Chapter 17 #2
To my shock, she took both my hands in hers, like one would do with a dear friend they hadn’t seen in far too long. Her gaze roamed over my face with an air of wonder.
“Yes. I am,” I replied, unsettled.
“You’re so beautiful,” she said wistfully. “I’m glad everything worked out. Lyall has waited a long time for you.”
“Thank you,” I said, my throat constricting with gratitude and shame for the unjustified negative thoughts I initially had towards her. “I can see why Lyall loved you.”
She snorted and gave me an indulgent smile. “And I can see why he’s in love with you. Promise never to scare him that way again. I’d never seen anyone so devastated.”
I smiled sheepishly before glancing at Lyall. Our eyes locked, and I melted against him, lost in the world of love I found within his.
“You’ve got some interesting friends, Amara,” a young man said as he approached us. “There’s never been a dull moment since you joined our pack.”
Amara chuckled, imitated by the rest of the attendees.
Lyall proceeded to the introductions. To my surprise, the young man turned out not to be Remus but the alpha of the pack, Ulric.
He invited us to take a seat at one of the many tables, and a beautiful older woman named Misty brought us warm bowls of the most delicious, spiced cider I had ever tasted.
“You said there was something we might want to know?” Lyall asked after taking a sip of the warm beverage.
“Yes,” Ulric replied. “We believe there is a secret layer in the Haunted Woods.”
I frowned, surprised by such an obvious statement. “There are many.”
“Yes, but this one is different. We cannot see it. It’s just a huge dirt mound with large stones protruding here and there.
But the scent is off. More importantly, it shares part of the smell of the magic that was on your amulet,” Ulric said, shifting his attention to me as he spoke that last sentence.
We both recoiled.
“At first, we thought it came from your amulet, but it didn’t have your scent,” Ulric continued. “Then we realized it actually spreads over a fairly wide radius but is strongest near where we believe the entrance to be. It may not be related, but it doesn’t feel like a coincidence.”
“Show us,” Lyall demanded.
“Remus will take you,” he replied. “He’s fetching a flying mount as we speak to get closer to the area. He will complete the journey in his wolf form.”
“Thank you,” I said, my heart soaring.
We had absolutely no more trails to follow to find the missing women.
At this point, we doubted they were even still alive.
However, the attack on me yesterday had sparked a new sliver of hope.
Had it simply been spite, they would have just gotten the Djarins to kill me.
But they stole the medallion. According to Pharos, had we not recovered it, once I died, the remaining parts of my soul would have sought to reunite with the Amulet the moment it left my body.
Then, a powerful necromancer could have used it for their own purpose.
The question was who had tried to appropriate it?
My gut screamed Elliot, but it was the Oracle who coveted my soul and my body to use as her own.
Elliot rescued her in the Sanctuary before we could finish her off.
Considering she never relented in her efforts to get me back even twenty-five years after the Templars freed me, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think she was behind all of this.
Either way, there was no point speculating for now.
We met Remus outside the inn, standing next to a flying mount.
He was a very handsome man, wearing nothing but a tight pair of black shorts as he would discard them once he reached the edge of the Haunted Woods.
He was bigger than most of the other Lycans—despite them generally being quite large and muscular.
At a glance, he would have struck me more as the Alpha than Ulric—who was also quite impressive in his own right.
He had long, wavy, dark brown hair, almost black, that fell to his chest. Fur of a similar color covered his shoulders, the sides of his arms down to his wrists, and his chest down to his chiseled abs in a happy trail.
Some more fur adorned the sides of his legs.
He smiled, exposing a sharp set of fangs as he watched us approach, his golden eyes brimming with intelligence. Like his mate, he had pointy wolf ears. Then again, he was the one who had given them to her when he turned her into a Lycan a little over a year ago.
After quick introductions, we set off, with Lyall carrying me in his arms like a bride. However, he didn’t do so in his Gharlakan form, but using his light wings. Pharos informing him that they were now fully functional had also made my man crazy with excitement.
As per her training, Pasha had returned to the Inquisitor’s Sanctum at the end of the battle, after Lyall took me back from her.
That had caused Prefect Ewan to believe I had met with my ultimate demise until I reassured him upon my return home last night.
I intended to fetch Pasha later today or tomorrow.
But with his new teleportation powers, I suspected Lyall would multiply the excuses to no longer require her services so that he could carry me instead.
As soon as we reached the start of the Haunted Woods, Remus dismounted, removed his shorts—which he hung on a branch—and shifted into his wolf form.
Moving at impressive speed, the Lycan headed straight for a specific area, deep inside the forest. Nothing particular about it made it stand out, as was the wont of any good hideout.
Remus stopped and shifted back into his human form. He looked up to watch us land next to him a few seconds later. Only then did we realize this was exactly the spot Lyall had drawn out of the cultist’s memory. From a bird’s eye view, it looked deceptively different.
“This is it!” Lyall exclaimed as he put me back on my feet. “This is the place we were looking for!”
“Is that so?” Remus asked with a burning curiosity.
I nodded. “We believe close to a dozen women—clerics like me—are held captive in there.”
Remus recoiled, his face contorting with anger. “We will help,” he hissed.
“No!” I said in a tone that brooked no argument. “It is far too dangerous. If we are right, this is the hideout of some extremely powerful arcanists. We will not put you in harm’s way. It could be a trap.”
“Our shamans saw no such signs,” Remus said pensively. “But you could be right.”
“You’ve done more than enough, my friend,” Lyall said in a grateful tone. “You not only saved my mate’s life, but we also never would have found this place without you. We are in your debt.”
“No you’re not. You seem to forget you saved my own mate as well as my own life,” Remus countered.
“I guess that makes the two of you even,” I replied teasingly. “But the Order and I are in your debt.”
He waved a dismissive hand but didn’t argue further. The look in my eye must have made it clear it would be pointless.
“Are you seriously going in just the two of you?” he asked with a sliver of worry that touched me.
“We’re going in, but I’m calling for backup, just in case,” I replied. “So do not be surprised if you see a number of clerics and Templars dropping by.”
“Good,” Remus replied, visibly relieved. “Just don’t get yourselves killed. My mate would never let me live it down. Stay safe.”
“We will,” I replied with a smile.
Remus turned away from us, ready to initiate his shift back into his wolf form, but he paused then glanced at my man with a mischievous expression.
“By the way, sorry for making you stare at my cock again,” he said with a shit-eating grin.
I gasped, my eyes all but popping out of my head in shock.
The Lycan didn’t wait for my mate’s response and shifted into his wolf form before taking off.
I glanced at Lyall in total confusion. Yes, Remus had been standing naked before us as was normal under the circumstances.
But this sounded like some sort of inside joke that I clearly wasn’t a part of.
Recovering from his own stupor, Lyall snorted before shaking his head with amusement.
“Wretched pup. I’ll get you for that,” he mumbled to himself as he turned to look at me. “I’ll tell you about it later.”
I scrunched my face but gave him a stiff nod. Now was indeed not the time for banter or funny anecdotes.
Focusing on the mission at hand, I cast a reveal spell, and a waypoint pentagram immediately appeared slightly to our left, matching the location in the vision Lyall had shared.
To my relief, it wasn’t locked. Since very few people voluntarily ventured into the Haunted Woods and survived to tell the tale, it wasn’t surprising that whoever set up this hideout didn’t bother to block access to this waypoint.
A simple incantation revealed the word of power used to come here.
I raised my left palm face up before me and invoked a flame. This time, I didn’t attempt to scry but instead drew the letters of the message I wanted to send with my index finger. They appeared as blue flames over the red fire in my palm before vanishing.
“Oh wow! You can send messages that way now, without paper?!” Lyall exclaimed.
“Yes. I’ve never done it before,” I said, stunned, even as I spoke those words. “I just got a strong sense that I could do it. This ‘being whole’ business is truly growing on me.”
He snorted, but didn’t comment further, allowing me to provide the necessary information as to our location and objective to both Father Paulus and Prefect Ewan—the latter with far more reluctance.
However, he was much closer, and able to provide faster evacuation support should the women still be alive.
“Ready?” I asked at last.
He started nodding, then hesitated, looking slightly troubled. “Should we wait for your allies?”