Chapter 189

Hannah

They were diminishing the powers of the fire that centered the ballroom. I could already feel the heat going down the smaller the fire got. Xander noticed this as well and he worked on his own chant to get the fire to be in his control again. This only made the witches work that much harder. It looked easy for them; together, they had ultimate strength. This is what the moon goddess had intended for Wren. She never wanted Wrenley to do this alone.

Sebastian seemed to have noticed this as well because he was looking over in the direction of Wrenley. His scarlet eyes were turning to their normal blues, and I saw the longing and loving gaze within his wolf’s eyes. I looked over at the rest and saw Caroline wrestling with one of the guards.

My eyes found Scott and I found him in the middle of a battle with …. Himself…

I gasped at the scenery; I looked over at where my mother once was and saw that she was gone. The shifter had taken the form of Scott and was fighting with him. I ran in their direction as fast as my legs would run. Once I got there, they both turned to look at me and scrambled apart.

“Kill him!” They both said at the same time.

“Use the moonstone scepter! This is your chance!” One of them said.

“Yes, use the scepter on him!” The other one said, pointing at the identical version of him to his right.

I stared between the two of them, not knowing who was who. Wrenley and the witches were distracting Xander from seeing what was going on. Sebastian had taken notice of my struggle and was racing toward me while still fighting off the guards. My heart was pounding in my chest; I didn’t know Scott well enough to know the difference between him and his imposter.

“What are you waiting for, Hannah?” One of them screamed. “Do it now! Put an end to this whole thing!!”

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat. I grabbed the scepter that was tucked in my back pocket; I felt a surge of power coursing through my hand upon first contact.

The two identical Scotts began fighting again; they were wrestling like they were brothers. My breathing grew shaky. I was relieved when I felt Sebastian’s presence near me. I glanced over at him as he made his way closer to me.

“What are you waiting for?” He asked. “Kill the heart while Xander is distracted.”

“I don’t know which one is which,” I admitted, staring over at the scene in front of me.

They continued fighting and I took an unsteady step away. I glanced over at Caroline who was busy fighting off the guards. She didn’t have the time to help me with this; she was busy keeping the guards busy.

“I don’t know what to do,” I said in a panic as tears filled my eyes. “I can’t kill the wrong one.”

Sebastian didn’t know what to say to that. He stared at the two Scotts with dismay for a long while as they continued to fight. One of the Scotts seemed to have the upper hand. I could see the fury rising through him and for a moment, I thought maybe that could be the imposter. The Scott I had the privilege of knowing always seemed to be so level-headed and calm. I couldn’t imagine him being this angry.

Then again, who knows what he would do to protect Caroline? It was obvious he was here and doing this for her.

“You have to make a decision,” Sebastian warned, staring over at Wren and the witches. “They aren’t going to be able to keep this up for long.”

I looked at what he was seeing, and I knew right away that he was right. Wren was beginning to look worn out and tired. I could see beads of sweat forming on all their heads and they were growing winded from the number of powers they’d been using. It’s like their magic was being drained from them the more they fought against Xander.

Xander seemed to be growing more powerful and the fire was once again growing. I couldn’t let this keep happening. Those who were occupying the ballroom, waiting for a chance to be released from the underworld, were cowering away, yet they couldn’t keep their eyes off the scene in front of them. It was clear they weren’t fighters, and they had no intentions to fight.

“Hannah!” Sebastian warned. “If you don’t make a decision, I will!”

I furrowed my brows at him; he had to understand that this wasn’t an easy decision. There was no way I could tell these two apart. If I made the wrong choice, Caroline would never forgive me. I would never forgive myself.

I caught the eyes of Wren; she wasn’t going to be able to keep this up any longer. She looked utterly exhausted, and my heart tugged for her. Sebastian was right; I needed to make a choice.

One of the Scotts was sitting on top of the other who was struggling. The one struggling on the ground was gasping out for breath and trying to get free; the Scott that had the upper hand had fury rising in him and a gun in his hand. He was about to shoot him; I took the scepter out of my pocket and rose it. He was the one I was going to stab. Then, I caught the eyes of the Scott that was struggling on the ground.

“Hannah…” he murmured, trying to gasp for breath. “Hurry… help... me…”

His words caused me to pause. I stared into his eyes, assessing him for a short while. Then, I furrowed my eyebrows together and ran toward them. I shoved the Scott that had the upper hand, alarming him enough to stumble to the ground and drop his weapon. I turned to the other Scott, who had just asked for help, and plunged the scepter into his heart, causing him to scream out in agony.

Just as the scepter plunged the heart, his body began shifting back into my mother. I looked into the eyes of my mother who was growing lifeless underneath me. She gasped for breath as blood poured from her mouth.

“What the hell is going on?!” Xander growled just as the fire in the center of the room began to die.

I kept my eyes locked on my mother though; I couldn’t look away from her. I knew this wasn’t really my mother and that it was just a shifter made to look like her, but she still felt so real. The life drained from her eyes and blood pooled from her mouth. Where the dagger had plunged, I could see the heart glowing a faint purple. That was Xander’s heart, his power source. It was still very much active, but the powers were diminishing before my eyes.

I swallowed hard and lifted the scepter again, this time, I felt Sebastian’s hands over mine. He gave me one look of encouragement, causing my heart to soar. Xander screamed just as we plunged the dagger into the heart again. The heart started glowing less; only one more stab and it will be completely gone.

Xander tried to have the guards get to us in time, but everyone around us seemed frozen. I knew that meant they were on the verge of waking.

Wren was by my side quickly and she placed a hand on my shoulder. I saw the determination in her eyes and the faint glow that still outlined her. I smiled at my brave daughter.

Together, the three of us placed our hands on the scepter and rose it to the sky.

“Noooooo!!” Xander growled with fury.

But it was too late; for the final time, we plunged the dagger into the heart.

Just as the glow went out, so did the fire.