Chapter 114

Hannah

“We are in labor! We are having a baby!!” Nora cooed excitedly.

All I could feel was fear.

“No…” I breathed in a groggy state as I was wheeled out of Liam’s room on a gurney. Raya was by my side quickly, trying to keep up with the rushing doctors. “I’m not ready…”

“Well, you must get ready, Hannah. You are about to be a mom,” she breathed with a fond smile.

“No… I can’t be yet…”

Dr. Davis placed a cold cloth over my already damp forehead once we reached the delivery room. Raya sat by my side, and we made Henry wait in the hall. I didn’t want to see him, but I knew he wasn’t going anywhere.

“It’s going to be okay,” Dr. Davis said in a soft tone. “Just keep breathing.”

I did as he said. Raya sat by my side and allowed me to squeeze her hand.

“I need Sebastian…” I said to her in a groggy state. The morphine was making me dizzy, but it also took away some of the pain. “He needs to be here for this.”

“I’ll mindlink him,” she said.

After a few moments, she frowned and shook her head.

“I can’t get through. Something is blocking me…” she told me; I felt my heart weighing heavily in my chest. “I’ll try Arnold.”

After another moment her eyes widened, and she gasped.

“Arnold said he left…” Raya told me, her face grim.

“Left?” I asked, staring at her with dismay. “Where did he go?”

“Somewhere North,” Raya answered. “He didn’t say where though. He wouldn’t tell Arnold.”

Did Sebastian leave me? That didn’t make any sense; then again, maybe it did make sense. If he thought I betrayed him, perhaps he did leave me.

Something else for me to blame Henry for. Just as I was about to say something more, I felt more pain in my lower abdomen.

“It’s time to start pushing,” Dr. Davis ordered.

…

Sebastian

It took over a day for Sebastian to reach the village in the north where Gemma lived. He turned off his mindlink to keep himself from speaking to Hannah. She couldn’t know what he was doing; it would only worry her.

Gemma lived in a was a small cottage in the center of the village. The village itself wasn’t occupied by a lot of people, but Gemma always liked the solitude. As she answered the door, he was met with her long auburn hair, her big green eyes, and her aging face. She stared at him like she had just seen a ghost and she wasn’t sure what to say.

“Hello, Gemma,” Sebastian said, bowing his head in respect for her. He always tried to be respectful to his elders.

“Sebastian?” She asked, blinking her long lashes at him with the utmost confusion on her face.

“It’s been a long time.”

“Why are you here? You shouldn’t be here!” She said in a hushed whisper as she looked around the front of her yard wildly. She met his gaze and motioned for him to follow her into her home.

He followed closely behind her and entered her dark living room. Most of her lights were candlewick. She’s always been old-fashioned and that was always something he admired about her.

“You really shouldn’t be here,” she said, turning her body around quickly to face him. “Do you know what they’d do to me if they knew you were here?”

Sebastian furrowed his eyebrows together.

“Who?” He asked.

She looked surprised by his words and stared around his face for a long while like she was assessing him.

“You really don’t remember… do you?” She asked.

“Remember what, Gemma?” He asked, feeling frustrated with her riddles.

“Nothing…” she said in return, turning away from him and going toward her couch. “Why are you here?”

He followed her and sat down on the couch as well.

“I need your help,” he told her. She waited patiently for him to continue. “My luna has a brother,” he began. “And he’s in trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?” She asked, raising her brows.

“I think he’s stuck in the underworld.”

She gasped loudly and shot to her feet.

“How dare you speak of such a place in my home,” she scolded; he could feel her rising fury. “Get out of my house.”

“Gemma, please,” he pleaded. “You’re the only one who can help him…”

“I’m sorry, but you’ve been mistaken. I can’t help you with this,” she told him. She started walking toward her front door. Sebastian stood to his feet quickly.

“It’s some kind of spell or potion that did this to him,” he said, causing her to pause. “Whatever is happening to him is happening to me. I didn’t realize it until I had a dream the other night. I dreamed of where he was…”

She turned to look at him but said nothing as he continued.

“I was in a dark room and there was nobody around. I had no idea where I was, but the energy and aura felt familiar and strange. It felt dark. Then I tripped over something, and it ended up being Liam, my luna’s brother. He was in agony and had wounds all over his body. Whip marks on his back and claw marks on his limbs. His hair was pulled from his skull, and he was covered in bruises…”

She exhaled deeply as she processes what he was saying. A flash of recognition went through her eyes that he noticed right away.

“You know that place… don’t you?” He asked, eyeing her carefully.

“Yes,” she finally said after a pause. “You said it’s just his mind that’s there?”

Sebastian nodded.

“He’s being tortured internally. To everyone else, it seems like he’s just in a normal coma. But he’s in pain. I felt his pain…”

“You are linked to him?”

“I don’t know what it is,” he admitted. “I just know it’s coming from him though. When I saw him… it was just so bad.”

She took in a deep breath and nodded, motioning for him to follow her. He went with her toward her back room. There was small candlelight that lit the room, but he saw the crystals, gems, and potions that occupied the room. This was where she did most of her work.

In the center of the room was a small round table with a purple crystal ball. She stood in front of the ball and pointed for a spot on the other side of the ball for Sebastian to stand.

“I need you to take me to where he is,” she told him firmly. She placed her hands on the ball. “Put your hands on the ball and remember the setting. Remember everything you can. If there is magic connecting you to the underworld….to Liam…. the ball will take your mind there. You can take me there too.”

Sebastian nodded his head once and placed his hands on the ball without hesitation. He took in a steady breath and closed his eyes, remembering everything he could about the place in his dream. He remembered the dark room and not being able to see anything. He remembered the feeling of the aura and energy; the darkness and the undeniable fear he felt. He remembered the hooded figure that caused Liam and himself so much pain. He remembered Liam who lay in agony in the dark void.

He heard Gemma gasping, making him open his eyes. They were no longer in her house, but they were back in the same dark room he dreamt of.

Gemma looked around with curiosity and fear lingering all over her face. Sebastian swallowed hard as he made his way in the direction, walking in the direction of Liam.

This time, he didn’t trip over Liam. He found him right away. He was in the same spot as he was before. He looked the same too. Sebastian had to admit that it was hard to look at. One look at Gemma’s face, and he already knew it wasn’t going to be a good outcome. She looked sad and mournful. He could feel her sorrows before she even spoke.

She sighed and knelt beside him, touching her fingers to his back. He winced in pain and made a whimpering sound. Sebastian was glad that Hannah wasn’t here for this; it would be too hard if she was to see this.

“He’s trapped here…” she whispered, tears welling in her eyes. “You poor thing…”

“There has to be something we can do,” he said. “We have to get him out of here.”

She was quiet for a moment.

“There is something we can do,” she said, but her tone was grave, and it gave Sebastian an uneasy feeling.

“Tell me,” he begged. “I’ll do anything.”

She gazed up at him and met his eyes.

“We can kill him.”