Chapter 28 #2
The door opened with a gentle creak, and a small head peered at us. Above it, two more heads, all blonde, appeared, which made me smile.
“Not many pixie fairies are left, and they are very fearful,” Willa said, glancing at Torin and Robert.
“I’ll stay close to the men, and you can talk to the fairies,” I said. “Anything to make them feel more comfortable.”
Seeing Milo, the two pixie fairies darted from the wooden door and nearly overwhelmed the boy. Milo’s parents had tired expressions but smiled as they embraced their son. They were dressed in shabby attire like Milo's, though the woman wore a beige tunic cinched at her waist with a belt.
Willa stood at the tree, talking to them. They fluttered around her face, hugging her cheeks. The two fairies hugged Milo in a sandwich hug that widened my smile.
My heart ached for this family. The former King had tortured Milo, and his family had barely made ends meet in the corrupted forest, likely fending off demonic creatures like dogs, spiders, and thorn fairies.
And then it struck me. Twisting my head in all directions, I scanned my surroundings. Except for the voices of Willa and the pixies, the forest was awfully quiet, causing goose bumps to prick on my neck.
Earlier this morning, Torin and Robert had told me that no demonic creatures lurked to attack us in the night. Suspicion rose in my mind, tightening my chest. Why wouldn’t the giant spiders appear, especially since we’d spent much time in the forest?
Strange.
But perhaps… I sucked in a sharp breath and felt Torin’s gaze on me. Perhaps something eviler was coming, and the demonic creatures had scurried away.
We would need to leave soon.
Blinking rapidly, I attempted to focus on the pixies again. Milo’s father flew inside the tree and then returned, holding a sheathed knife as if it were a tray, double the size of the fairies. The pixie fairies appeared tiny and fragile, but they seemed strong.
The fairy deposited the artifact in Willa’s hand. She bowed her gratitude and said her goodbyes. Robert, Torin, and I waved from a distance. The fairies waved back, but Milo darted my way. He flew before my face and pressed his tiny hands on my cheek.
“Thank you, Milo,” I said. “You and I have come a long way since you led me to the first witch book.”
He fluttered away from me and nodded, and then he returned to his parents.
My mother walked toward us. “Here.”
The athame passed from her hands to mine, and I sensed an unusual burst of energy flow through my blood as I gripped it.
"Thank you," I said.
Unsheathing it, I looked down at the athame, the metal cool and smooth against my skin. The blade was short and triangular, unlike combat daggers. Unfamiliar witch symbols marked the knife—my connection to my witch heritage.
The thought of handing it over to Cordelia—the one who had caused so much pain and destruction—filled me with dread. To keep my wolf spirit, I would have to entrust this powerful artifact to the person who’d made this fairy family's lives harder.
Willa touched my forearm, nudging me. “I’ll talk to my sister. She really doesn’t deserve the family athame. I hid it away from Cordelia once I realized she had chosen a different path from me after our mother burned at the stake.”
She squeezed her eyes shut, frowning, and then immediately reopened them. I wasn’t sure if talking to Cordelia would change anything, but I also realized that my mother faced a similar dilemma.
Just like I had to kill Hayden to free myself from him and the bond he’d forced on me, Willa would have to decide what to do with Cordelia if the “talking” didn’t work.
Would Willa be willing to kill her sister to prevent more pain and suffering in the human realm? To restore balance in the fairy realm?
My shoulders slouched as extra weight pressed down. “We need to find out if Seraphina and Niall are okay, and”—I took a deep breath—“deal with Hayden. We can leave my mom in the hidden fairy city.”
Before I could take my next breath, Willa engulfed me in a tight embrace, her arms trembling. I barely managed to keep the athame away from her.
“Y-you called me ‘mom,’” she stammered in a low voice that broke at the end.
When she pulled away from me, her eyes welled with tears. Her gaze locked with mine as our connection deepened. Willa’s shoulders relaxed.
“Thank you,” she said.
A lump formed in my throat as I struggled to respond. That simple word had opened a floodgate of emotions. I blinked back the moisture in my eyes.
“I’m looking forward to spending more time with you. We have a lot of catching up to do,” I said.
Smiling, she nodded. “It’s a promise.”
Before we began our journey to find Seraphina and Niall, I gave the athame to Willa. She secured it beneath the belt of her tunic.
Torin and Robert had stayed quiet, giving me the time I needed with Willa. We continued walking toward the hidden city for what felt like an hour when a sudden rustling in the forest shattered the fragile silence.
We all tensed, darting our eyes to the source of the noise. The shadowy figure emerged from the darkness. As it approached, I realized it was Seraphina. I pressed my hand over my heart and let out a heavy sigh.
Her usually strong aura had dimmed, and her eyes widened as she glanced around frantically. She rushed toward us, her hands shaking, and I knew something was terribly wrong.
She glanced at Willa, giving her a curt nod. "We must leave now."
"Seraphina, you can’t imagine how happy I am to see you…” After taking another look at her gloomy face, I asked, “What happened?"
"We stalled Hayden and his men in the castle for as long as possible, but they're coming. They're relentless, and they will not stop until they have what they want."
Me. Hayden wanted me.
"Are the others okay?" I asked, my heart pounding in my chest.
"Many of the guardian fairies… They paid with their lives," Seraphina choked out, her voice heavy. "I ordered them to disperse in different directions so they wouldn't be easy to follow, but I know Hayden will come after me. He's too smart not to."
The weight of her words hung over me like a suffocating boulder, pressing down on my chest, making it difficult to breathe. Hayden must have been close.
“We’ll help you. We were on our way to find you,” I said quickly as I looked around. “First we need to take cover and wait until Hayden disappears. Then we’ll come up with a plan.”
Guilt overwhelmed me with the force of a tsunami hitting the coast. A cold chill ran down my spine.
“I’m sorry we left you, Niall, and the guardians behind.”
“There is no need to apologize, Breanna. We wanted to help you,” Seraphina said, glancing at Willa. “I’m glad you succeeded. Now we need to move quickly. This way. The hidden City of Water is close by.”