Chapter 18

Aleena’s POV

I knew coming here would be hard, but I would never have guessed it would be as traumatic as it has been. My mother is adamant about finishing the mind searches as soon as physically possible, my father is allowing me the help I need but very begrudgingly, and my brother won’t even speak to me now, all thanks to Myla – his wife and my ex-best friend – which I honestly wasn’t surprised about, but it does hurt a bit.

“Aleena, what exactly is it you need to borrow and for how long” my sister Alysia asked, and I fully intended to tell her, but something was bugging me.

“Alysia, I was sure I felt the magic signature of Natalia on the wards at the gate. But I have seen no sign of her? where is she?” I asked before I changed my mind.

“Uh, well, yes, that was her magic signature you felt, and it was her who originally renewed the defensive spells; she was always the strongest” my sister seemed to be dancing around the subject, and it bugged me.

“Alysia, get to the point”, I urged

“She became unwell not long after you went missing; she has been in isolation ever since,” My sister told me, but she looked troubled.

“What is wrong with her? Can she not be cured?” I asked. I hadn’t always gotten on with Natalia, but she was the best out of my old friends right now.

“Honestly, it was a mystery to everyone, but now I’m thinking something might not be right with it; I feel there may have been some foul play involved, " Alysia admitted, her brow furrowed and worry marred her face.

“Let me guess, it’s all linked to Myla,” I say, so very unimpressed with the effect she has had on all of my family.

Up ahead, the door to the relic room came into view. The eight guards my father had sent with us, both in front and behind us, stopped. The door could only be opened by a member of the royal family. Moving to the side, they motioned for my sister to open the door, but she looked at me with a smile.

“Your signature has never been removed; mother wouldn’t allow it; you open the door!” she insisted.

Returning her smile, I stepped up to the door, placed my hand right in the centre, instantly magic flared through my skin, and sank into the wood. Seconds later, the door swung silently open.

“I forgot how strong your power is sister; you always carried the most out of all of us, but don’t let Iven hear me say that”, she laughed.

“He does like to think that because he’s the oldest, he has the most power, doesn’t he” I laughed back, secretly I had always known I was more powerful.

“Your royal highnesses, please be quick at retrieving what you need; the king does not want us in here for long.” One of the guards said but he sounded nervous and uneasy.

“We won’t be a moment, and Michael will be coming with me, so don’t try to stop him” I smiled sweetly at him; magic was still radiating from my skin and illuminating my hands. With that said, I reached over, laced my fingers with Michael’s, and dragged him into the room with me.

My hand felt hot and tingled where his skin met mine, something was seriously going on between us, and I wished we had the time to explore it more, but retrieving the relics had to come first. I also had to grab the old seer’s grimoire, seeing as I can no longer talk to her myself; I will have to read about what I must do. There was no point talking to Myla even though she was classed as the so-called new mystic seer, I was more powerful than her anyway, and it wasn’t like she was going to help me as things stand right now, so I wasn’t about to waste my breath.

“Doesn’t anyone clean in here, Alysia?” I was shocked to see the thick layer of dust covering everything.

“Well, we don’t have a royal in the seat of the Mystic Seer right now, do we? So, Myla can only come here when one of us has time to open the door; lately, that hasn’t been often. To be honest, she doesn’t ask much anymore and doesn’t do much seeing!” my sister pointed out.

I rolled my eyes and continued my search, which didn’t take long as I knew where every relic belonged by heart. I spent much time here as a child.

“Okay, I think I have everything,” I say as I cradle the shadow sceptre and scrying crystal and the grimoire.

“Do you need a hand with that?” Michael asked, but I quickly stopped him from taking anything off me before the guards could cut his hands off.

“No one but a member of the Royal family can touch these items” I smiled weakly at him; I knew he was only trying to help.

Walking quickly, we made our way back to the throne room, where I knew my father would be waiting. He would want to see what I took and no doubt give me some warning about respect.

Michael stayed close to my side; I don’t think there was even an inch between us at any given time. Since I had been released from my mind reading, he had been right next to me every second. My sister didn’t seem bothered by him, unlike the rest.

“Aleena, your back! Fantastic. Are you sure we don’t have time to look more into the events surrounding your disappearance?” my mother spoke hopefully.

“I’m sorry, mother, I have to get back, this matter just can’t wait.”

“About that!” my father spoke up; I knew it was coming; I tensed, and Michael felt it. Shifting next to me, he laid his hand on the small of my back. “I will be sending a party of guards with you to make sure our relics are returned in one piece”, he stated flatly.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less, father” I smiled his way but seethed inside, he wouldn’t insist on this if it was Iven asking and most probably not even to Alysia, but I would not let my anger towards my father get in the way of what needs to be done. “Oh, and father, I will be back as soon as this mess with the Exalted and their host is sorted out. The truth about what happened to me will come to light as I will ensure it does. Also, I feel you need to revisit Natalia’s condition; I’ll ensure I’m here to oversee that also.”

“Father, are you going to let her talk to you like that” Ivan spat, cheeks red with anger; he knew he was fucked; well, his wife was, and if it turns out that he had any involvement or even knowledge of this, then so was he.

“Iven, that is enough”, my mother scolded him; she barely ever raised her voice to us, especially her eldest son, but everything about the last few hours had pushed her to her limits, and I didn’t blame her.

Leaving the Elf village, I grew up in felt oddly satisfying this time. I was terrified to return here this morning and to be honest, I’m still not comfortable, but leaving after telling my truth, even though we aren’t even close to being finished on the subject, feels amazing. Even if returning to the place I now call home with an entourage of my father’s guard in toe, I wasn’t going to let anything dampen my spirits, not for the next hour at least, I came here to get these relics and seek the help we needed, and I did that. Not even Myla can take that away from me.

Archer’s POV

This other world was not so different to ours; if you could ignore the washed-out look and the eerie feeling that followed you around everywhere you went, then it was fine, quiet, and a bit dull but fine all the same.

Titan had run off somewhere, still refusing to talk to me, believing I had lost my mind. Absurd. He was a jealous idiot who needed to drag his head out of his ass. So, I’ll leave him to it and find something else to do.

Wandering the almost identical grounds of the Winter moon pack house was surreal, but I needed to pass the time until Leah returned. Everything looked pretty much the same; a few odd things didn’t quite fit but nothing too out of the ordinary. For example, the shadow that didn’t belong or a dead end that doesn’t exist in the waking world.

“I wonder if Leah likes flowers?” I thought aloud, a stupid smile spreading across my face. Something niggled at the back of my mind, but it couldn’t have been important as I could shake it off easily.

Hopefully, with enough persuasion, I can convince her to return to my world with me; she must get so lonely here on her own. With my mind wandering over every inch of her face, that nagging feeling crept back into my mind, something just wouldn’t leave me alone, and it was starting to annoy me.

“Archer, please wake up”, a very distant voice reached my ears. A voice I vaguely knew, but how?

She sounded so sad, so desperate, but who was she? Sitting down on the grass outside the front porch and waiting to see if I could hear her again.

“Please, Archer, let me know you’re okay!” she begged.

Slamming upright, the image of the most beautiful girl I had ever set eyes on hit me with fall force right in the face. My heart raced, and my head pounded.

“Ayla!” I couldn’t believe I had forgotten about her, no, not forgotten, as I never would. She was forced out of my mind.

“Titan was bloody right, shit!”

“No”, a screaming voice sounded all around me, followed closely by that god-awful screech I had heard before.

Everything moved around me; I could hear the scurrying of many legs, and my blood ran ice cold; something terrible was about to happen. I had no time to protect myself, no time to prepare. I was knocked backwards and forced down hard onto the solid earth beneath me.

“Titan”, I called in my mind, but I knew it was pointless; he wouldn’t get here in time, no one would.

“Don’t you dare try to break away from me, leave me on my own; you are mine now, little wolf, and you will love me, serve me and feed me. I will not let you go back to that silly little girl. Do you hear me? You are mine,” the most vial-looking creature I had ever seen pinned me in place. The smell of putrid acid filled my nose as it leaned closer; dead, pitless black eyes in rows of four stared down at me, and its gaping jaws stretched wide above my head, drawl and something else I didn’t want to think of, fell on my skin, burning where ever it touched.

The thing’s head was bare apart from a smattering of long straggly clumps of hair and tufts covering its scull. As for its body, I felt lucky I couldn’t see it fully right now. I was overwhelmed by its face, let alone the rest of it.

“Get off me” I push upwards, but with no luck; before I can try again, the worst pain imaginable seared through my side. Followed by slick wet warmth.

“This is a warning, my little pet, don’t let your mind stray from me again,” it said to me as I stared back wide-eyed. I hear a howl in the distance knowing it is Titan but having no strength to call back to him.

Sweet black oblivion crept up, promising to claim me, taking me into its blissful nothingness.

“Archer, my sweet boy, are you okay” the sweetest-sounding voice called to me, pulling me back from my promised oblivion. “Look at me, Archer, right in my eyes.”

Doing as the heavenly voice wanted was hard, but there was no way I couldn’t do as she said, my body wanting nothing else but to do as she asked, to please her.

“That’s it, just look straight at me.” Leah’s voice caressed my foggy mind; I smiled and trained my eyes on her, no matter how hard it was. Before I knew what was going on, she planted a kiss straight on my lips, but mine would not respond; they would not kiss her back. “That’s okay; we will work on that; I always get my way. It Looks like you need to rest, my darling little wolf,” she cooed, and I let my eyes drift to a close.

“That’s it, my pet, you do as I say, and we will both get along nicely; we just have to get rid of that wolf of yours; he knows too much and is useless to me. Bloody Werewolves are always harder to control! But I won’t lose this one, your mine,” I hear the beautiful voice say, but I pay no heed as sleep is too sweet.

Titan’s POV

Everything was going wrong. Archer was lost to the charms of that thing, and there was nothing I could do to change his mind about it, not when it controlled him as it did. Watching that thing from the cover of the trees, I saw it for what it truly was, and I knew what it was instantly—a creature from my plane. But not a good one, this one, if I’m not mistaken, was a fallen Exalted and one of the worst at that.

I needed to reach the waking world. Get a message to my brothers and my mate. I knew how to do it, but it wouldn’t be easy. That thing doesn’t want me around Archer anymore, and it would be watching a lot more closely from now on. Getting close enough to him to reach into his mind and pull myself through to his body, even for a few seconds, was going to be challenging, but it was something I had to do, and right now was the perfect time to do it. He was out cold, but for how long, I didn’t know.

“Archer, hold on, I’ll get us out of this, I hope”, I silently prayed to whoever was listening.