They Call Her Psycho

21. Old Friends

"Ugh I feel like I've been hit by a bus," Tequila groaned into the darkness.

She sat up and found she was lying next to the fountain in the maze of the palace gardens.

"Athena are you there? Athena?"

No response.

"Fine ignore me."

Confused, Tequila wandered out of the maze and towards the palace. She recognised the gardens but what she couldn't understand was why she walked past her friend Lottie from the tattoo salon and her mate Aella sitting on a marble bench laughing. As far as she knew, they didn't have any connections with the royal pack.

She continued on into the foyer, looking over her shoulder to make sure she hadn't imagined them.

"What am I doing in the palace? Didn't I leave?" she whispered to herself, "I'm pretty sure I left."

"Oh hey you two!"

Tequila had rounded a corner to find Tiger and his mate Demi talking quietly in a corner. They didn't acknowledge her presence when she gave them a feeble wave.

"Rude," she huffed.

Before she could ask what Demi was even doing in the palace, they disappeared through another door. Tequila wandered up the grand staircase and walked down an airy corridor that she knew led to various drawing rooms. She passed Javier and Ermenilda who once again didn't seem to notice her presence. She began to notice a pattern that everyone she'd come across were dressed all in white and were barefoot, as well as the fact none of them so much as looked at her.

Beginning to get frustrated, Tequila followed the sound of laughter that was coming from one of the rooms, and found Tobias and Tariq huddled around Naomi cradling her baby whilst Kamryn played with her niece Quinn. Not even bothering to get their attention, Tequila watched them all for a moment. They were free from the worries and stress of their world and for a minute she was jealous of them. Everyone she'd come across in the palace had a mate, their other half, and it made her sad to think that she could never have the carefree happiness that they all enjoy.

She abruptly left the room and found herself walking into the ballroom. She stood at the top of that staircase like she did a year ago, only this time her eyes didn't land on her mate, instead her mother's ice blue eyes glistened back at her.

"Mom?" Tequila whispered.

"Who is playing this sick trick," she screamed out into the ballroom, no one stopped to look at her.

Dante continued reading his book in the corner, Tyrone and Axel, Nova and Mateo continued dancing to invisible music. Adele and Laszlo chatted animatedly to her mother.

In an attempt to get away from the madness she ran out onto a balcony. The same balcony she'd found herself last time she had tried to escape the ballroom.

He was there. In white jeans and a white shirt with his sleeves rolled up as they always were, revealing the tattoos that she knew went from his shoulders down to his wrists. He was looking out over his kingdom. Or was it her kingdom?

"Do you remember the first words I spoke to you? he said, keeping his eyes on the river winding out into the forest in front of him.

"You asked me why I would willingly enter the home of someone who wanted to kill me," Tequila held her breath in anticipation.

"Well evidently I asked the wrong question."

"What do you mean?" she put a delicate hand on his arm, but still he didn't face her.

"I should've asked you why I'd invited someone into my home who wanted to kill me."

"But-but I don't want to kill you!" she stumbled over her words.