Chapter 192

Hannah

“She could have been under Xander’s control. Now that Xander has no power, neither does Magnolia,” Sebastian tried to tell me, but I was already ripping the IVs out of my arm. “Easy Hannah. You could puncture a vein.”

“I’m not taking any chances,” I said in return. “I can’t lose her again, Sebastian.”

For a moment, he looked like he wanted to protest against me, but with one look at my stern face, he knew it was better that he didn’t. He sighed and grabbed onto my arms, stopping me from pulling out any more of the IVs.

“Let me do it,” he said as he cautiously pulled the IVs out of my arm.

He grabbed some bandages that were left on the nightstand and wrapped my arms with the soft cloth, keeping my bleeding at bay.

“We still have some time before anything happens at the palace; we need to be smart about this,” Sebastian says as he finishes tying the bandages around my arms. “I won’t be able to do anything unless we catch Magnolia in the act. I can’t just have her arrested based on suspicion.”

“It’s not suspicion,” I say, narrowing my eyes at him. “We know what’s going to happen because it’s already happened.”

“We can’t just walk in and say we are from the future,” Sebastian reminds me with a headshake. “They will have us locked up for being crazy.”

He was right; I’m being stupid and I’m not thinking rationally. My heart is racing against my chest at lightning speed and all I can think about is getting to Caroline and saving her before she ends up dead. I know that the dagger used to kill her is laced with a poison that will trap her in the underworld. Even if Xander has no power, he can still do terrible things to her if she returns without her memory. I wonder if she will gain her memories back if she does return to the underworld.

That wasn’t something I wanted to find out. I wanted to get to her before she met her untimely death. I slipped out of bed and grabbed my clothing that lay on a chair across the room. The same old pair of jeans and tank top I wore many times during my time living in my father’s pack. It still had some blood stains from when I was beaten in the dungeon of the palace by jack. I shuddered at the very thought. The memory seemed so long ago that it happened, but I was brought back to a time when it only happened less than 24 hours ago. My body was in pain from the beating I endured, but my strong mind paid no attention to the pain.

My mind has been through so much since then.

I went with Sebastian out of the hospital room and down the narrow halls until we reached the doors of the waiting room. I was thankful that Dr. Davis seemed preoccupied with other things and didn’t notice us sneaking out. I knew he was going to be angry with me for discharging myself before I was ready. But this was way more important.

By the time we reached outside, we were shifting into our wolf forms. The air seemed much colder than I remembered it to be. Maybe the heat was from Xander’s influence on our lands. The amount of power he had over us without us knowing about it is unsettling.

As we ran through the forest, I couldn’t help but think about all those we had left behind in the underworld. Gemma had mentioned that everything will reverse to normal once Sebastian, and I return to our land. I wondered how it happened for them though. Did Wren just disappear on the spot? Was it quick? Or was it slow and frightening for her? She was such a brave little girl and I’m so proud to call her my daughter. My heart ached knowing she wasn’t born at this time, and it was going to be a while until I get to hold her in my arms again.

The palace came into view, and I was feeling a flood of relief. However, I could sense Magnolia within the walls. I could also sense Jack in the forest and that left an unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach. Despite Xander’s influence, Jack still wasn’t a great guy. According to Sebastian, he’s always been like this. But maybe without Xander’s help, he will be easier to capture than he was before. We might be able to put them both in jail quickly.

We neared the palace doors, and I heard screaming coming from inside. This only made me run faster; we were running out of time. I knew at that moment that Magnolia had the dagger in her hand and was going toward Caroline. I wondered if others were in the area as well and witnessing what was going on. As we ran, Sebastian mentioned that Magnolia mindlinked him and told him of her plans. Just as she did all those years ago when she killed Caroline the first time.

Sebastian played along with her for sake of keeping the timeline the same; she has no idea we were only inches from the palace and were about to stop her before she continued doing what she was doing.

Sebastian was the first to bust through the palace door and make his way into the living room. I saw Caroline on the ground in front of a very angry Magnolia. Caroline looked pale as a ghost, and she had tears in her frightened eyes. She was screaming and a couple of other maids were rushing into the living room to see what was going on. Magnolia was seconds away from plunging the dagger into Caroline’s heart.

I was right.

Magnolia wasn’t under the influence of the vampire king. I’m glad we didn’t take a chance and got here when we did. I allowed Sebastian to tackle Magnolia in his wolf form, causing her to drop the dagger. I heard the loud clanking of the dagger across the marble floors and Caroline couldn’t keep her eyes off it. Her entire body was trembling in fear.

Considering what a capable fighter she was in the underworld, I found it to be ironic how afraid she was of Magnolia. But then again, this version of Caroline has never been to the underworld, so she never had the opportunity to fight and learn to defend herself. But I also knew that she had it in her.

I shifted back into my human form and ran to her quickly while Sebastian dealt with Magnolia. Other warriors invaded the living room as well, per Sebastian’s request.

“W…what… happened…” Caroline stammered, unsure of what was happening still. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close to me; I couldn’t help the tremble in my own body. She was okay. We saved her life. She wasn’t going to die. I wasn’t going to lose her.

“You’re okay,” I breathed to her. “She’s not going to hurt you.”

“How did you get here?” Caroline asked, tears spilling from her eyes; she bit onto her bottom lip to keep from sobbing. “How did you know…?”

“It’s a long story,” I told her, wiping her face with my thumb, trying to calm her down. “But just know she’s never going to hurt you. You are safe, Caroline…”

“What about you?” She asked meeting my eyes. “You were injured recently. Where’s Jack?”