The Second Chance Of The Rejected Moon (Celine and Bastian) novel Chapter 160

Chapter 160

Omniscient Narration

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The silence lasts only a few seconds. Bastian plants himself in front of Vladimir and Johan, but when he sees the prince’s reaction, Johan steps in front of his brother. It’s a simple gesture, but a significant one for someone who is clearly willing to put himself between his brother and danger to protect him. Only this time, that instinct is strange for both brothers. They have hated each other for as long as they can remember, and yet Johan has just placed himself between Vladimir and the man who looks ready to tear his head off.

“Where is my wife, warlock?” Bastian growls, and his father grabs him by the arm, pulling him back.

“I don’t know. I saw the same thing you did,” Johan replies.

Vladimir shoves his brother aside, but he doesn’t waste time looking at either of them. His attention returns to the rest of the room as Zharzel gets to his feet. The warlock walks toward him, and Morthem steps aside to give him room, watching the scene with that calmness that seems impossible to disturb, even when everything around him threatens to collapse.

Outside, the explosions don’t stop. Rain pounds against the windows, and thunder makes the castle walls tremble. Inside the room, no one seems willing to say a word. Everyone is still trying to process what just happened, but there is one thing none of them can ignore: Celine disappeared right in front of them, and no one could do anything to stop it.

“She’ll be fine. She’ll come back.”

Everyone’s attention turns toward the demon.

“How do you know?”

“I know because I know who took her, and I don’t think a greater demon would have any interest in a wolf. If he took her, then he probably did it to help her.”

The certainty in his voice makes several people exchange glances across the room. Morthem says nothing. but his eyes remain fixed on Zharzel. Celine’s friends, Thomas and Jared, remain nearby, tense and alert to every word, while Magnus stays beside his son, ready to restrain him if he loses control again.

“Why would he do that? Since when does a demon interfere in the supernatural world?”

Chris’s voice makes Ciro and Tanner turn toward him.

Zharzel shakes his head.

“Isn’t it obvious?” the demon asks.

“What is obvious?”

Bastian rubs his temples, trying to keep himself under control. His breathing grows heavier, and his wolf, Zack, claws at the inside of his mind, searching for a way to take control.

“Your mate… is special, Bastian Thorn,” Vladimir says wearily. “She’s a terrible wolf, which means,

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The Second Chance Of The Rejected Moon

unfortunately for you, that she has multiple mate bonds.”

“That’s bullshit!”

No one answers immediately.

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Bastian remains in the middle of the room, breathing heavily as he looks around. For the first time since opening his eyes, he seems to actually notice where he is and who surrounds him. His gaze moves across the faces he doesn’t recognize, stopping on Morthem, Zharzel, Chris, Ciro, and Tanner before returning to the men standing near the bed. They all seem to know Celine. They all seem to know something he doesn’t.

His gaze eventually returns to the place where she had been.

The bed is empty, stained with blood.

Bastian lowers his eyes to the disheveled sheets, and for several seconds he doesn’t seem capable of understanding what he’s looking at. Celine was there. He saw her. He held her. He heard her breathing. And now she’s gone.

He raises a hand to his face and closes his eyes, trying to put his memories in order, but all he can find is the moment when everything went dark, followed by waking up.

To him, there is no entire year between those two moments. There is no time that passed while he remained unconscious. There are no places Celine had to travel through, no wounds she suffered, no events that took place while he was still trapped in that bed.

When he opens his eyes again, his gaze falls on his father.

“How long was I unconscious, Father?”

Magnus doesn’t answer immediately.

Bastian looks around again. The explosions continue outside, rain pounds against the windows, and there are far too many people inside his chamber, people who seem to be part of a life he doesn’t remember living. Then he looks back at the bed and remembers Celine’s belly.

A pregnancy that, for some reason he doesn’t understand, is far too advanced.

His expression changes.

“What happened to Celine?”

Ciro shakes his head and gestures for his friends to leave the chamber. The king and his son need to talk, but Vladimir refuses to leave, and Johan doesn’t seem willing to go either. The others eventually file out, leaving behind the sound of the explosions that continues to shake the castle.

Only the four of them remain.

Magnus sinks to the floor and rests his back against the wall, as though the full weight of everything that has happened has suddenly fallen onto his shoulders. The brothers move away from each other, and Bastian remains in the center of the room, wearing the most confused expression Magnus has ever seen on his face.

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His gaze moves from one to the other, trying to find an explanation among faces he knows and others he still can’t place within the reality he has just returned to.

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