Chapter 132

Hannah

“I’m sorry?” Lila asked, raising her brows.

She was playing stupid, and this wasn’t something I was going to buy into.

“Why are you keeping me from speaking to my husband? It’s not a coincidence that I can’t seem to mindlink him and that you don’t have a phone I can use.”

“I told you; I like to be off the grid,” she said.

Wren stirred in her sleep, so I brought the conversation out of the room.

“Before I decide on anything, I need to speak with Sebastian We are a team regardless of what Henry told you. I love Sebastian and would never do anything to hurt him even if it doesn’t actually kill him.”

“Even after what he did?” Lila asked; she looked completely dumbfounded.

“Two wrongs don’t make a right,” I said keeping my tone even. “I truly believe he has an explanation and I’m going to find out what it is. But I need to speak with him first.”

She stared at me for a long while, neither of us saying anything. I couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking. I was also wondering where Henry had gone off to. I was getting a nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach. Something told me he was up to something no good. I glanced at the front door, half expecting him to walk through it at any moment. Nora had a strange feeling too and she couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. She was trying desperately to get a hold of Sebastian, but something was blocking us still.

Lila cleared her throat, bringing my attention back to her.

“Have it your way,” she finally said. “I might have a phone somewhere in my office. It’s down that hallway,” she said, pointing at the hallway on the other side of the house.

It was a dark and narrow hall that gave me an even weirder feeling. But if I had to travel down a dark hall in an unknown house to speak to Sebastian, then I would do just that.

“In the meantime, I’ll make us some tea,” she added as she went toward her kitchen.

I watched after her for a moment longer before turning in the direction of the hallway and going toward her office. Her office door was at the end of the hall, and it was left open a crack. It was a messy and dimly lit office space. Her desk had papers scattered across the top of it. She had boxes piled together in every corner as she had just moved in.

Most of the boxes seemed to have contained spell books and different types of potions; other boxes contained an overload of files. I wondered what the files were for, but I didn’t want to snoop through her belongings. Not unless I had to; my main mission was to just get a phone so I can call Sebastian.

I rummaged through her desk until I came across a landline. It was unplugged, so she was right when she said she didn’t use phones and wanted to be off the grid. I plugged it in and sighed with relief when I heard the dial tone; this meant the phone worked.

The first person I attempted to call was Sebastian’s cell phone, however, it went straight to voicemail. He never had his phone off; he was the Alpha King. His phone was basically his entire life.

I didn’t have that many numbers memorized, and I didn’t bring my own phone with me because I thought I’d be able to mindlink if I needed something. I was wrong about that. So, once I couldn’t get through to Sebastian, I decided to call Raya.

“Hello?” I heard Raya’s voice on the other end of the phone, and I wanted to cry out from all the relief I felt.

“Raya, thank goddess,” I breathed. “I’m so glad that you answered and I’m even more glad to hear your voice.”

She was quiet for a moment like she was trying to process my words.

“Hannah?” She finally spoke. “Is that you? What phone are you on?”

“It’s a long story,” I told her. “I left my phone at the palace. Are you with Sebastian? Is he there?”

“Sebastian had to leave,” she said slowly. “I thought he would have told you, he’s on his way to see you…”

“What?” I gasped.

“He left Arnold in charge,” she continued to explain. “I’m not really sure why the urgency. He didn’t say but…”

“He didn’t tell you why he was coming here? How did he find me?” I tried to ask, but I heard another voice sounding in the background on Raya’s end.

“Is that Hannah?” It sounded like Gemma. “Let me speak with her right now.”

“Hold on Hannah. Madam Gemma would like to speak to you,” Raya said before going silent.

My heart was pounding in my chest; if what Lila was saying was true, that meant I couldn’t trust Gemma. But if Lila was lying, that meant I couldn’t trust Lila. Without Sebastian’s guidance and wisdom, I had to try my best to trust my instincts.

“Hannah, you’re in danger. You can’t trust Lila. She’s working with the vampire king,” Gemma said, echoing what Lila had said about Gemma earlier.

“That’s funny,” I breathed, trying to keep the emotions out of my voice. “That’s exactly what she said about you.”

“She’s lying to you. I know you don’t know me that well and you have no reason to trust me, but I’m asking you to trust me. She’s working with the vampire king, Xander. She’s in love with him and would do anything he asks. She wants you to open the portal so he can escape. You can’t trust her…”

“You’re right about one thing,” I said, staring down at my hands. “I don’t have a reason to trust you… But I also don’t have a reason to trust her. I’m so lost and I’m not sure what to do. But I know that I can’t go through with what she’s suggesting. She wants me to stab Sebastian…”

“You can’t!” She said quickly. “It’ll kill him if you do that. You can’t trust her.”

“She says if I stab him in the heart with the scepter, it will open the portal and…”

“That’s not what will open the portal. Sebastian’s wolf is the key to opening the portal on their side,” she said, her voice starting to fade in and out on the phone. I tried to adjust the wire so I can hear her better. “Your wolf is…” her voice faded out again.

“Gemma?” I asked, but I was only getting static. “Gemma, my wolf is what?” I tried again.

It was too late; she was gone. I slammed the phone down with aggravation. I stood up and took in a deep breath. If what Raya was saying was true and Sebastian really was on his way to me, I needed to get out of there and meet with him. Maybe if I got far enough for this house, I would be able to mindlink him.

I left the office, and I went into the kitchen where I thought Lila would still be, however, she wasn’t. I frowned and looked around for a moment, there was no sign of her and there was still no sign of Henry. Maybe that wasn’t a bad thing; I didn’t trust either of them. It would probably be better if I left without saying anything to them.

I went toward the back room and into the guest bedroom to grab Wrenley. As I opened the door, my entire body froze.

I stared at the place where I had left her to sleep. It was vacant.

Wrenley was gone.