COMMENT
Chapter 57
The creature towers over all of us. How is this even possible? How does a snake even get this big? Its big red eyes glare at us, sizing up which of us to devour next
But there’s no time to wonder anything as the creature starts towards us
“Attack!” Ethan calls the order just as he gets out of the car.
The soldiers shed their clothing and shift. Ethan does the same, his skin begins to ripple as his body prepares to transform
I follow him, but he pushes me back into the seat. Before he’s fully turned into his wolf, he orders the witch, “Maya, take the driver’s seat and get Ariella to safety!”
Maya jumps into the driver’s seat and starts the engine.
“No, wait,” I protest, bur Ethan, Eli and the rest of the warriors have gone out of the car before I can even blink. Ethan shuts the door in my face, and Maya locks it with a quick snap of her fingers. She immediately starts revving the engine.
I reach for the door, pulling with all my strength but the latch won’t budge.
“Let me out!” I snarl at the witch that is probably using her power to keep the door locked.
“No,” she answers calmly. And then the straps of the seatbelt move and wrap themselves around me, holding me to the seat,
“What are you doing?! Let me go! I need to get to Ethan and Elit They are in danger!
The witch in the front seat doesn’t even seem to hear me. She maneuvers the car with an almost manic urgency out of the ferid waters. But I can’t focus on that all I see is that we’re leaving them behind. The panic in my mind is nearly uncontrollable.
I almost can’t control the panic in my mind.
“Don’t be stupid, Ariella” she snaps back. Think it through. Think it through. Your Alpha mate and your Alpha brother can’t focus if they know you’re in danger. Their first instincts are always to protect you, nothing more. If you go back, you’re not just risking your life but both your fiance’s and your brother’s as well. Think about them. Think about your baby”
Her words hit me like a truck. Even though her logic is sound, the overwhelming urge to return to them is irresistible. Before anything can get out of control, the car pulls to a rough stop immediately
amn,” Maya curses. “Damn this swamp. Tires are caught in the mud.”
“Damn,”
And then without warning. I feel the car lifting. I stare at the witch in front of me. Keeping the car locked and the seatbelt around me is one thing, but lifting an entire car? The car lifts and I can feel it trying to free itself from the mud.
And in the background, I can only hear fighting and screaming. And there is no way those sounds are coming from the snake. I hear howls that are cut short immediately and my heart clenches. Is that Ethan? Would I know if it was him?
I turn my head to look through the back window, but I can’t see anything, I try desperately to find the golden light that I have been seeing on Ethan’s chest, but there’s only darkness.
‘Goddess keep them safe, I plead with her like I have never pleaded before.
Finally, the tires of the car seem to almost break free from the mud, but the sound behind us has stopped, too. There’s no more screaming.
“We have to go back,” I tell Maya as she just gets the car out of the mud.
I can see sweat on her forehead, this can’t be all that easy as
“Please,” I beg hier. “I can’t hear anything any longer. We have to go see
“And if the snake killed them all then we’ll just be going to our deaths, Maya snaps back. “I wasn’t paid enough for my life. Can’t you sense if your mate is dead?” She levels me with a look
“What?” I frown. How on earth am I supposed to be able to tell that?
Wait a second. Did she say mate!
Before I can think through her words, a knock on the car door pull
pulls me out of my thoughts.
“Eden”
He’s outside of the window, covered in din and blood, mud and muck from the swampy waters. But he’s alive.
1/2
Chapter 57
“Thank the Goddess!” I whisper and ask him “Is Eli okay?”
Ethan pants “He’s all right too.”
1 let out a breath of relief. The seat belt stops constricting me, and it falls back limply to the side. And then the door unlocks of its own and Ethan yanks it open. I scramble to get to him, wrapping my arms around him as he holds me in his arms
1 look behind, and in the limited light of the jeep, 1 notice that half the men have been missing. The expressions are grim on the faces of the survivors. Guilt swells in my chest. They are dead because of me.
“No, don’t look like that,” Ethan says, as though hearing my thoughts, “I should have anticipated that we wouldn’t be facing conventional enemies.”
His words are soothing but the reality of so many deaths remains.
“Maya.” Ethan says. “We can’t travel blindly through this darkness. Please tell me you have something useful up your sleeve.”
Maya scowls. “It may not seem like it to you, Your Majesty, but I’ve been working since we entered this accursed place.”
She begins to mutter incoherently under her breath. Before long, an orb of red magical light is conjured amidst the darkness. It hovers in front of
“It took me a while but I was able to trace all of the magic and enchantments in the air back to their point of origin” she explains, “we simply follow the orb and it should lead us straight to Evelyn
“Any more chances of creatures like that?” I ask, my mind still reeling from the monster and how easily it almost killed all of us.
“Most likely, there are more however the orb should warn us if something interferes with our path”
Ethan nods and passes down his order. Those who remain have all hopped back onto the vehicles. The engines start and slowly we continue trudge through the swamp with the magical orb at the helm.
I look at Ethan, his face and clothing covered in blood and muck.
“I’m so
sorry about your men, I say, touching his shoulder.
“They knew what they signed up for. They fought for the future of their unborn king and their sacrifice will be honored and remembered forever,” he says plainly, never wavering.
“That doesn’t make it less painful or tragic,” I murmur softly to him, acknowledging his
pain
Ethan stares off into the abyss.
The darkness suddenly begins to dissipate and light leaks back into the swamp Sighs of relief echo across the company
“Stay vigilant!” Eshan calls out via the car radio, “Let your guard down for even a moment and you’re dead
I notice Maya’s face becomes pale as the red orb begins to glow even brighter. Her knuckles turn white while gripping the steering wheel
“You’re scared of her,” I say. By “her“. I meant Evelyn.
“And you’re not?” the watch retorts,
“I am…it’s just that, you’ve seemed to be quite fearless before, I thought-
Maya turns to me, “Evelyn is famous and feared among witches, Compared to her, I am nothing more than an insect, yet here I am, venturing into the jaws of the spider, following her web of magic that probably leads us straight into a trap”
willingly
“We outnumber her,” I say reassuringly, though I’m not sure if I’m comforting her or myself, “She caught us by surprise the last time. This time is different
However, the young witch doesn’t look convinced.
The fog clears and an old cabin sitting atop a hill comes into view. There on the balcony, smiling as though she is expecting her dear guests, is Evelyn Kernan.
ELND GIFT