Chapter 183
RYKER’S P.O.V
Lyla had written one word in the sand. I tried to imagine how much pain she was in and what it took out of her to use her own blood to write in the sand. I had no idea what it meant but at this point, I was ready to take anything. It was one simple word written so sloppily that you needed a special skill to be able to read it- hill. I wasn’t sure if it was a clue as to where Reina was keeping Camilla or a clue into the future, whatever it was, I was searching the hills first.
I rushed into the palace ignoring the others behind me as I rushed to search for the weapon we had hidden. If I was to find Reina then I needed to do it fast. I didn’t know what she had planned for Camilla but I knew that it couldn’t possibly be good. Once I found it, I stashed it with my other weapons glad that it easily blended with them. I was on my way out when Christine positioned herself in my doorway.
“Wait, you need to see something,” she told me and it took everything in me not to lose my cool.
“I have immense respect for you as Camilla’s cousin and as family,” I began slowly, “but if you do not get out of my way, I will make you and we both do not want that.”
I made to side step her but once again she stepped into my path. “I just need you to listen to me for five seconds. You don’t even know where you are going and I might have the answer to that.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Can you suddenly see the future now? You better have something good or this will not be a pleasant experience.”
“Kevin was found in the woods and he doesn’t look good. I think he might have had an experience with Reina. He looks the same as the others, like he was touched by death’s hand.”
Of all the things I expected her to say, that wasn’t one of them. I had completely forgotten that I had instructed Kevin to watch over Camilla. I muttered a curse under my breath before taking off towards the front of the palace where Kevin was fighting furiously against the hold of the other guards. I couldn’t make out much of their conversation but I could tell that he was trying his hardest to ensure that he was not taken to the physician’s quarters.
“My duty is to the queen,” he spat fighting against the numerous hands holding him down. “If we leave now then we can get her, we can find the witch and put an end to it.”
“Leave him,” I ordered. I didn’t yell or speak louder than I normally would but somehow, they all heard my words and took slow steps away from him. Kevin turned to me and breathed a sigh of relief.
He truly looked terrible. His skin was pale, flaky and withered. He looked worse than any of the other men we had come across. It was like her magic was becoming worse with each person that she touched and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. His body shook with each step that he took, as if it were straining his entire body. Before he got to where I stood, he stumbled and a guard had to rush to steady him.
“What happened?” I asked. I didn’t care for much except the whereabouts of my mate. I wanted to know how possible it was that she went missing under his watch and no one in the entire palace was able to notice.
“She wanted to see you and she told me that I could either go with her or go alone,” he whispered softly and I resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of my nose.
Camilla had always been stubborn but this was another level entirely, even for her. There was no reason for her to demand to see me when I was already coming home. It was something she could do and when I found her, I was going to tie her to the bed and make sure she understood the importance of her personal safety. It was almost as if she preferred to disregard it in favor of everyone else.
“What happened next?” I managed out through gritted teeth. “Where did Lyla come in? Where the fuck is my mate and where avej Deen?”
He swallowed. “We were on our by when Lyla came in yelling that we shouldn’t leave. The Queen wanted to return but she appeared. It all happened so fast, one second we were there and the next, Lyla was bleeding on the ground. I tried to run out with the Queen but she cast some spell on me and when I woke up I was like this. I did everything that I could and I accept full responsibility for this.”
He bowed his head in shame and some illogical and irrational part of me wanted to blame him for everything, wanted to make him pay but he had nothing to do with it. My issue was with Reina and I was going to make sure that she suffered for everything that she had done. I clasped his shoulder and gave him a firm nod to let him know that I didn’t blame him.
I turned to Christine. “Get the guards ready, no one sleeps, eats or drinks anything until Camilla is back in this palace. I don’t give a shit how long it takes. I want half the guards here guarding and the other half combing the forest, am I clear?”
She nodded and rushed off immediately I finished my sentence. I turned to Kevin. “You need to rest so get Steven and have him watch my daughters. I don’t care who walks into that room to see them, kill first and ask questions later.”
He nodded in understanding and I turned to Juan who was already waiting for me. I knew nothing I would say would change his mind so I didn’t bother. Within minutes, we were on our horses and rushing towards the forest. There were at least five different hills that I knew of. Lyla’s message was cryptic at best and while having everyone in one place would have been ideal, it meant we would be slower so I split us up.
I hated every second of doing it but it was necessary that we found Camilla as soon as possible. The plan was to mind link the others if we happened to find Camilla but I knew I wasn’t going to do that. Reina was powerful, I wasn’t sure about exactly how powerful she was but I knew that she could wipe us all out if she wanted. There was a reason she took Camilla alone and I wanted to know why.
We combed through the woods in silence. I didn’t want to risk alerting Reina to our presence. The best thing we had was the element of surprise. She didn’t know that we had an idea where she was. Hell, we truly didn’t have an idea, this was a hunch and I prayed that it was a good one or else we would have wasted hours of our time combing through empty woods.
I had to ditch the horses the closer we got to the hills and follow up on foot. I tried to ignore the gnawing feeling in my chest telling me that it was late and I was wasting my time. I prayed for even a hint of her scent or something to tell me I was going the right way. I was so close to the edge when I got a whiff of something. it wasn’t Camilla’s scent but I immediately knew it would lead me to her because it smelled like pure death.
“Stay behind me,” I instructed the guards as I followed it.
The closer I got to it, the more the trees looked withered and the stronger it got. I couldn’t make out anything but that scent. It was horribly suffocating and I had to pull my shirt over my nose just to be able to stand it.
The scent led me to the opposite edge of the same cliff and that was when I saw her- Reina. She was just as surprised to see me as I was her. I looked around hoping to catch a glimpse of Camilla but I couldn’t see her so I quickly sent a mind link to the others.
“I found Reina, Camilla will be nearby. Search for her and tell the others.”
I knew it would take a while for the others to come and I secretly hoped I would be done with it all by the time they arrived. I wanted to say more but I quickly realized that I couldn’t access my mind link anymore. Reina smiled cruelly at me and I knew she was the reason.
I pulled out a dagger but she flicked her hand and it was like every bone in my body was on fire. The dagger slipped free and with another flick, vines reached out to wrap around me.
“You should know better than to bring weapons to this kind of fight,” she clicked her tongue before stepping back and that was when I saw Camilla, she was bound with the same vines in front of what looked like an altar. “We just have some party guests that we are waiting for. They should be here soon.”
“My guards will be here first,” I warned. “You’re done, Reina.”
She cocked her brow. “Well then, I think it would be best if we kept them a little bit busy. Did you know that there was once a great battle here?”
“What does that have to do with this?”
She laughed. “You silly man, it has everything to do with this. You wolves have never been able to see past your own noses, have you? It will be the death of you.”
Before I could ask what she meant, she closed her eyes and stretched her hand out. She exhaled deeply and I watched as the ground began to rumble and a skeletal hand shot through.
