Eighth-Born Luna (Emily and Nathan) novel Chapter 127

hapter 127

Emily’s POV

The second they dragged the captured pack away, I ran back to my room.

My heart hammered against my ribs. Marcus was here. Inside this place. Inside Declan’s kingdom.

Goddess. This was really happening.

I slammed the door behind me and immediately dropped onto the floor.

“Okay…” I whispered to myself. “Think.”

The phantom wolf. The dream. Nathan had seen me. And during the trial, that wolf hadn’t just stayed in my body -it had stepped into the real world. Which meant maybe I could reach Marcus, too.

I forced myself to slow my breathing. I sat cross–legged on the carpet and closed my eyes.

Find him. Find him.

Slowly, the room faded. The walls disappeared. Everything went black. Then, suddenly, I saw stone. Chains. A lungeon.

Marcus was sitting against the far wall beside Owen while rogues paced outside the bars. Then Marcus looked

lirectly at me. His entire body jerked.

“What the hell is THAT?”

Owen scrambled back, nearly hitting the wall in shock. “Holy shit-”

I quickly raised my hands. “Don’t panic. It’s me.”

Marcus stared at my glowing, transparent body in total disbelief. “…Emily?”

“Astral projection, phantom wolf power,” I whispered. “Long story.”

Marcus blinked. Then he grinned. “Well, that’s mildly terrifying.”

He joked. Even now. I almost laughed from the pure relief of it.

“I’m trying to figure out how to get you out,” I said urgently.

Marcus snorted. “Emily, we came here to rescue you.”

“Yeah,” Owen muttered. “You’re literally the hostage here.”

A sudden crash echoed through the dungeon. Then came the screaming. Marcus straightened up immediately.

“…That’s my girls.”

D.c.

T

13.1.

1:36 pm P PTM

Suddenly, women flooded the room.

They were beautiful and soft–looking, but lethal. One rogue guard stumbled forward, clutching his throat as blood poured through his fingers. Another hit the floor with his neck twisted at a sickening angle.

I stared in shock. These women moved fast. They were precise. Violent. One of thèm kicked a ring of keys across the stone floor toward Marcus.

“Took you long enough,” he teased.

The girl rolled her eyes while unlocking his chains. “The men were heavily guarded,” she smirked. “Nobody

expected us to fight.”

Marcus stood up and stretched his shoulders. He looked directly at me again. “Where are they keeping you?”

“Upper tower,” I answered quickly.

Marcus grinned. “Well then.” He cracked his neck. “Hang tight, princess. We will be soon”

The world around me lurched. A sharp pain stabbed through my head. I’d been under too long. I couldn’t hold the projection anymore. Everything shattered.

Suddenly, I was back in my room, gasping on the floor. My entire body shook from the effort, but they were free. Marcus’s women had started a full revolt inside the castle.

Declan’s men didn’t expect women to fight without shifting. They didn’t expect the prisoners to break themselves out. The rogues were about to find out how wrong they were.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

I scrambled toward the door. “Open up!”

The guard cracked the door open with an irritated growl. “What?”

I forced panic onto my face. “I’m hungry.”

The rogue blinked. “…What?”

“I said I want dinner.”

“Not happening.”

Suddenly, Nathan’s voice flashed through my mind. If you’re ever cornered, hit the throat first. Then the groin.

I moved instantly. My fist slammed into the rogue’s throat, and he gagged. I didn’t give him a second to recover–1 drove my knee up into his groin, folding him in half. The rogue tumbled backward down the stairs, gasping for air.

I didn’t wait. I sprinted back into the room, shoved my hand under the mattress, and grabbed the stolen crystal shards, my library notes, and the symbols I’d copied. Everything disappeared into my pockets.

1:36 pm P

Then I ran.

Alarms were already screaming from deep inside the castle. Perfect. Chaos. I flew down the tower stairs two at a ime until I crashed right into Marcus at the bottom.

“Well,” I panted. “Looks like the princess saved herself.”

Marcus laughed. “Not completely.”

Owen stared at me like he still couldn’t believe I was actually standing in front of him alive. His eyes ran over me, aking in the silver collar. I saw the questions building in his face. Too many questions. Too much pain.

“Not now,” I cut him off. There would be time later. If we survived.

I turned toward Marcus instead. “Why are you even here?”

Marcus snorted, pulling a stolen blade from a dead rogue’s belt. “Well…” He shrugged, ignoring the chaos xploding around us. “When Nathan Blackwood starts looking homicidal and asks for help…” A grin spread across is face. “Kind of hard to say no.”

My heart skipped a beat at Nathan’s name. “…He’s here?”

Marcus glanced at me, and for the first time since I’d escaped my tower, his expression softened. “He never

topped looking for you, Emily.”

My throat closed up.

Marcus kept moving, talking fast. “The second Ryan showed up with your sketch, Nathan lost his damn mind. So ve, mostly he, organized all of this tonight.”

Owen nodded. “The fake attack on Marcus pack?”

I blinked. “What?”

“Nathan planned the entire thing with my help,” Marcus explained, dragging me down the stairs, “We baited Declan into attacking us so we could infiltrate the portal from the inside.”

Every word hit me like electricity. They did all this for me. Goddess.

“He’s waiting at the other side of the portal,” Marcus continued. “If we move fast, we’ll reach the portal before Declan realizes what’s happening.”

The thought of seeing Nathan nearly made my knees give out. Freedom. Home. My mate.

We burst outside into the freezing mountain air. Smoke rose behind us from the castle while alarms screamed hrough the valley. The crystal cave waited ahead. So close.

We started running, but I stopped short, pulling Marcus back by the arm.

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