Chapter 10
Effie Harlow
Somewhere between Croatia, Hungary, and Serbia, there was a country that was ruled by Caedmon’s family.
Yeah, his family ruled over an entire country.
I’d stopped trying to rationalize this new reality, one where my mate was essentially a prince of a country that was home to nearly all the lycans in Eastern Europe, and instead accepted it at face value.
We’d been flying for nearly twenty-four hours, which we’d spent playing board games, relaxing, and curling up to watch movies. But the closer we came to landing, the more tense Caedmon became.
I attempted to distract him, asking him to show me a map of the country on his tablet, but I didn’t think it was working.
In fact, the longer he stared at the map, the more upset he seemed to get.
I was cursing myself for my curiosity, not wanting him to feel obligated to tell me about a place that made him so uncomfortable.
So I moved on to other topics, only to put my foot in my mouth again by asking him about the family crest embroidered in the leather seats.
“It’s all over our estate,” he rumbled, shaking his head as if annoyed by the concept. “Not only our estate but the entire damn city.”
“That’s a lot.”
“Yeah it is,” he agreed.
Suddenly, Tore appeared by my side, crouching down in the aisle and offering a small smile. “You hungry? We can probably manage one last meal before we land.”
“I’m good,” I promised, feeling ridiculously full from the amount of food they’d given me in the past day, my hand resting lightly on his chest. I tilted my head, noticing a slight texture under his shirt. A bandage, maybe?
“Did you get hurt at Ryder’s place?” I asked, panic hitting me as I tugged up the bottom of his shirt. My fear was confirmed and I stifled a gasp, the bandage resting right over his heart—right where my hand normally laid. How had I not realized he’d been injured?
Tore chuckled softly, but it was edged in tension. “No, not hurt, lil bit.”
“What? Then why?”
Caedmon shook his head in my peripheral, an amused smirk on his lips, only adding to my confusion.
“I got a tattoo,” Tore explained, almost too casually..
“Oh…” That was unexpected. “When?”
I seriously couldn’t see when he’d had time to do that—it had to have been before the flight. He’d been wearing a sweater for a large majority of it, so maybe that’s why I hadn’t noticed.
“Before the flight, the night you went to bed right away, I had someone come to the room,” he explained simply.
“Can I see it?”
Tore almost looked embarrassed, his ears turning pink, making Caedmon actually chuckle this time. I snapped my head over, surprised by the sound, but Caedmon was pretending to look over the map on the tablet.
He was totally eavesdropping.
“When I take off the bandage tonight, yes,” he promised, kissing my hand and flashing me a small smile. “I think—well, I hope—you’ll love it.”
Well now I was even more excited and invested.
Before I had a chance to beg for a sneak peek, Ryder—who was sitting closer to the front with Dakota and Julian—announced that we would be landing, so I settled in as Tore grabbed the seat next to me.
The landing was far smoother than the one in Kyoto had been, and I hadn’t even realized we were on the runway until the wheels were set down, the heavy fog blocking my view out the window.
“Did your father say where this Fengari Stone was, specifically?” Julian asked as we all stood and stretched, gathering our belongings.
“He said it’s in the city center—well, technically under it. I know where to find it.”
I was both interested and worried about going, but what I wasn’t looking forward to?
My possible reaction to that Fengari Stone.
I knew it was necessary, but the last one like it had caused…
well, a lot of pain, and I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be a one-time thing.
I could only hope that since this one was connected to the moon and lykos magic, the effects would be a bit less.
As we stepped onto the tarmac, I found that we were in a far different airport than before. It was massive, but more importantly, the row of black SUVs waiting for us took me off guard.
I shivered in the damp air, tucking myself into Caedmon’s side and we made our way to the closest SUV, the group of us sliding into it without saying a word to any of the attendants.
Now that I’d been to Ryder’s family home, I wasn’t so surprised by the number of people Caedmon’s family had working for them.
“I hate having his eyes on us, but it’s unavoidable,” Caedmon told all of us. “At least they already know where we want to go.”
I just hoped they didn’t decide to take us to his house rather than to the Fengari Stone.
“He’s going to want us to come by after,” Dakota said, shooting Caedmon a dry look.
“We won’t,” Caedmon immediately said, his eyes darkening. “Effie isn’t setting foot in that place.”
“Agreed,” Tore rumbled.
Ryder shook his head before looking at the partition between us and the driver. “We’ll leave a different way, not take their car back—I’m sure we can figure out a way to get out of here without using any family resources.”
“Worst case, we take a train.” Julian flashed me a smile filled with nostalgia. “It’ll be an adventure.”
As they began to talk about different options, my gaze was drawn out the window to the beautiful landscape.
Despite the less-than-ideal circumstances surrounding our travel, I was excited to see so many new places.
I just hoped at some point we got to enjoy them.
I was so distracted as we pulled into the city center, looking at all of the passing buildings and people, that when we finally came to a stop, I was taken off guard by the simplicity of the building.
The dark one-story stone building stood out compared to the rest of the city.
It was older than the neighboring buildings, with no signs announcing what it was, no windows to give a peek inside.
There was only a heavy wooden door with black metal on it.
The parade of cars came to a stop, and as we got out, the attendants grabbed all of our bags, filing behind us to the door.
Caedmon opened it easily, and while people on the street were staring at us, they almost immediately looked away when we met their gazes.
“Let’s get inside,” Caedmon said. Dakota walked in first, and I followed close behind. Lanterns hung on the warm stone walls, showcasing runes that were different from the ones at Ryder’s estate but held a similar note of magic.
“We’re going to stay out here and keep watch,” Tore said quietly, his gaze on all the men waiting by their black cars. “Don’t want to be caught off guard in case this is a trap.”
“Good idea,” Caedmon agreed, asking Ryder, “You’re staying as well?”
“I’m probably not the right person to be around this stone,” he said apologetically. “Dakota and Julian have a better chance of being able to use their wolf magic to interact with hers if anything happens.”
I understood, but I hated being separated.
“Be careful,” I whispered, pressing a kiss to Ryder’s cheek before doing the same to Tore.
Julian stepped across the threshold and closed the door behind him, leaving us in silence.
It was only then that I noticed that the room was completely empty, nothing but wall to wall stone, making me think that maybe Caedmon was mistaken. Maybe we’d come to the wrong place.
“Over here,” Caedmon said, motioning for us to join him at the far wall. He ran his hands over a stone, pushing it into the wall, and the stones around us began creaking as the floor opened to our left, revealing an underground staircase.
“My father brought me here a few times,” Caedmon explained as Julian offered an impressed whistle.
“What for?” Dakota asked as we descended. “I can practically smell the blood on these walls.”
“Torture, watching others being tortured,” Caedmon said in a dry tone. “You can’t tell yet, but there’s an entire complex down here where my father does a lot of his dirty work. Although I don’t know why he bothers since all his shit comes back to our home anyway.”
I squeezed his hand, hoping to chase away some of the emptiness in his eyes, but the action was as much for me as it was for him. Now that Dakota had mentioned it, it was almost like I could feel the death here. It sent a cold shiver down my spine.
The stairs seemed to go on forever, but when we finally reached the bottom, a massive foyer greeted us, doors heading in all directions.
Caedmon had told us to expect it, but it still came as a bit of a shock.
That wasn’t what really caught my attention, though.
No, that was held by the woman waiting for us.
Something was very wrong.
Caedmon’s entire body locked up, our connection nearly severing as a feral, vicious noise broke from his throat. Dakota and Julian were both on high alert, gazes honed in on the obvious threat.
I had no idea how old the woman was, but she appeared worldly and gorgeous, supernaturally so, the black satin dress on her curves making her look like a marble statue. Her dark eyes were fixed on Caedmon as a predatory smile curled her lips.
“Caedmon, darling,” she drew out, her voice accented and husky. “Your father told me you would be here. It’s so good to see you.”
He didn’t say anything, his breathing rough as I felt him waver. I rounded him, capturing his face in my hands to block his view of her, allowing him to finally focus on me.
“Caedmon, who is that?” I whispered.
“Victoria. That’s Victoria.”