Chapter 17 #4
The words sliced through Bridget’s chest as she let him grab her hand and pull her faster through the trees.
Bridget stumbled alongside him, her heart pounding and her mind racing.
As they reached the clearing, the full horror came into view.
Near the breach in the wall, two piles of ash smoldered.
Bones and scraps of fur scattered in the dirt. The beasts were dead.
But the Wraith was not.
It snarled as Stellan encircled it with a barrier of fire, sweat gleaming on his brow. Its hollow gaze found them through the smoke and screamed without sound. And still, it pressed forward, relentless.
Cade shoved Bridget behind him and grabbed her wrist in a grip that nearly dislocated her shoulder.
She barely had time to breathe before he yanked her back through the fractured remains of Astraeus’s wall.
They stumbled over debris, smoke curling around their legs like claws.
The instant they cleared the boundary, Cade shouted, “Do it now!”
A light shot up from a building further away from them.
A twisting column of purple smoke shot up from the far side of the city, unfurling like a storm.
It coiled in the sky, then spread wide, rippling outward until it blanketed the heavens in swirling violet clouds.
Bridget flinched as the magic collapsed downward in a great sweeping wave.
It crashed over them, seeping into the air like thick mist and stretching outward until it sealed the broken wall in an invisible dome.
Bridget craned her neck. Just beyond the edge of the new magical barrier, the Wraith clawed at nothing, trapped in the Elder Woods. Its head snapped toward Stellan, then Cade, before its mouth split in a silent snarl. One final, guttural roar tore from its throat before it vanished into the trees.
Across the rubble, Stellan stood like a statue. His arms slowly lowered as sweat gleamed down his temples. Moments later, soldiers poured into the streets behind them. The echo of boots and shouts flooding Astraeus with life once more.
Cade’s hand on her neck almost made her jump. Once she realized it was just him, she leaned into the touch and let him inspect the welts she already felt forming. “Are you alright?”
Bridget’s body trembled from the adrenaline lingering in her veins.
The sight of him before hit her again like a freight train.
Patches of blood stained the skin under his nose and ears.
His shirt was ripped down to his navel. But he was alive.
He was here. And so was she. Bridget grabbed his ash covered lapels and kissed him.
Shivers erupted down her spine at the heat and raw hunger that began to consume her as his lips moved against hers.
Electricity filled her veins, but Cade suddenly pulled away from her and squeezed her shoulders.
His eyes blazed as he asked, “Are you out of your mind? What the hell were you thinking?”
It took Bridget a minute to get her brain working again.
Quinn. The Bloodstone. Hundreds of soldiers were surrounding them.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Stellan piecing back together the wall with his magic.
“She had the Bloodstone,” Bridget said. “If she doesn’t have that, she loses her reason to keep coming after you. She loses her power.”
Even though anger marred his face, Cade’s thumb brushed her neck again, tracing the outline of a bruise just beginning to form.
“That doesn’t mean you go after her on your own.
She’s already proved she doesn’t need the Bloodstone to hurt you.
” His gaze flickered to her side, where her leather jacket and green sweater hid the scar that almost killed her.
“How did she even manage to get you alone? Where’s Nylah? ”
Behind him, Cassia and Archer heatedly argued in hushed whispers as they walked toward them.
Bridget didn’t look away from Cade. She reached up and brushed a smear of dirt from his cheek, letting her fingers linger just a moment longer than necessary.
She didn’t want to stop touching him. “I sent her with Delphine and stayed back to help Cassia and Archer get people out of that apartment building. Quinn saw me from the forest. She called me Bee and then dared me to come after her.”
Cade’s brows furrowed. “She called you Bee? Has anyone ever called you that before?”
“No… And something about that name just got to me. I can’t describe it.”
Bee still echoed in her mind… like a truth that seemed to dangle just out of reach.
Archer came to a stop beside them, cracking his back with a wince before bending over his knees, winded. “Who are we talking about?”
“Quinn,” Cade said flatly, shooting him a glare that could shatter glass.
“Well, she always was a fan of nicknames.”
Cassia rolled her eyes. “Right. I almost forgot you were her little errand boy for a while.”
Archer opened his mouth to respond, but Bridget shook her head, cutting through the tension. “It was more than that. The name felt too… personal.” She sighed. Her gaze cut to Cade. “She also tried to take me with her.”
The words hung heavy in the space between them.
I’m sorry, Bridget told him with her eyes.
She’d almost been taken from Elyria just as quickly as she’d arrived.
The slight downturn of his lips told her that he understood.
A pinch stung her temple. A sign he’d also read her other silent plea.
Once his presence filled her head, Bridget replayed her conversation with Quinn and how her behavior had kept erratically changing.
Cade narrowed his eyes. Do you think someone was controlling her?
Bridget raised her brows, Don’t you?
She was wearing your necklace. It shouldn’t be possible.
Blood drained from Bridget’s cheeks. She hadn’t even made the connection…
and she’d seen the amethyst herself. Instead, she’d only focused on the explanation she wanted for the wild changes to Quinn’s demeanor.
She hadn’t wanted to see what was happening to Quinn for what it really was: the consequences of magic. Suddenly, her head felt very light.
Was the same thing happening to her?
“Of course you ran straight off into danger. You were supposed to be helping,” Cassia said.
Before blood could seep out of her nostril, Cade left her mind. He pulled her into her chest and pressed his lips to the top of her head. “You need to rest and we all should get back to the palace before our father finds out you’re back. I just felt him a few blocks away.”
Cassia grimaced. “At least a dozen soldiers have come to this area. He might already know.”
Bridget eyed the quiet and still Elder Woods. Somewhere out there, the Wraith still lingered. She watched Stellan fix the last part of the wall. Loud enough for him to hear, she said, “That Wraith was a Tuathan.”
Stellan rubbed the back of his neck and reluctantly joined them. “What makes you say that?”
“She had a heart to heart with Quinn in the Elder Woods,” Cade answered.
Archer scoffed and reached to lift a section of Bridget’s hair, revealing the bruise at her neck. “I still can’t believe you let someone with one arm do that to you. So much for those self-defense classes.”
Bridget elbowed him in the stomach. “Touch me again and I’ll demonstrate the advanced course.”
“Most Wraiths are Tuathan,” Stellan cut in, his voice tight. “But now’s not the time for a history lesson. Cade’s right. We need to find Marin and get back to the palace before anyone realizes we’re here yet.”
Bridget noticed the way his eyes kept flickering to every open space, probably looking for Marin, but Quinn had looked so smug when she’d asked about the Wraiths. She couldn’t let it go. “I just don’t understand how that happened. Have some of the Shamans gone missing?”
Cassia eyed her curiously. “Our father banished them all once we got back from Cavamyne.”
“He was afraid I would use one of them to send Finn or Delphine through the gate,” Cade said. After a quick pause, he shrugged. “He wasn’t wrong. But I don’t think he left them unprotected. He brought one back to send Alexia through the gate.”
“I didn’t recognize the Wraith. It wasn’t one of your Shamans.”
Stellan spit out the last word like it left a bad taste in his mouth.
“There are more Tuathans out there?” Archer asked.
Rolling his eyes, Stellan tried to shuffle. “Of course, there’s more out there. Not everyone decided to stick around and protect the royal family.”
“Where are they then?” Cade asked.
“I know you just found you’re technically Tuathan, but we’re not built with an internal radar for each other,” Stellan replied through gritted teeth. “I don’t know.”
Before the tension could splinter further, a voice cut through the ruins.
“Found them.”
Bridget breathed a sigh of relief when the sounds of Finn’s voice broke the heated stare between Cade and Stellan. For someone who claimed Cade used to be his best friend, Stellan was acting extremely prickly with him. Through a maze of scattered debris, Finn led Castor and Marin over to them.
Stellan’s eyes lit up. He ran over to Marin and wrapped her up in a giant hug.
Until that moment, Bridget realized she’d never seen a real smile on Marin’s face.
Despite the pallid color of her skin and frail countenance, she glowed.
Finn’s grin distracted her from the reunion.
Bridget returned it and wrapped her arms around him.
“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” he said.
Archer rapped a finger on his forearm. “No cast?”
Finn blinked at him. “I broke my arm almost six months ago.”
Bridget couldn’t believe it. Archer actually blushed. Clearing his throat, he turned to the sweating Warlock behind him. “Castor, handsome as ever. It’s always a pleasure.”
“I can’t say the same about you.”
Beside her, Cade burst out laughing. Bridget tried to keep a straight face. Until she noticed Cassia’s disgusted stare.
“Seriously, what the hell happened to your hair?”
With a frown on his face, Cade’s hand instinctively went to the white ends. Bridget raised a brow. “Did you not experience the same magical explosion we did right after we passed through the gate?”
“No, we did,” Finn said. “It was not fun. It knocked out Marin for a solid five months. Cade for about a day. I’m guessing it was because they were closest to the blast.”
“Something like that,” Marin replied. She opened her mouth to say something, but her knees gave out. She fell into Stellan’s chest. “Before anyone says anything, I’m fine. I can see it on your faces. I just need to rest.”
Bridget crossed her arms and glared at Castor. “Do you ever check your email? Or answer your phone?”
“What are you talking about?” Castor frowned.
“I called practically every Bardot office I could find listed on the internet and tried to get in touch with you. I didn’t think it was safe to use my real name, but—”
Castor’s mouth fell open. “You’re the stalker?”
Bridget punched Finn on the arm when he started laughing. Before she could explain further, Marin fell over again.
Jaw clenched, Stellan picked her up and cradled her to his chest. “We need to go. Now.”
Cade grabbed Bridget’s hand. “Nylah and Delphine are probably wondering where we are,” he said.
And Alexia. What in the world were they going to do with her?
Cade didn’t know about Nylah’s condition yet.
If that was even the right word for it. Alexia would be lucky to not end up in the dungeon again, especially when he found out they would need to leave for Andarre as soon as possible to cure her.
Bridget’s head spun. Wordlessly, she let Cade pull her in the right direction.
There was time, she told herself. As long as they were together, things would be okay.
Before the trees disappeared out of sight, Bridget glanced one more time at the Elder Woods. She could have sworn she saw blue eyes and dark hair peeking at her through the trees.