Chapter 68

Hannah’s POV

“What?” I breathed.

My heart stopped in my chest as I stared at Dr. Davis’s serious expression. My body trembled and it took everything in my power to not run from the courtroom.

My brother was missing. How could this have happened? He wouldn’t have just run away like that. Would he?

No. My father must have done something. He must have gotten to Liam’s room and taken him once he found out that he was no longer on his visiting list. That must have been what happened.

My heart was squeezing tightly to the point where it was too painful, I could hardly breathe. Nora was impatient and we needed to get out of here. We needed to find my brother.

“What do you mean he’s missing?” Sebastian asked for me.

“I went to check on him this morning and he wasn’t in his room. We searched everywhere. Nobody saw anyone go in there,” Dr. Davis explained; his eyes never leaving my face.

I felt like my entire world was crashing down around me.

“Why are we delaying the sentencing any further than it needs to be?” Magnolia complained, rudely from across the courtroom.

“We aren’t announcing any sentences today,” Sebastian growled at her. He turned to the judge, narrowing his eyes. “We are putting this trial on hold. It should have never happened this soon.”

The judge looked a bit panicked, but he didn’t argue. He was probably under the impression that Sebastian wanted the trial to be tonight, not knowing that it was set up by Magnolia. I was relieved to find that Sebastian seemed to believe that I didn’t steal the scepter. But that relief didn’t last long because my brother was missing.

I struggled to stand to my feet; the guard tensing from beside me. He was ready to tackle me if I made any sudden movements.

“We have to find him,” I struggled to say; my voice quivered with weakness, and it pained my chest to speak. But I managed to get their attention. The courtroom was dead silent; I noticed that it was filled with mainly servants; all except for a few including Caroline.

Raya and Arnold sat in the back of the courtroom; I hadn’t noticed them up until that moment. She was sitting close to him.

She caught my eyes from the far side of the room, and I could see the worry and sadness in her expression. There was a lot she wanted to say. She wasn’t used to any of this. A few days ago, we were just students at the Bluemoon academy, and now we were held up in a courtroom in the king’s palace.

It was a lot of information for her to handle all at once and I felt terrible that I was throwing her in the mix of things. If I had it my way, I would have sent her back to Bluemoon where she could resume her normal life.

I scanned the courtroom again and my eyes fell on Rosalie; the maid I knew from around the palace. She was new, and she arrived shortly after her brother arrived. Magnolia killed him in cold blood and Rosalie was the one who found his body. It tore her apart; not that I could blame her. I understood why she was going against Sebastian and me, but I wanted her to know that she was going against the wrong people. It wasn’t Sebastian that killed her brother.

It was Magnolia.

But would she listen?

“The trial will be on hold for a couple of days,” Sebastian’s voice cut through my thoughts. “I need to find Hannah’s brother and bring him to safety. I also need to gather evidence to prove her innocence.”

“Yes, your majesty,” the judge agreed.

“Fine,” Magnolia hissed, standing to her feet abruptly. “But she remains in the dungeon cell. I don’t want a thief walking around my palace.”

“MY palace,” Sebastian growled. “You lost all rights to calling this YOUR palace the moment I became the Alpha King after my father’s passing.”

She pressed her lips together until they formed a thin line; her eyes darkening as she glared at him. I knew it was hard for her to remain calm during this situation. She wanted to lose control, but she held herself back because she had an image to maintain.

Magnolia turned to the guard the stood by my side.

“Take her back to the cell,” she ordered.

The guard nodded and grabbed my arm, pulling me along with him. My eyes found Jack’s and he just stared at me with a sly grin. He gave me chills down my spine and looking at him made me feel uneasy. I turned away from him and followed the guard, only struggling against him for a moment as I passed Dr. Davis.

“He didn’t say anything to you recently?” I asked trying to keep my tone low so only Dr. Davis could hear me.

He looked grim and his eyes were filled with worry as he stared around at my appearance. I could tell he was in shock over how I looked.

“I’ll come to see you later,” he whispered. “There’s something I need to give you.”

Before I could say anything more, the guard was tugging me painfully toward the door. I yelled out in pain, tears burning in my eyes. I hated showing them this kind of weakness; I could tell everybody, including Sebastian was watching me.

I just wanted to disappear. I wanted to disappear with my brother.

…

Sitting in my cell, once again, I felt like I was losing my mind. It was still so dark under the ground and my entire body was aching. I wanted to shift and get out of there to find Liam, but I couldn’t because of the damn cuffs that were locked around my wrists. They were keeping Nora’s abilities from me. She was so weak, and I could hardly hear her; I was starting to feel her again slightly, but not enough to be able to speak with her for guidance.

I sat against the wall, pressing my knees to my chest, and burying my face in my hands as I cried. My body trembled violently; all I could think about was Liam. He must have been so alone and so frightened.

I knew it had to have something to do with our father. There’s no way Liam would escape on his own. My father broke him out and his keeping him hostage.

I thought back to when Liam mentioned that our father told him he could see our mother again. I had an unsettling feeling at the time, and now it was only growing more intense. If my father did something to hurt him, I was going to make him pay. I would make it my life’s mission to make him pay.

“Hannah?” A familiar voice said through the darkness.

I looked up and saw Dr. Davis standing at the doors of my cell. I stared up at him with such worry in my expression; I tried hard to not fall apart right then and there. But I was having trouble holding myself together.

“How did you get in here?” I asked, choking back the stream of tears that threatened to escape my eyes.

“Sebastian ordered the guards to allow visitors. He doesn’t want you to be alone and he needs to find Liam,” he explained.

I had to trust that Sebastian knew what he was doing and that he was going to find Liam safe and sound. That’s all I could hope for.

“I have to give you something,” Dr. Davis said, reaching into his coat pocket. He pulled out a folded piece of paper and slid it through the cell doors to hand to me. “It’s a note that I found under Liam’s pillow. I think he was hoping you would receive it.”

My heart halted in my chest again as I opened the note. My fingers trembled uncontrollably; I scanned the note and let out a choked-out sob.

“What is it?” Dr. Davis asked, watching me curiously and worriedly.

“It says he’s going to find our mother…”