Chapter 149

Sebastian

Sebastian recalled the moment he rescued their wolves from the cages. Both the wolves simultaneously said the word “mate” and he was dumbfounded for the first time in his life. Hannah’s wolf, Nora, had recovered quickly and she stood to her feet.

“I need to find her. I can feel her pulling for me. I know where she is.”

“You go, Nora,” Erik said to her in return. “We will find a way out and reach out to you.”

She nodded her head before turning away and sprinting through the darkness. Once Sebastian had unleashed the wolves, he dropped the scepter to the ground. The power was overwhelming, and he feared it would take full control of him if held onto it. He wasn’t expecting the ground to absorb it.

“Where’d it go?!” He shouted to his wolf. He searched both cages before coming up with the conclusion that it was gone.

“That asshole must have enchanted the cage to sense the scepter and take it,” Erik said.

That meant that Xander had possession of the scepter.

…

Hannah

I stared at Sebastian with shock as he finished explaining the story. Xander had possession of the scepter? That wasn’t good. Why would he want the scepter? What was in it for him?

“I don’t think he can officially take full control without it,” Sebastian said, answering my unspoken questions. “I’m far too powerful for him; with the moonstone, he can overpower me.”

“Then, we have to get it back,” I told him, narrowing my eyes. “We have to go back.”

I turned and began walking in the direction we came; it would give me an excuse to see my brother again too. But Sebastian grabbed my arm, stopping me.

“We can’t just walk back in,” he told me. “We have to be smart about this.”

“What do you expect us to do? Wait around for him to find us? It’s only a matter of time before he comes looking for us.”

“As long as we stay out of our wolf forms, he won’t be able to sense us. We just stay in hiding while we come up with a plan,” he told me.

He pulled me along with him. Even his touch on my arm felt different; I felt goosebumps all along my body. I could tell he felt it too because his grip softened and turned into a light caress. My heart fluttered wildly, and I bit the bottom of my lip to stifle a smile that desperately wanted to break free.

“Where are we going to hide anyway?” I asked, finally finding my voice.

“I know a place.”

“So, you remember your time here?”

He was quiet for a moment; I could tell he was trying to process his thoughts before answering me.

“When we first arrived here, it was like all my memories resurfaced. I remembered everything,” he explained.

“That’s good,” I said with a broad smile. “That means we’ll be able to get in and out.”

“We still need to figure out where he’s keeping the scepter,” he reminded me.

“And we can’t leave without my brother. It might be difficult though,” I said slowly. I stared down at my feet as we continued walking. The sand was so hot I was surprised that it didn’t burn away our shoes. “My brother seems to think he likes it here.”

I gazed up at Sebastian who said nothing in return, but his face looked stern, and his eyebrow twitched slightly.

“I saw my mother too.”

He froze and glanced down at me.

“She’s here?” He asked.

I nodded my head once.

“Apparently,” I answered. “She was my mom… but it was like she wasn’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“She wants me to stay and marry Xander. She thinks we can be happy here and be a family again,” I answered. “But I told her I couldn’t. She seemed upset. The mother I knew would never want this kind of life for me…”

“Xander has a way of turning people,” he muttered. “I would know.”

“What?”

“It’s not important,” he said, shaking his head like he was shaking the thought away. “We are almost in the town. We will find a shelter and rest there while we think of a plan.”

“We don’t have a lot of time to sit and think,” I told him. “It won’t be long until the moon is at its peak.”

“Time here is different,” he told me. “The full moon in the underworld isn’t until tomorrow night.”

“Are you sure? How do you know that?”

“The time changes here; there is no sense of time. Xander controls everything. He probably didn’t think he would get the scepter this quickly. So, he changed the time zone to make it so he has another day. Once it’s the day of, he can’t change it back. So, he’s forced to wait until tomorrow night to do anything.”

“How do you know he did this?” I asked, looking around the auburn sky; there was no sign of any moons yet so I wasn’t sure how it was possible that he could know that.

“My wolf saw him do it.”

Oh. That made sense. That was also a good thing, that meant we had a little more time than I thought.

We finally got through the naked forest and found the streets of a busy-looking town. There were no cars and all the buildings looked small and run-down, but the streets were filled with wanderers. I could tell a majority of them were vampires; there might have been a few shifters as well.

Like those in the palace, most of the vampires had flawless, porcelain-like skin and their hair was perfectly in place. They had model-like bodies, and they wore light weighted clothing that revealed most of their bodies. The warmth of the air didn’t seem to bother them; in fact, they seemed like they enjoyed it.

“Welcome to Vamp City,” Sebastian said; we remained hidden behind the branches and plants of the forest.

“Can they sense we don’t belong here?” I asked from beside him; I worried about catching anyone’s attention.

“If we get too close, they can,” he answered. “But I know someone who can help us.”

I glanced up at him in surprise; he had friends here?

He kept his hand on my arm and we turned our direction to continue walking through the forest. We remained hidden as we walked around the town. It seemed the forest was a giant circle that bordered the town. Which worked out to our benefit.

We finally reached a small building. It was closer to the forest side but also was seen from the city. We managed to get inside before anyone noticed us.

I paused at the door; looking around, I saw that it was a witchery store. It kind of looked like the witchery store in King’s City, but smaller.

A woman sat behind the counter; it seemed she was mixing a couple of potions and not paying attention to who was in her store. I wasn’t getting a vampire or a shifter vibe from her, but I was still getting slightly dark energy from her. I was also sensing something familiar, maybe a werewolf?

Sebastian cleared his throat, alerting her that we were there. She glanced up at us and her eyes widened. She stared at Sebastian in disbelief. She stood slowly, keeping her eyes on him. it got to a point where I was almost uncomfortable.

“It can’t be…” she whispered. “How…”

“It’s been a long time, Liz,” Sebastian said, keeping his tone low.

She came around the counter cautiously; like she was afraid he would lunge at her.

“I don’t understand… how are you here, Sebby?”

Sebby?

Who the hell was this woman?

She couldn’t have been older than 30. She had light brown hair and auburn eyes which matched the theme of the underworld. She didn’t look particularly pleased to see him, but she still ran to him and hugged him tightly.

“I never thought I would see you again,” she breathed. “At least, I hoped I wouldn’t…”

She pulled away from him and I could see the tears in her eyes.

“You aren’t stupid enough to get trapped again, Sebby. How the hell are you here? And why are you wearing a mask?”

He glanced in my direction before looking back at her.

“It’s a long story. But we need your help, Liz,” he told her. “I want you to meet my Luna, Hannah.”

She finally pulled her attention from him to look at me. She gave me a soft smile; I returned it, but I was still skeptical of her.

“Hannah… I want you to meet Liz. My sister.”