Chapter 149
CAMILLA’S P.O.V
I felt a shudder go through me as I let out a ragged breath. My knees buckled beneath me and the only thought going through my head was of my daughter who was in my arms and how I didn’t want to drop her. I didn’t even realize when Ryker instantly appeared by my side and took her from me. I fell to my knees momentarily dislodging Briggs’ hold on me and I gasped at the sudden relief. I wasn’t sure how many seconds had passed since Briggs put his hands on me but it felt like an eternity.
“Are you alright?” he reached out for me but I brushed off his touch a bit too harshly. “Was it something I did? Do you need me to bring something for you?”
I knew he wasn’t the cause of the issue, he looked more confused than I had ever see anyone but I wasn’t going to risk that kind of rush again. I felt like I was going to pass out if it happened again. I tried to pull myself to my feet but I couldn’t even stand. My limbs felt like jelly and it was almost like I had lost all control of my body.
“No, I’m,” I stopped to catch my breath. My heart was pounding wildly in my chest and there was a sheen of sweat on my brow. “Are you ill?”
He looked taken aback by my question. I realized it was a weird thing to ask someone especially considering the context. There were a million ways it could have been taken but I didn’t care enough to do small talk. I needed to know what was causing all of this and how to stop it. I needed to know if there was a way that I could shut it off.
“That is a very out of pocket question, your majesty,” he responded slowly. “We can focus on my health at a later time when you don’t look so sick. There is a physician in the other quarters. Would you like me to-”
“No,” I cut him off and he fell silent. “All I need right now is for you to answer my question as quickly and as honestly as possible.”
He looked over at Ryker who had his eyes fixated on me. He looked poised to grab me if anything were to go wrong. Aurora nestled in his hand oblivious to what was going on and for a split second, I couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to be a child again, even if it were just for a few minutes.
“Is it that obvious?” he joked as he rocked on his feet slightly. “I have a condition, it rarely affects wolves seeing as we have a much better immune system than anyone else but I suppose my grandfather is to blame. He was careless in his youth and somehow managed to contract a regenerative disease. It affects our bones and they don’t quite get to full strength.”
I let out an exasperated breath and decided to test my strength once more by trying to get to my feet. Ryker was instantly by my side helping me up and I couldn’t help but notice that Briggs was still standing away from me as if terrified to touch me now. His explanation offered some insight but it still wasn’t enough to understand exactly what was happening to me. A crazy idea formed in my mind and I knew I had to do it quickly before I managed to talk myself out of it.
“Is it alright if I try something?” I asked and he nodded. Ryker was by my side and he wrapped his arm around my elbow.
“Are you insane?” he whisper yelled. “You could pass out. This isn’t the kind of experiment you should not be trying. What the hell is wrong with you?”
“I’ll be fine,” I tried to assure him but he shook his head at me. I simply gave him a soft smile. I was going to be fine. I turned to Briggs who was taking in our interaction with careful eyes. “Whatever happens, please do not grab me or you might just make it worse.”
“What are you doing, your majesty?” he asked but I didn’t respond, I slowly held onto his arm and waited.
I felt the lurch again, this time like a tug in the center of my gut and it was somehow even worse than the last time. It felt like someone had ripped a hole in my center and the power was just flowing freely. I closed my eyes trying and failing to see if there was a way I could clamp the hole shut but no matter what I did, it kept ripping free. It was Ryker who grabbed my arm and pulled me off Briggs.
“I think that is enough experimenting for an entire day,” he sounded a little annoyed and on a normal day, I would have rolled my eyes at him or something but I was exhausted and barely standing. I felt faint and dizzy and I was almost sure that if Ryker moved even an inch away from me, I was going to fall flat on my face.
“Are those part of your powers?” he asked in a soft voice almost as if he didn’t want anyone to overhear. “I know about your lineage having powers and I might have seen your father use his a few times but it never had this effect.”
“I suppose it likes to manifest differently,” I attempted to joke but it turned into a wince when my head began to pound. I let out a groan of pain and all but fell against Ryker who wrapped his arms around my waist to keep me upright.
“Are you sure that she doesn’t need anything. She is starting to look green,” I knew he was talking to Ryker and not me. I was grateful for that because I wasn’t sure if I would be able to stand.
“She’s fine,” Ryker shut him down immediately. His hands were bound around my waist and I heard his voice in my head. “Can you stand or walk? I need to take you back in but I have Aurora in my arms.”
I couldn’t even form a response in my head, that was how weak I was. Ryker must have realized that because he cursed. I faintly heard him converse with Briggs although I couldn’t make out the exact words. All I knew was that one minute, I was struggling to remain upright and the very next, I was being lifted into Ryker’s arms. I tried to protest but my tongue felt heavy and my head spun. I tried to stay awake but the darkness overtook me and everything went black.
When I woke up, the sun was already starting to set. I sat up straight in the bed keeping a hand on my head that was still pounding furiously. I was alone in the room but Ryker’s scent was everywhere and I knew he had left not too long ago. I managed to pull myself out of the bed and dragged my feet into the living room. I had to keep my hand on the wall to keep my balance because I was still out of it.
I heard laughter coming from the kitchen and I immediately recognized it as Audrey’s. I found her sitting on the counter while Ryker made funny faces at her as they cooked. Audrey saw me first and she made a sound that was a cross between a scream and a squeal. She leaped from the counter and rushed over to me.
“You’re awake,” she squealed. “Daddy said that you were resting because you got hurt. Do you feel better?”
“Yes, sweetheart, I do,” I leaned down to press a kiss to the mass of curls on her head. “What are you doing?”
“We were trying to make something for you. I wanted to make a cake but dad said no. He said fruits would be better,” she scrunched up her nose at that. “Fruits are boring.”
I couldn’t stop my laugh at that. “We can get a cake when we go back home, okay?”
That seemed to be a good enough compromise for her because she nodded and dashed out of the kitchen. I wanted to ask where she was going but she was fast and disappeared before I could even get the words out of my mouth. I sighed and turned to Ryker who I realized hadn’t taken his eyes off me since I came downstairs. He was watching me intently as if worried that I was going to break. I couldn’t blame him considering everything that happened but I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed.
I made my way over to him and simply relaxed my head against his upper arm. He wasted no time in placing a lingering kiss to my temple and just holding me there. His arms always managed to make me feel safe and loved which was exactly what I needed.
“Do you want to explain what happened out there?” he asked but I couldn’t respond. The truth was that I had no answer. I couldn’t tell what happened because the truth was that I didn’t know. “You need to be more careful with this new development. You could have gotten badly hurt. What were you thinking?”
“I just wanted to get a firm grip on what was happening, I’m sorry,” I let out a resigned sigh. “I just don’t understand why this is happening now of all times. Does this mean I have to avoid touching people now? I thought the healing magic was in my blood.”
“I thought so too but it almost seems like it is growing. It was just in your blood but now it is everywhere and you need to be careful unless you want to live in a plastic bubble for the rest of your life.”
I let out a frustrated groan. I had no idea why things couldn’t just be easy for us. We had to work and fight for everything we had now and yet there were still more problems. It was exhausting and there were moments I just wanted it all to end. I wanted to take a break from living. This was supposed to be a vacation and not another quest to discover my powers- powers I didn’t even ask for.
“They should have left,” I muttered aloud and Ryker turned to me.
“What should have left?”
“My powers- why didn’t they leave?”
“I’m not following, baby,” he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the “I’m not following, baby,” he crossed h counter. “You’re going to have to explain this to me.”
“I was told that my powers were meant to even out the balance that Alastair’s bite caused. Everything should have a cure and this was it. But the problem is that Alastair is dead now, there is no more bite. Why didn’t it disappear when he died? Doesn’t this mean that the world is out of balance again?”
“Honestly, Camilla, I don’t know,” he ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “This is incredibly irresponsible of me to say but I think we should file this away for later. The problems aren’t going to disappear, we can always handle them later.”
I wanted to refuse but Audrey came barreling in at that moment. I couldn’t make out what she was saying but she was excited and that seemed to be enough for me. I was going to spend this time with my family and make the most out of it. Ryker was right, I could always face my problems in the future.
We had dinner together and we watched with baited breath as Aurora tried to crawl. It was amazing being able to witness these milestones in her life first hand especially with Ryker here. He missed everything with Audrey and I could tell that he treasured these moments with Aurora. I was incredibly lucky to be blessed with two amazing daughters and I wasn’t going to give that up for the world.
Audrey passed out not long after dinner leaving Ryker and I to clean up. He was adamant on doing it himself so I reluctantly let him. I was about to go up to bed when I glanced out of the window and found myself staring at the lake. I glanced over at Ryker in the kitchen before making my way out of the house. He would know where I was and I knew he would come after me.
I didn’t know what it was about it but I knew there was something I was yet to figure out. I found myself going back there until I was just standing in front of the tree with my father’s name carved into it wondering what it was that I was missing. There had to be more.
I wasn’t sure how long I stood there until I felt Ryker’s presence behind me. “What are we looking at?”
I nearly jumped but his hand was on my waist holding me in place and calming me. He placed a soft kiss on my shoulder blade and inhaled deeply. I couldn’t help but lean back into his arms and let my head fall against his chest.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I just feel like we are missing something important. Why would he keep the box here and not the key? That doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe the key got lost or maybe he put it somewhere else because he never wanted it to be opened,” he offered but I shook my head. My father was more careful than that. There was no way he would allow it to get missing. “It’s night, Camilla and it is cold, what you need right now is a warm bed.”
I was going to agree, the response was at the tip of my tongue when I noticed something there. There was a hole at the side of the tree, the kind where squirrels would burrow into. It was dark and I couldn’t see into it so I did the next thing I could think of, I stuck my hand inside.
“Are you insane?” Ryker asked. “There could be a wild animal in there.” I ignored him and felt around. “Camilla please, you could get hurt. We can come back to this in the morning.”
I was about to give up when I felt something foreign, it felt like a piece of string. I pulled it out and dusted it off only to scoff. I turned and showed it to Ryker. He looked just as stunned as I felt as he scoffed. He reached out for it almost blindly as if he were shocked at what he was seeing. I wouldn’t have blamed him because I was too.
“A key,” he breathed.
I nodded. “How much do you want to bet that it fits into that box?”
