the smart thing would have been to just walk away but


    when I made to do so, I saw Cami take a step into the room. She had her hands wrapped around her mid-section,


    almost as if she were anxious. I couldn''t just leave my mate so I followed her as well. Peggy did her best to ignore us


    and pretend that we weren''t there.


    “When my mother died, I didn''t see her body,” Cami began and I stilled. I had never heard her speak about this ou


    loud. “I wanted to, so badly but I was advised against it. I was furious, I thought they were trying to take her from me


    I thought they didn’t want me to say goodbye. I threw every tantrum in the book, I screamed and I cried but they


    didn''t let me and now I am grateful that I didn’t because when I think about my mother, I think about her the way


    she was and not how she died.”


    “These two situations are not the same,” Peggy spat. “This is my child. I raised her alone. I cared for her, I loved her, I


    watched her take her first steps, I watched her shift, I was there when she had her first kiss. I love my daughter with


    everything in me and you cannot stop me from seeing her. This is the time that she needs me the most.”


    “No,” Cami cut her off. “This is the time that she needs you to be strong. You don’t want to see her like that, she


    wouldn''t want you to.”


    “You don’t know Marie, you don’t know my girl, you have no right to speak for her”


    Peggy had her finger pointed in Cami’s face and it took everything in me to not pull her back, instead, I let out a


    warning growl. Both women turned to me and Peggy''s cheeks heated as she realized what she had done. She took a


    small step back to show me that she meant no harm and only then did the tension in my chest reduce considerably.


    I could see that Cami wasn''t happy with me for growling at Peggy but we could take care of thatter. What


    mattered to me was that she was not being threatened or cornered.


    “Peggy,” Cami began again after a strained minute. “I know how much this hurts and while I might not have known


    Marie, you can trust that I know this situation. I have been here before and I know that if you do this, you will regret


    it”


    “Losing your mother in a fire is not the same as my daughter''s body rotting on the ground, Cami,” Peggy spat.


    “Don’t you darepare the two."


    Cami opened her mouth to speak but I held up a hand to stop her and she went silent. I slowly made my way over


    to them making sure I stood in a way that I blocked the door. Both women watched me carefully but my attention


    was on Peggy.


    “We didn''t tell you how her mother died,” I said simply and she stilled.


    “Yes you did,” her voice shook ever so slightly. “How else would I know about it?”


    “l am asking you the very same question.”


    She scoffed. “Is this a new tactic of yours? Are you trying to intimidate me into forgetting what is happening right


    now?”


    “I have no need to intimidate you but let us assume that I was wrong and she did tell you, how did you know that


    Marie''s body was rotten? That happened today, less than a few minutes before we came here, how did you know?”


    She stared at me for a second and then did the most absurd thing, she buried her face into her hands and began to


    cry. My brows furrowed in confusion as I watched her and I could feel Cami’s confusion too. Peggy stood there wit


    her head bent as her shoulders shook with the force of her sobs. I wasn’t sure if I was tofort her or just watch


    her.


    I ended up doing the former and after two minutes of crying with no response from anyone she looked up at us and


    risked a peek. She frowned when she saw that we weren''t doing anything and to my surprise, she rolled her eyes anc


    wiped at her tears.


    “I thought that would work,” she drawled with no humor in her tone. Her spine straightened and she looked up at us


    in slight annoyance. “I should have waited until you told me.”


    “You should have,” I said simply. “Who are you and what do you want?”


    “You have to be very stupid to not know who I am by now,” she crossed her arms over her chest. “Did you really thin}


    that by throwing me off a cliff I would die? I hold the power over death, little prince, very little can kill me.”


    Reina.


    “The knife,” Cami spluttered. “I stabbed you, you should have died”


    “Perhaps you are better off looking for instructions before ying with sharp toys,” she mused. “Now, I need you to


    tell me where that knife is and I can be out of your hair”