Chapter 143
Serafine POV
(28)
The car rocks slightly beneath me, the sign that we’re on an uneven patch of road, but I barely feel it. My head is resting against the windows, and the soft vibrations humming through the glass onto my skin relaxes me.
Outside, the forest thickens, and trees press together. Their branches are heavy with moss here, and despite the sun hanging low, it barely reaches the car right now through the trees.
Today, I’ve not really said much, no one has. We just know we’re getting closer.
The last day and a half has been a steady move west, following the path that the Hollow showed me. I’ve been using the sensation of magic to guide us, it’s not letting me forget the direction we need to travel in.
Xander’s been leading the convoy with a relentless calm, ensuring everyone things will be over soon and we can return to the pack. Every time I glance at him, I can see the weight that he’s been carrying, and still, he never once suggested we stop or give up on this quest.
When we were traveling, I would spend time with Eryx and Xander. When we weren’t traveling, I wouldn’t see them. Instead, I would see Xander with Eryx, and Killian would drag me away to train again.
We always ended up in the trees, him still volunteering, calling me a witch, and I got my payback. I may have levitated him in the air once when I found out he didn’t like heights, and he asked me what sort of witch can’t figure out fire magic. It seemed like a suitable payback for the witch comment.
It didn’t stop him, he did it again once his feet were on the ground, and I did it, I somehow managed to get fire, I don’t know where from, but it was thrown at his head. He’s got quick reflexes, that’s for sure.
Then he asked me about the thing I did at the pack, the light, turning people to dust, that… I haven’t figured it out. I told him that it was more the magic,
not me.
He never truly complained, though; he would mutter complaints while smiling like a fool. Okay, that’s wrong into his wolf. That was painful, but I did it.
complained when I forced him to shift
Each time I did something, my magic responded faster and more clearly. I didn’t have to reach far, it was like a language I’d almost forgotten, one my body never really stopped speaking.
Shifting slightly in the seat, I brush a hand against my thigh where the threads always seem to gather first when I call them. I can feel it, a faint tingling in my palm, but I ignore it.
I’ve been feeling small pulses off and on since we passed the last ridge, and I’ve assumed it was nothing, just anticipation. Sighing, I consider the different options for what this could be.
A jolt of energy surges through the soles of my boots like lightning, it’s not from me. It’s not from anyone here; it’s like it’s coming from beneath the land.
It’s not faint or distant, it’s close.
“Stop!”
My voice cuts through the steady rhythm of sound, and the car slams to a stop, jerking forward slightly.
Everyone is staring at me,so I sit up straighter and press a hand to the doorframe. My heart is suddenly pounding. “We’re here, or almost, I can feel it. It’s
here, we’re close.”
Killian lifts his head from where he’s been dozing in the back. “You sure?”
“Yes. That wasn’t my magic, I felt, it came from somewhere else.” I open the door, my boots hitting the earth hard.
As soon as I step out, the magic presses against me again. It’s stronger now, heavier, almost like it’s been waiting for me. “It’s under the surface, but not like the Hollow. This one’s raw and rushed. Like something is still feeding. We need to search for an entry.”
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09:11 Tue, 24 Jun
Chapter 143
87%
I take another step moving forward, and the wind shifts through the trees. Threads begin to dance along my fingertips, even though I haven’t called
them.
Xander moves to my side, and I can see him scanning the tree line. He’s already reaching for his blade, like he’s prepared to fight. I don’t think his blade or his wolf can help with this.
“It’s here,” I say again. “Whatever is drawing the magic… It’s close.”
Xander begins to look around more, his eyes scanning everything.
I can feel the magic pressing down on me now, growing heavier with every breath that I take. It is pulling low in my stomach and up through my spine. It’s a weird sensation, it’s like it wants to go home, back to where it belongs, but something is keeping it hostage. I step forward again slowly.
“Are you sure it’s here and not further along?” Xander asks.
“It’s here,” I whisper again. “I promise, it’s close, buried, maybe… but I can feel it like it’s breathing.”
Nodding, he doesn’t hesitate, accepting that I’m right. “Helena, stay with the maid and Eryx in the vehicle, none of you leave, and the doors stay locked,”
he orders.
She opens her mouth to argue, but the look he gives her stops her instantly.
“If we’re not back in two hours, or you suspect things went wrong, take Eryx, drive east, and don’t stop, you don’t wait. Garrick-”
“Xander, I know, I’ve got the line,” Garrick says, cutting off Xander. His voice is clipped and steady. “Ten men around the perimeter, and no one is getting through. We’ve got two close to the borders of the fae to send a signal if they show, and Eryx will be protected if it goes wrong.”
That should reassure me, right? That, regardless of what happens, Eryx is safe. Garrick knows if I fail, the next best option is Eryx when he’s older. I can’t fail for that reason, I can’t leave this burden on Eryx. Who knows how bad it will be in eighteen years!
Killian comes up beside me and exhales long through his nose. “Well,” he mutters. “Whatever’s down there, it doesn’t want to stay hidden anymore.”
He’s not wrong. We watch them move into the car with Eryx, and Xander looks at me.
“Are you ready?” he asks, and I sigh, nodding. I didn’t say goodbye, I didn’t want to, because I have to come back.
Eryx’s cry pierces the air, and the moment it does, lightning strikes, thick storm clouds roll in, and everything in me wants to go to Eryx, but I can’t.
“Is… the weather responding to him crying?” Killian looks at me. He’s not wrong, it seems weird that it happened the moment Eryx cried.
We don’t have time for this. We begin to move, and the forest thickens, but the magic in the air is like a guide. It’s pulling me toward it. It feels like a rope wrapped around my chest being tugged forward.
Every step that we take, the air seems to grow cooler, and the ground firmer. There are no birds here, no sound of them at all, actually, there’s no sound of anything, except the storm, and Eryx’s cry.
I can feel my pulse climbing into my ears. This isn’t small, and now I’m wondering if I have the strength to do this. I stop when I see it.
The side of the cliff, there’s a carved stone door, it’s half–swaolled by the ivy, and the twisted curve of blackened roots. The faint markings on the surface are old sigils, ones I don’t recognize, but the threads within me flare at the sight of them.
Why do I feel like those symbols weren’t meant to protect what’s inside but to warn people to stay out?
Xander runs a hand over the surface. “This hasn’t been touched for years,” he says. He’s not wrong, even I can tell it hasn’t been moved.
Killian narrows his eyes and looks across the edges. “There’s no hinges, locks, nothing, just stone.”
Stepping forward, I feel drawn in by the growing pressure beneath my feet. I press my palm against the center of the door. It’s warm, why is it warm? I can feel it, though, the magic humming beneath the surface, it’s rising to meet mine, like it recognises home.
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09:11 Tue, 24 Jun
Chapter 143
87%
The moment that my threads brush against the stone, the door shifts. A grinding sound splits the air, and dust rains down from above us as the stone grates open. It splits vertically down the middle. As soon as it does, cold, stale air rushes up from the dark opening below.
It’s a stairwell that spirals down into the earth. Great, another one of these things. Only this looks different.
Killian steps back. “Well. That’s not at all ominous.” He chuckles slightly. “You two just enjoy weird shit, right?”
Enjoy? No. Find it? Yes.
Xander draws his blade, his expression is completely cold. “We go in, but we ensure we’re quiet and careful.”
I glance back toward the distant lights of the car. Eryx is out of reach now, I can still hear his soft cry, the roar of the storm. I know Helena, the maid, and Garrick will protect him.
This, though, is my turn to protect everything and everyone else. Sucking in a breath, I take the first step down into the dark, and the magic thickens around me, humming so much louder. The threads are restless, and I feel like something below is waiting, like it expected us to come.
