Chapter 27 #3
I remembered watching their retreating backs and hunched shoulders with an overwhelming guilt that threatened to make my heart explode with pain. My bodyguard was the last one to see me depart. He wore a bittersweet smile on his lips.
His warm fingers brushed over my cheek, and he leaned in to kiss my forehead. Within my core, I felt his message. It wasn’t a goodbye.
His words confirmed my suspicions at that moment. “Sweetheart, you’re meant to be a Queen. No matter how far you go, you’ll return. To the kingdom and to me.”
At eighteen years of age, I hadn’t put much weight on his words as I rushed to the gates at the airport.
But in hindsight, Hayden knew I wouldn’t have been able to run away from my responsibilities, no matter how daunting they might have been. He knew I would have to face my fears and return to the kingdom. To him.
The overwhelming guilt propelled me to board the plane to London. How could one keep living with the knowledge of causing deaths—Uncle Derek’s and the warrior at the winter hunt? How many more deaths would I be responsible for if I stayed in the kingdom?
I didn’t blame Layla for not forgiving me, although her bullying was out of control. If I stayed, Layla would pile more guilt over me until…what? Until I broke and found my own death? What kind of miserable life was this going to be?
But mostly, I ran away from the supernatural world because I feared my duty to stand up to the vampire Queen.
Her abuse of the werewolves for the past thirty years made everyone in the kingdom impatient, fearful, and dreadful.
The werewolves wanted her blood. The Alphas and the King wanted another war that the next werewolf Queen was supposed to lead.
If Dad didn’t win the last war, then why would I?
I moved one hand over my knotted stomach. Tomorrow morning, I would arrive at the kingdom. More dread filled my chest, tightening it. I was born with a destiny I couldn’t change. I’d only taken a detour.
There would be consequences to my decision to leave the kingdom at the age of eighteen. Some pack members would be excited to see me back, and some would judge me. After all, I’d abandoned them.
Regardless of what anyone thought and how they would treat me back in the kingdom, I needed to become the best possible leader I could be. The daughter my dad always wanted. The werewolf Queen who would finish the war against the vampire Queen.
But I wasn’t a werewolf to match her in speed and strength. I had no loyal followers in the kingdom. I was a nobody. Gaining the favor of the pack members and the Alpha was the only thing in my control.
But this newfound sense of purpose brought me so much tightness in my chest that my heart ached.
I wiped my eyes one more time and lifted the second magic book I found.
My body ached, muscles quivering. The long day had taken a toll on me, my eyes growing droopy.
I turned the book back and forth, studying it. At the bottom left corner of the cover, the daisy wheel symbol was carved in the leather.
The Grimoire Book of Athame was etched on the front cover with tiny bright lines.
I sighed and brought the cover close to my lips. After blowing a hot breath over the leather just as I’d done to The Book of Banished Souls, I waited until the squiggly lines rearranged into words. My curiosity fueled me to open the book, despite my fluttering, tired eyelids.
Like in the past, the squiggly lines made out words that I could read—another riddle had to be solved before opening the book.
I whispered the words of the riddle as I brushed my finger over the cover. “I am the words of your heart. I am the storm in your eyes. You may think of me as your weakness, but instead, I can heal your heart.”
Two magic books. Two riddles that I couldn’t solve, at least right now. What was all this nonsense supposed to mean?
The urge to fling the book against the wall pushed into me, but I let it rest over my chest instead. I had no energy to do anything right now. The solution to the riddle would come to me—maybe not today, but tomorrow.
I took a deep breath and let my eyes close. After a good night's sleep, I would rack my brain for a solution.
My breathing slowed, and my body sank into more softness. After a moment, the sensation of falling took me by surprise, and when I looked around, I recognized the rabbit hole in my dream realm. As I descended farther into my dream realm, an unsettling sensation formed in my gut, making me restless.
I landed on my feet in the familiar enchanted forest. The soft glow of the magical forest illuminated my surroundings.
I took a sharp breath. Why would my mind take me into my dream realm?
I shouldn’t have been here. My first thought was about my mates.
Perhaps they called me here, somehow using our mate bonds to pull me into my dream realm.
Something felt different this time, though. When I looked down at my body, I still clutched The Grimoire Book of Athame against my chest.
Two things bothered me: first, I must have fallen asleep with the book in my hands, and second, my mind had transported me to my dream realm.
My gaze fell on the daisies in the field, swaying gently in the breeze. But when the cool wind brushed over my exposed skin, a chilling shiver shuddered through me.
A thought flickered through my mind. Someone drew me here. Except for Torin and Hayden, no one else could…
I held my breath as the realization struck me. The voice of the woman the first time I accessed my dream realm had to belong to a witch who had an opening spell to invade my dreams.
I crossed my fingers of my free hand, wishing that I wouldn’t run into any witches here. Nothing good would come out of our meeting.
The last time I spoke to that woman, I couldn’t decipher if she was a friend or a foe. Or why she’d broken into my dream realm.