Chapter 135

Hannah

He stabbed himself. Sebastian stabbed himself with the scepter, but my hands were still wrapped tightly around the moonstone. The scepter had a faint glow and only a little blood dripped from his wound as it was plunged into him. His breathing was harsh as he fell to the ground.

“N…no….” I whispered, falling to the ground with him. I couldn’t bring myself to release the scepter; I was frozen. “W…why would you do this…?” I stammered. Tears fell from my eyes as I stared into his eyes.

His eyes were still open, and he was looking at me with this loving gaze; for a moment, I saw relief.

“I’m okay…” he whispered. “But we needed to try. We needed to open the portal.”

“Sebastian…” I whispered between my tears. “You can’t leave me. I love you so much…”

He lifted his hand to brush the hair from my face; he used his thumb to wipe the remaining tears on my cheek and I saw a faint smile on his lips.

“I’m not going anywhere…” he whispered.

I felt the moonstone heating under my touch and then the glow only grew more intense. I gasped as I got a shooting pain throughout my entire body. I screamed and buckled over, landing on top of Sebastian. He wrapped his arms around me tightly; his warmth was all I needed to calm myself down. The intensity of the glow was too much for me to handle and I closed my eyes, burying my face into his chest.

“Hannah!”

I heard a voice roaming through my mind; it sounded like Gemma. But that didn’t make sense because Gemma didn’t have a mindlink ability; however, she was a witch so maybe she was using some kind of magic.

“Your wolf is the key to opening the portal on our side. I finally figured out how to make it work. It only takes your love. You just need to have your hands on the moonstone and feel as much love for Sebastian as you can, and the portal will open.”

“What?” I gasped in my mind. Sebastian kept his arms tightly around mine as our bodies became one with the light that surrounded us.

“The moon goddess must have linked both your wolves to the portal. His wolf can open their side only when he’s in the underworld and your wolf opens our side only when you are here. Hold the moonstone and love him!”

“What happens if he’s stabbed in the heart with the scepter?” I asked; I was afraid to know the answer.

She was quiet for a moment. I was beginning to lose consciousness.

“Hannah…” she said, her voice growing nervous. “Did you…?”

She began to ask, but we were interrupted by an explosion.

…

I woke up with my head on Sebastian’s chest. I lifted my head to him and saw that his chest was rising and falling delicately. I was relieved to see that he was alive but confused as to what the hell just happened. The last thing I remembered was the moonstone surrounding us with this bright light and Gemma’s voice.

“Gemma?” I tried to say, but I was only met with silence.

The wound on Sebastian’s chest was gone and the moonstone lay on the ground beside him. I lifted my body off his and looked around. I gasped as I saw that were still in the front yard, however, Lila’s house was completely gone. It was like has never been there. We were sitting in the middle of a small field.

Lila and Henry were both gone. I felt a wave of panic going through me until I heard Wrenley crying in the grass nearby. I stood up quickly and ran to her. I scooped her into my arms and instantly checked her for any markings and injuries. I was relieved to see that she was unharmed.

I heard Sebastian groaning from where I left him, and I ran back to him with Wren still in my arms.

“Sebastian?” I whispered. He opened his eyes and met mine; he gave me a faint smile as he lifted his head.

“Did it work?” He asked, looking around curiously. “Did we open it?”

I looked around too; I didn’t see any portal, but something was definitely different. I felt different.

“I don’t know,” I admitted.

“The pain is gone…” Sebastian said as he sat up.

“I think something is wrong,” I told him as I looked at him. “Do you feel … different?”

He went quiet for a moment and then I saw his face paling slightly.

“Erik is gone…” he said, meeting my eyes.

His entire wolf was gone. I went to channel Nora and then I realized she too was gone.

Whatever happened, it took away our wolves.

“Oh, my goddess…” I breathed. “We’re wolfless…”

…

We returned to the palace the next day; without our wolves, we were forced to drive. Thankfully, Henry’s car was still there, even if the house wasn’t. Most of the drive was quiet; neither of us could wrap our heads around what had happened. We were both wolfless and I couldn’t shake the empty feeling that lay inside of me.

As we got into the palace, Raya was the first to run to us.

“Thank goddess,” she breathed as she hugged me. “I’ve been so worried. I’ve been trying to get a hold of you both but…”

“Our wolves are gone,” I blurted. She fell silent and stared at me for a long while; she was in disbelief.

“What do you mean they’re gone?” Raya asked, staring between Sebastian and me.

“They’re gone,” I repeated. “Something happened that took them away. I don’t know how to explain it…”

“Tell me everything that happened,” Gemma said as she walked into the room. “Did you get the portal open? Did you stab him? You went quiet and I couldn’t get a hold of you again.”

“Gemma…” I said, trying to keep myself strong. I handed Wrenley to Sebastian who cradled her gently.

“Please tell me you didn’t stab him…”

“I didn’t want to…” I said weakly. “But we thought that was how we had to open the portal…. But now our wolves are gone, and we don’t know where Lila and Henry are. We don’t know what happened…”

“Your wolves are in the underworld…” she breathed. “I should have told you the truth…I’m so sorry…”

“What do you mean, Gemma?” Sebastian asked, stepping closer. “How did this happen?”

“Because she stabbed you with the scepter, it transported your wolves into the underworld. Now Xander will have full control of them. But before he takes full control, he’s going to need the full moon to power him.”

“So, now we have till the peak of the full moon to get our wolves and to get Liam?” I asked. “There must be a way to get them back. We can’t let him use us as a vessel. Not while we have Wrenley. We need to protect her…. Please, Gemma. There must be something we can do. Please help us.”

I was begging. I hated begging.

I knew Gemma didn’t want anything to do with this portal and opening it, but we needed her help. Now both our wolves were trapped in the underworld and Liam was still there. Once the full moon was at its peak later tonight, it will be too late.

“Both your wolfs are in the underworld… I don’t know any other way to open the portal…” Gemma said looking between all of us.

“My wolf is the key to unlocking the portal from their side and Hannah’s wolf is the key to unlocking the portal from our side. But we don’t have either of them so we can’t use them to unlock the portal,” Sebastian said; I knew the wheels were turning and he was thinking about something intently. “But we never discussed what could open both sides. Is there a third key?”

Gemma tensed; there was something she wasn’t telling us. I narrowed my eyes at her.

“Gemma…” I began cautiously. “Is there a third key to opening the entire portal?”

“Who did the moon goddess appoint as the portal keeper?” Sebastian asked. “The one who can open the entire portal. What aren’t you telling us?”

“It’s dangerous,” Gemma said nervously. “It’s too dangerous to…”

“Gemma, this is important,” I said firmly. “Our wolves are in danger and soon, we will be nothing more than vessels. We need to get into the underworld.”

“If the entire portal is open…”

“The vampires can escape,” I finished for her. “Trust that we will protect our kingdom. Trust that we will protect you.”

“We need to protect our family and right now our family is in danger if we don’t get control of our wolves,” Sebastian warned her.

She swallowed hard and nodded; she glanced at Wrenley briefly before meeting my eyes.

“It’s your daughter…” she said slowly. “Wrenley is the key.”