Chapter 161

Hannah

We didn’t take Caroline’s warning lightly. It worried me greatly to think that Xander will still have that much power over us even once we return to our land. We were still greatly in danger.

“I want to be able to assist you as much as I can. You’ll need to return to your bedroom in the rogue territory at some point,” she said to me.

I narrowed my eyes at her, unsure of what she meant.

“My bedroom?” I asked.

“Xander, has it enchanted, so everything that’s in your bedroom now, appears in your bedroom here. It’s to keep it relevant and current. To keep the illusion alive. If my theory is correct, if I leave a note, it’ll appear in real time in your actual room and vice versa. We’ll be able to keep in touch.”

“Aren’t you worried about being caught sneaking in? What if they find the notes?”

“They rarely check the unoccupied bedrooms. I think we’ll be okay. I’ve snuck into the palace, numerous of times. I’ve gotten pretty decent at being stealthy. I’m not worried about being caught. I’ll leave a note for you, and I’ll check back later.”

I smiled and hugged her tightly.

“It’s really good to see you again,” she whispered. “I never thought I’d get the chance too.”

I pulled away from her, trying to shield the tears in my eyes.

“I promise, Caroline. We are going to make things right for you.”

“Just try not to die, okay? I don’t want you getting stuck here like the rest of us,” she said, wiping away her own tears.

“I’m not going to let her die,” Sebastian said, stepping beside me. “Trust me on that.”

Caroline smiled up at him.

“I do,” she said to him. “It was an honor working with you, sir.” She bowed her head; he nodded in return.

I hugged her one last time before taking Sebastian’s hand. I took Liam’s hand with my other hand, and we were led out of Caroline’s bunker until we were enclosed by the naked woods. The aura around us was darkening. I worried that it could have been Xander. I’m sure by now he noticed the scepter was missing and so were we. A warm breeze hit our features, making it even more difficult to breathe.

Sebastian kept his hold around my waist and kept me by his side as he rose the scepter high into the sky. The sun rays grew more intense, and beads of sweat began forming on my forehead, dripping down the nape of my neck. Something was happening and I couldn’t figure out what it was.

“We don’t have a lot of time,” I said to him quickly. I wasn’t sure how I knew that, but I did.

“It’s Xander…” Liam breathed in hardly a whisper. I looked at his worried features; I could feel his fear. He was trembling and he was looking around wildly. “He’s angry…”

I knew he was right. I held Liam tighter, making him come closer to Sebastian and me. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen once that Portal was open. Technically, this was only Liam’s spirit and not his real body.

Would he automatically return to his body?

He fixated his gaze on the scepter and I saw his wolf shining through. His eyes grew dark, and his wolf let out a howl that echoed through the forest. The sound of his wolf’s howl excited Nora to the point where she was doing leaps in my mind’s eye.

“Sebastian…” I said with worry; the sand was beginning to hurt my feet. It was growing unbearable. “We need to go!”

Before he had the chance to respond, the moonstone began glowing and a beam of light shot from the top of it and toward the sky. The light umbrellaed over our heads, forming a shield around us. I buried my face in the side of Sebastian’s body, shielding my eyes from the blinding light.

I heard screams and howls of all around us; but it wasn’t coming from either of our wolves. I couldn’t tell if it was coming from our land or the underworld.

I stared up at Sebastian who stared back at me with the same concern that mirrored. I wanted to ask what was going on, but the sound of an explosion stopped my words. Soon, everything went black.

…

I woke up lying on the ground with Sebastian lying beside me. We were both covered in soot from the explosion. The first thing I noticed was how cold the air was; a slight breeze brushed across my skin and left a cooling sensation in its path. I coughed as my lungs were still getting used to the change in temperature. It was dark outside, so I knew it was in the middle of the night.

I looked around at the grass that we were lying in and realized we were no longer in the underworld. We were in the forest of our kingdom. I breathed out in relief. It worked. We made it home. Sebastian opened his eyes and lifted his head off the ground to peer over at me.

“Are you okay?” He asked, sitting up.

“I think so,” I said in return, “Liam,” I breathed after realizing he wasn’t with us. “Do you think he’s awake?”

“Let’s go to the hospital to find out,” Sebastian suggested. “And then afterward we can go home and see our daughter.”

“I’ll mindlink Raya while we are on our way,” I told him.

It felt so good to allow Nora to be free. She howled with delight as we raced through the forest and toward the comfort of our pack. Sebastian ran by my side even though I knew he could run much faster than I could. I’m sure it felt even better for him knowing that he had his full wolf again.

As we continued sprinting through the forest, I attempted to mindlink Raya, but I wasn’t getting through to her. I would be lying if I said that didn’t worry me.

The hospital came into view, and we picked up speed as we got closer, we shifted back into our human forms and quickly changed into our clothing. The hospital was oddly vacant; I frowned and looked around. Typically, the waiting room had a least a few people waiting to be seen. It was also usually flooded with hospital workers. There was nobody behind the nurse’s counter, which was very unlikely. I was getting a vibe that was unsatisfying.

The halls were quiet; there were no monitors beeping and no chatter amongst the rooms. Was there anybody even inside of this hospital? We finally reached Liam’s door, and I paused for a moment; I was worried about what I would find once we entered.

What if it didn’t work? What if he was still in a coma? Or maybe he wasn’t even there.

Sebastian was also looking around curiously with a frown before meeting my eyes. I took in a steady breath before entering the room. Liam was sitting up in bed and looking around worriedly.

I sighed with relief.

I ran to my brother and wrapped my arms around him; he winced in pain.

“Sorry…” I said with a light laugh. “I forgot you haven’t actually moved your body in a few months.”

“Something feels wrong…” he said in a whisper. “Don’t you feel it?”

I didn’t want to admit that he was probably right. I attempted Raya again and this time, I finally heard a voice coming through the mindlink.

“H…H…. Hannah…”

“Raya,” I breathed. “I’ve been trying to mindlink you and…”

“I thought someone was playing a joke on me,” she said quickly; she sounded distraught and unlike herself. “Is it really you?”

“Of course, it’s me, Raya,” I told her in return. “Did you think we wouldn’t return?”

“We?”

“Sebastian, Liam, and me,” I said, raising my brows as I looked over at Sebastian.

He was watching me curiously.

“Sebastian and Liam have returned as well?” She asked; her voice had gone soft, and I could hear the slight quiver in her words.

“Yes,” I answered. “That was the whole point; for us all to return in one peace. Why are you surprised by that…?”

“I can’t believe this…” she whispered. “It can’t be real. I must be in some kind of fucked up dream.”

I could tell by her voice that she was now crying.

“Raya, what is going on? I’ve only been gone for 24 hours. You can’t be that surprised that we came back. Did you think we would die?”

“24 h…” she paused before completing her sentence. “What has he done to you in there?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Hannah, you weren’t gone for 24 hours…” she breathed. “You were gone for 5 years.”