clearing, my head spinning as I collapse on the grassy ground. I wretch, pain and exhaustion rattling through me so intensely that a whine escapes me. My body trembles, my shoulders shaking as I hold onto the ground, the only solid thing I feel as I squeeze my eyes shut. I tilt to the side, dizziness overcoming me before I catch myself, shaking my head to clear it. Breathing through my nose, I dig my fingers into the earth, feeling its coolness in the dark of night to ground me.
Hearing a sniffle, I turn my head and open my tear-filled eyes to see Anna’s reflecting the same anguish I feel. Her eyes stream tears over her swollen and bloody face as she scans our surroundings. Her hair is a mess of red curls as she gets to her feet, her body shaking like mine. Betrayal runs through me, and I dig deeper into the dirt beneath me.
She had a port stone, she took us away from Kade, they all did.
“Rhea,” Josh whispers, and I turn my head to him as he crawls toward me, his face twisted.
A sob escapes me, unable to hold it in as I see the heartbreak in his gray eyes. He reaches out with both hands to cup my face, but I slap them away, seeing him flinch at my refusal, but he comes back again, pressing our foreheads together.
“You took me away from there,” I growl.
“We didn’t have any other choice,” he says gruffly. “We were surrounded and the Highers were coming for us.”
“We could have fought, we could have tried harder, we could have—“
“Shhh, Milal, there was nothing we could have done.” I know this, deep down I know, but we just left him there to those monsters.
“Kade,” I hiccup, bringing my hands up and gripping his wrist, my fingers digging into his skin.
“I know.” His voice cracks, and he gently guides my head to his shoulder. Bringing his arms around me, he holds me against him, careful of the injuries on my back.
I shake like a leaf against him, remembering Kade’s hurtful words, him severing our links and his refusal to come with me. “He hates me,” I cry. “He hates us, Josh, he wouldn’t come to me. I begged him, and he wouldn’t come.”
“He’s not himself,” he says soothingly. Saying nothing else but just holding me as I break. I hear shuffling as another body sits next to us, followed by another as their hands gently touch me, trying to comfort me.
“You all took me away from him,” I blubber. “You all did.” My head is a mess of emotions. I don’t know how to rein them in, who to point my anger at.
“We had to go, Milal, please understand,” Josh whispers. “We would have died if we didn’t.” But what of Kade?
“Oh Gods,” I croak, “Josie… Danny.” They’re dead. Murdered, gone. A muffled scream comes from me as I press tightly against Josh’s shoulder, Runa whining inside of me. I won’t ever see them again, see Josie teasing Danny and how they looked at each other with so much love.
Someone touches my forehead softly, and I open my wet eyes, gasping between my cries. Colten’s crouched behind Josh, his brown eyes so full of sorrow, and it makes me cry even harder, a horrible keening sound coming from me for all that we have lost. All that has happened.
“Shhh, Milal.” Josh rocks me from side to side, his voice gruff, and I feel wetness drip into my hairline where he rests his face.
I cry. Cry and scream and wail as I grip onto Josh tightly, trying to make this pain stop. To make it all go away. They shouldn’t have died, they should have been here with us, should have been in Eridian. Kade should have been in Eridian. They all should have stayed in Eridian.
It was supposed to be me, only me.
My cries and the others’ are the only thing to be heard into the dead of night. Not a rustle of leaves or a scurry of an animal can be heard over our pain. We stay like this for a long time. My pack surrounds me as we grieve together, being close as we try to comfort each other the best we can. My sobs eventually lessen, my breathing steadier as I peel my eyes open and move back. Josh squeezes me one more time before he lets go, wiping his own eyes with the back of his hand.
Taylor and Sebastian stand, looking around the clearing, searching for any danger. Anna joins them next, her own cheeks wet as they speak and point in a direction as Taylor nods.
“You okay, pup?” I hear Hudson murmur, and I look toward him speaking to Colten. He pulls Colten toward him, holding the back of his dark head as his shoulders shake, his hands gripping the side of his waist tightly. I swallow the lump in my throat as Hudson’s blue eyes meet mine over Colten’s head, his jaw tight as he grips him even tighter.
Gone are the bickering pair, only heartache is left.
I breathe in deep before standing slowly, Josh holding my arm to keep me steady. My vision wavers from the pain and I shake my head to clear it. Burning in my wrist draws a hiss of agony from me, and both Josh and I look down at the cuffs on my wrists to see them glowing, lighting up with runes.
“We need to get these off you,” Josh murmurs, tracing the runes with a finger.
I nod, willing some of the power I had before to try and break the cuffs on my wrists, but none comes. It’s all gone. I grunt, bringing a hand up to try and pull at them, trying to get them off, but it’s useless. I sag forward against Josh, heaving through ragged breaths and he holds on to me.
“It’s terbium,” I sniffle, and he sucks in a sharp breath.
“Fuck,” he whispers. “You won’t heal as quickly with them on.” I’m not healing at all.
“I know,” I say, leaning back and reaching out to look at the cuffs on Josh’s wrists. No runes, no glow. “These are normal. I guess I was the only one given them.”
“Assholes,” Josh mutters.
“Yeah,” I agree, taking a step back from Josh to look around us. “The clearing is wide with a few small, grassy hills and what looks like a village in the distance. The trees surrounding us aren’t thick, their size much smaller than the ones inside Eridian, but will provide some shelter. “Where in the Gods are we?” I croak out, my voice rough from screaming, crying. From my heart fucking breaking.
“We’re southwest of Fenrikar,” Anna says as she hobbles over to me. “I haven’t been here in a long time, but we’re not far from Witches Rest.”
My eyes sharpen at her words. “Witches Rest? Why are we here?” I ask her as the rest of the guys come over. Witches Rest is where a coven of witches who are not loyal to the Highers, reside. They’re dangerous, powerful, and scary according to what Edward told me. They keep to themselves and go under no one’s rule but their own.
“We needed somewhere to go.” Anna shuffles on her feet. “We can’t go back to Eridian, and this is the closest and safest place I thought to bring us to if we decide to go to Witches Rest.”
“Is it safe to go to the witches?” Taylor grunts, running a hand over short, coffee hair, an anxious move as he looks toward Colten.
“It’s safer than being out in the open,” Sebastian chimes in, tawny eyes looking around us.
“We need to get Kade, he can’t stay with them.” I shake my head. “They have done enough damage; I can’t let our family take him.”
“Rhea,” Josh says gently, putting his hands on my shoulders and I shake my head again. We can’t leave him. “We can’t do anything right now.” My eyes well with more tears, and I bite my lip as another sob wants to escape me. “How are we going to go back to Wolvorn Castle, get inside unnoticed, convince Kade to come with us willingly, and then get out of there with our lives?”
“We have to try, I can’t lose him too.” I just can’t. It would be even more unbearable than it is now.
His gray eyes soften. “I don’t want him with them anymore than you do, but we have to be realistic. Walking back in there is a death sentence.”
“And the Elites will be hunting us now,” Colten murmurs, his shoulder brushing against Hudson’s side as he stands beside him. “They will have their orders and we escaped them; they won’t just let that go.”
“How did you even get a port stone?” I sniffle, eyeing Anna.
“I’m unsure,” she says softly, and my brows furrow. “I woke up and it was already in my pocket, but I don’t know how it got there. I didn’t really have any time to think about it when the next thing I heard were footsteps and guards dragged me out of my cell.”
“It must have been Edward. He came to me when I was in a cell, telling me he would find a way to get you guys out,” I tell them and they all nod. We all stand in silence, lost in thought as I rub my chest, still half-naked and covered in blood. I shiver.
Josh notices my shivering and grabs the back of his bloodstained t-shirt, pulling it over his head. “You showed your markings,” he says gently, gathering his t-shirt in his hands to help me put it on.
I look down, feeling oddly uncomfortable. I take a peek at Anna, knowing she had no idea I was an Heir. The only one here who didn’t know. “Yeah,” I tell Josh as he gently maneuvers me into his t-shirt, and I rub my bloody cheek against his in thanks. The t-shirt is full of bloodstains and some rips and tears, but it’s warmer.
“So you are an Heir? You said so in the hall, but I didn’t think…” Anna’s voice wavers as she trails off. “How is that possible?”
“The Heirs never went away,” I tell her, running a hand down my face. “They have always been in Vrohkaria, just in hiding.”
Her brows furrow. “But how?” she asks. “They were all hunted down, they were all long gone. Like the Old Gods”
“In our history, the Heirs were put on a pedestal, revered by all, welcomed by all. But that changed after the King of Vrohkaria died, and the Highers were formed to fill the void of power that was left by his death. With the Highers in power, changes were brought to the lands with new laws, and the Heirs became something to fear by all. Hated and despised for simply being a descendent of Zahariss or Cazier after it was told they went mad across the lands.”
“But Heirs are dangerous.” She takes a step back, and I look away from her, feeling dejected and hurt that she moved back from me in fear. “The Gods went crazy, destroying the lands. Then the Heirs came, and they were unstable, violent, just as the Old Gods were.”
“Anna!” Josh snaps at her, and I hold a hand out to stop him from saying anymore. I understand her fear, understand that the Highers’ views of the Gods and Heirs have probably been ingrained in her for many years. But she should know better with being a blood witch what it’s like to be told you are something when you are not.
“The Heirs are passed down, so the previous Heirs of Zahariss are my ancestors and they did what they had to do to defend themselves. There is so much you don’t know, so much kept hidden from the people of Vrohkaria. It was safer for everyone that we were kept hidden. That way innocents didn’t get caught in battles that were not their own, and even though people’s minds were poisoned with lies, and they would attack or tell an authority of sightings of an Heir, they kept their lives if we stayed away. Why else do you think I have also been hiding in Eridian? Look at the mess we are in now.” I look away briefly and take a breath. “The Heirs of the Gods have sacrificed over and over again for their people, to keep some sort of peace in the lands, to save the spilling of innocent blood,” I tell her, gritting my teeth, getting angrier over the injustice of it all. “Believe what you will, Anna, but I am Heir to Zahariss, that title doesn’t change who I am and I’m not a threat to innocents. I’ve spent years helping people by bringing them to Eridian, you know this, so tell me, am I dangerous? Are you dangerous being a blood witch? The law states you are to be killed on sight, yet you have done nothing but help me care for those who need it.”
Silence falls around us as Anna looks at me, then to my bloody body until she lets out a quiet sigh. “No, you’re not dangerous, Rhea.”
I nod and let out a breath. “I’m an Heir, that title alone puts a target on my back and I’m also branded as a traitor. If you don’t want to stay with me, I understand. I would never ask you to stay with me and help me for what comes next.”
“I will always help you,” Anna murmurs, coming forward and gripping my hand. “I’m sorry for questioning you, I should know better.” I lean forward and rub against her cheek, accepting her apology.
“Darius is an Heir, isn’t he?” Sebastian eventually says out loud what we all didn’t want to voice.
A pang goes through me at the mention of him. “Yes, he’s the Heir of Cazier, but he seemed shocked that I was an Heir too, so I don’t think he knew I was. I could sense something similar to me in him, but it didn’t click into place until we went in search of Solvier after Sam told us about the man in Eridian. It was just confirmed in the hall when his markings appeared, reacting to mine.”
Darius was shocked when he took in my markings. Which makes me think that the Heir to Cazier before him hadn’t shown him his own markings, or was he even around Darius? I hadn’t ever met Cazier’s Heir, all Mom told me was that he was probably hiding too.
Then there was me being locked inside Darius’s mind, seeing his wolf. Watching as his wolf drained and consumed a large amount of my power. It drained a lot from me, and I have no idea how and why that even happened. Either way, he’s an Heir, and the problem is, he knows I am too. We have more than a simple connection, one that is as old as the creation of the lands.
And he betrayed me.
I should have known better. He’s the Alpha of the Elites, and Elites were specifically made to hunt and capture Heirs. Does he know that? Do the Elites and the Highers know he is an Heir?
I rub my temples. “We need to move; we need to find somewhere to rest before deciding where we go from here. It may be best if you guys continue on without me and find somewhere safe. They are going to hunt me, and I’ve been accused of treason. Everything and everyone will be on the lookout for me, word will spread fast.”
“One,” Josh growls, coming to stand in front of me, anger spreading across his features. “You haven’t done anything wrong, never mind causing a curse for the rogures to plague the lands, and two.” He pauses, giving me a hard look. “We are not splitting up, no way. We stick together, as always.”
“You know we stand with you,” Taylor says, arms folded.
“We’re going to get Kade back, going to get our pack back, no matter how long it takes,” Hudson tells me.
“Of course we are,” Seb says, and they all nod.
“We are a pack, a family. We don’t turn our backs on family,” Colten murmurs, and more tears spring to my eyes at his words, as Anna nods her head.
“Arbiel canna,” Josh whispers and I close my eyes, letting the words sink into my bones.
We made our own family, our own life and home. I will get it all back, I swear it on Zahariss herself.
Everyone murmurs the words back, and I can’t help but sag in relief. I wouldn’t blame them for leaving me, it’s too dangerous, too deadly. I can’t say I’m not glad they won’t leave me though; I don’t want to be on my own. I wouldn’t know where to go or what to do. Edward could help me, but I don’t know how I would contact him now.
“Let’s head southwest to Witches Rest. They have no alliance with the Highers, and I know someone there,” Anna says.
“You do? I thought you lived with a small coven in Aliseon?” I ask, my brows creasing.
“I did until they turned on me,” she mutters and shakes her head. “My grandmother is at Witches Rest. She was still there before I left for Eridian anyway.” She clears her throat and I blink at her words. Grandmother?
“I don’t see any other option and we can’t stay out in the open like this.” Taylor looks up at the night sky, tracking the stars. “Southwest is that way.” He points behind us.
“How long will it take to reach them?” Colten asks Anna.
She looks in the direction we need to go. “About ten days, with rest.”
I nod. “I guess we’re going to see some witches and hope they don’t boil our blood then,” I mumble and head off in the right direction, feeling the numbness start to trickle its way back inside of me.
Josh slings his arm around my waist, supporting me as we walk in the silence of the night. We enter the trees, our pace as fast as we can go with our injuries, and I run my hand over the light brown bark as I pass them. I feel a small tingle of warmth through my palm, and I can’t help but sigh at the feeling.
Being able to still feel life around me brings me a small comfort. I just wish I was back in Eridian, next to the lilk trees as Solvier tells me one of his many stories through the night, knowing Kade is asleep at home. Safe.
I tentatively reach out down the blood link for him, but it’s not there, my silly heart hoping there is a thread to be felt. I block it out and press on.
I dread to think what’s become of Eridian, but I have to go back one day. If nothing else, to honor Solvier and the people we lost at our graveyard.
Then, I’ll rebuild our home with the Highers blood on my hands.
Nothing less will satisfy me now. War will come now between me and those who did wrong, I just hope to find allies and pray not everyone is fearful of an Heir that has a thirst for blood and destruction.
Maybe I should have been Cazier’s Heir instead.
