Chapter 16
Effie Harlow
The night seemed to fly by quickly, my dreamless sleep making it feel as though it lasted seconds rather than hours—eight hours, if not more.
Which I felt both relieved at, because I knew we needed it, but also panicked because instinct told me we needed to get back on Earth and to that gate as soon as possible.
Yet even after splashing my face with cold water, brushing my teeth, and drinking half a cup of coffee, I couldn’t seem to shake off the haze of sleep as we made our way down to the dining hall for breakfast. Hopefully Ruby would be there with Reaper and her mates.
Traversing the long halls tucked between all my mates, I allowed my mind to wander.
My mates already had everything packed up and ready to go—as in they were carrying it with us to breakfast, clearly ready to get on the road.
I was glad they were alert and prepared, because even as I drained the last of my coffee, I wasn’t any closer to being awake.
“I assume they’ll be coming back with us,” Dakota said to Ryder. They were mid-conversation, but it was easy to figure out that they were talking about Ruby and her mates. Tore took my empty coffee mug from me so I didn’t have to worry about holding it, and I smiled up at him for the sweet action.
“I wouldn’t assume that,” Caedmon said evenly. “Reaper seems to be part of their group officially, and I’m not sure how Alcuin feels about that. They may have more to work out while they’re here.”
“Ruby said she wanted to help us; I think she’ll want to come back up,” I said, “but I also understand if she doesn’t. They’ve already helped us so much.”
I mean, there was no way we would’ve gotten the key without her and Reaper.
“How are you feeling?” Caedmon asked suddenly. Apparently I hadn’t hidden my yawn very well, and Caedmon seemed to think it was important enough to take the conversation in a completely different direction.
“Just tired,” I said. His hand ran up my back as he pulled me into his side, the action making me sigh happily.
“Honestly, the amount of magic I was exposed to was way more than normal, and I know it’s not going to get any easier with this gate, so I’m hoping that by the time we get to it I’ll be back to feeling one hundred percent. ”
And if I wasn’t, I was still going to give it everything.
“Nothing is more important than your health,” Caedmon responded. “Nothing, Effie.”
All I could do was nod and lean into him a little harder. I didn’t have an argument to that—after all, I viewed their health the exact same way.
“Effie?” Ruby said as we reached the entrance of the dining hall, my friend standing from her table and offering me a wave, relief and happiness clear on her face.
I hadn’t considered she would be worried about us while we were gone, but I should’ve known better.
All of her mates, including Reaper, were with her and in travel clothes, their own bags stacked at the end of their tables.
“Hey.” I offered her a sleepily smile. “I was hoping we’d find you here.”
“Same, actually. Pain in the ass phones don’t work down here,” she grumbled. I hadn’t even noticed, but I rarely used the phone my mates bought for me unless it was an emergency.
“Are you guys planning to come back with us?” I asked, not wanting to assume even though I was pretty sure the answer was yes.
“Of course,” she said as we both sat down at the breakfast table, a long line of food laid out in the center like a buffet.
“I want this to end as much as you do. I’m invested now—especially knowing that Hastain, or at least others like him, probably played a part in how I came to Chicago in the first place. ”
I hadn’t heard that story. I nibbled my lip for a minute and decided to ask. “How did you come to Chicago?”
Julian slid a plate of food in front of me, and I looked up just long enough to see that all of our men were talking amongst themselves and giving us a moment—which I had a feeling was needed. When I returned my attention to Ruby, her expression was somber.
“Yeah, that was an entire thing… Essentially the people who were caring for me at the time—not my parents but my guardians—lost track of me at a fucking club they ran, and next thing I know I’m on a bus with a bunch of other teens heading to Chicago to be placed in a new pack.
I didn’t stay in it for long—as soon as I heard they bought me, I ran.
Of course I didn’t recognize it for what it was at the time, but later it was pretty easy to put the pieces together. ”
I put down the piece of toast I’d been eating. “That sounds terrifying, Ruby. I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”
“It was, but it wasn’t as scary as some of the shit that happened around my guardians. Plus, it landed me here today, so I can’t be completely upset,” she finished with a small shrug.
“Are we good to leave at ten?” one of her mates asked the table, and I nodded along with Ruby.
Continuing to eat, Ruby moved onto lighter subjects and caught me up on what they’d done while we were gone.
Apparently the dark god was more of a softy than he let on, holding a celebration for Ruby being here and even honoring her other mates at it.
It made me think about his own experience with relationships, how he’d wanted to share Mona with Samson.
I hadn’t met the latter, but I wouldn’t lie, I felt sorry for Alcuin. It was hard to view him as the ‘bad’ guy in this, even if they had all done a lot of wrong.
Minutes later we were standing and leaving as a group, the dining hall growing more crowded as people woke.
They stared at us but didn’t try to stop us to talk, even as we walked out of the castle doors and into a much more crowded town than when we’d first arrived.
Luckily, Reaper had returned from procuring carriages for us, so when the group was split between four carriages, I was able to relax fully, tucked against Ryder’s side.
“I’m surprised we didn’t see Alcuin on the way out,” I said to Ryder, Caedmon, and Dakota, who all rode in the carriage with me.
“I think that he’s probably a bit more cautious about what’s going to happen next than he lets on,” Ryder said.
“I…I know he did some crappy stuff, and I know I haven’t heard Mona’s full side of the story, or Samson’s…but it’s hard to view him as the bad guy.”
Dakota chuckled. “I think they’re all pieces of shit, but I can see that.”
“Just because they’re your biological parents doesn’t mean they need to be anything you don’t want them to be, mon ange,” Caedmon said. “Just remember that.”
Ryder made a sound of agreement, and I nodded in understanding. He was worried about me feeling some sense of debt or guilt towards them just because they were my parents, but if I’d learned anything from Ryder’s or Caedmon’s families, it was that blood didn’t mean anything. Actions did.
Minutes later we reached the portal location and the city gates, Tore offering a steadying hand as I jumped down and looked around the clearing we’d originally landed in. Oddly, there was a large stone structure that hadn’t been there when we first arrived, a rock archway that appeared natural.
“Does it matter if it’s not a new moon this time?” I asked.
“It only matters on the way down,” Reaper answered. “Once we’re down here I have the power to do pretty much anything.” The way he said it was nonchalant, but I suspected the type of power it took and there was nothing casual about it.
“Will this send us back to my greenhouse?” Ryder asked.
“Figured it was the best place—I assume Ruby and Effie will want to talk to your sister about what happened.”
I nodded as Ruby bounced on her toes, eager to get home as well.
“And hopefully,” I said, “Mona will let us know where to go from there.”
“Yes,” Reaper agreed. “I did ask my father where the gate was, but apparently the location changes often—makes it harder for someone to try to break in. So he doesn’t know the current location—or if he did, he wasn’t willing to tell me.”
I felt a stab of disappointment at that.
I was disappointed with myself for not even having thought to ask him, and I was even more disappointed that he didn’t know the answer.
I didn’t mind talking to Mona, but after everything I’d learned…
well, I would have preferred to do it in person at this point.
“Let’s hope for our sake it can stay stationary for a while,” Ruby said, and I couldn’t agree more. The last thing we needed was to be running around on a wild goose chase, especially after what we’d just gone through.
Before I could respond, Reaper’s magic surged through the air towards the stone archway, a dark, oily substance drawing from a shadowy void that grew to completely block the view of the castle and the perimeter wall, making it almost appear to be a black mirror.
I swallowed nervously as Reaper and Ruby disappeared through the surface moments later, two of her mates following, and then two of mine…
My hand intertwined with Caedmon’s and Julian’s as we stepped into the black surface, plunging forward despite my apprehension.
Almost immediately though, I could tell something was different than our last experience.
A flash of bright moonlight filled the space around me, and I lifted my hands to shield my eyes.
Why were they free? It was as if I’d never been attached to Caedmon or Julian in the first place.
A chill rolled over my skin as a cool blast of air hit me from all directions.
My chest seized up with true panic…until a familiar magic appeared.
Mona. Thank the goddess it was only her and not something worse. Then I remembered what I was saying, a strong wave of tension rolling through my body as I slowly lowered my hands from my eyes to find the woman in question. My mom. The moon goddess.
And she really did look the part right now.
I didn’t know where we were, floating in a navy sea of stars.
I tried to not focus on the absolute nothingness in all directions, but her magic filled so much of the space around us that it was sort of distracting anyway.
Her silver hair went out in all directions and her gown seemed far longer than before, sparkling with small twirling moons.
I would’ve been in awe if it wasn’t for everything I’d learned.
Mona’s demeanor turned apprehensive as she examined my expression. “You know, don’t you? He told you everything.”
“Yes,” I said, my teeth biting down on my bottom lip. “You’re my mom…my actual mom. You weren’t lying. You’re also the moon goddess. One of three creators of this entire universe—” I stopped myself, hearing the panic and awe in my own voice and not knowing how to feel about it.
“I am both of those things, and both your father and I are here in the divine realm waiting for you to return,” Mona explained softly.
“Talking about that…” I took a deep breath. “The gate, where is it? Alcuin mentioned it moves?”
“It does.” Mona offered a small smile. “Right now it seems the universe is working in our favor, because for the last two lunar cycles it’s been in Chicago—almost as if it was waiting for you.”
That seemed extraordinarily lucky, but it was more than likely magic, not luck.
“Where in Chicago?”
“Where you first fell—to the north.”
Before I could ask for an exact location, I was hit with a string of images. The forest I’d broken out from, running from a threat I hadn’t understood, the unbridled fear I’d felt that night replaying through my brain. Before Julian had found me, before I’d asked him to bite me.
I went to open my eyes to thank her—
“Shit.” A crash echoed as I nearly landed right on the stone floor of the greenhouse, one of my mates cursing as Caedmon caught me in his arms, both of us tumbling to the ground. This was happening much more than was normal, I felt like.
I groaned, then quickly climbed off of him and searched his muscular frame for injuries. His eyes were dazed, making me worried he’d hit his head or something just as awful.
“I’m fine,” Caedmon promised as he slowly sat up. Only then did I realize that everyone else was already out of the portal, making me wonder how long I’d been in there.
“An extra few minutes,” Aanya said, crouching down next to us. “We were worried, but Reaper mentioned that it felt like a strong power signature that delayed you, so we assumed it was Mona.”
“It was,” I breathed out, my hand tightening around my pendant. “It was Mona. She even showed me where we need to go. The gate has been in the city the past two lunar cycles, and now that we have the key…”
There was absolutely nothing stopping us.
“I can’t believe you’re already back—it’s been less than a day,” Aanya said after my words trailed off, Ruby staring at her in surprise. “But I am really, really glad you’re back because we got some news—really bad news.”
“What? What happened?” I asked, one of her mates rubbing her back in comfort as I stared at her, pleading for her to tell me.
Aanya offered all of us a dark look. “Sixty-three girls. Sixty-three have gone missing from all around the city. All within one night.”
No.
My chest tightened with anxiety as I gripped my pendant tighter, knowing that was the source of urgency I was feeling to get back—somehow my magic had been aware of what was occurring. “Hastain. That sounds like something he would do—”
“If he was panicking,” Aaren finished for me. “It sounds exactly like my father.”
Which meant we needed to move, immediately. I didn’t know what he was planning, but I knew without a doubt that all of those girls’ lives were in danger.