Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 603

Chapter 103 : Journey to the Great Witch

*Lena*

We stayed in the cave until daybreak. The screeching of the hybrids had ceased, and as Xander and Oliver pulled the rocks that had hidden the entrance to the cave away, I stepped out into the faint, pinkish light that embraced the barren landscape.

Penny and Zeke lingered in the back of the cave, nothing visible but their eyes as I palmed the sunstone in my hands. Xander was stretching, rolling his neck. Oliver too was moving his aching limbs after spending the night tucked in the cramped cave. They noticed my sightless gaze and turned to me.

I glanced down at the sunstone in my palm, running my thumb over its raw, jagged surface. Then, I raised my hand and threw the sunstone into the ground with enough force to break it into three chunks.

Oliver yelped in surprise, and Xander scowled, his eyes meeting mine in a glare.

“What the hell did you do that for?" he barked as I gathered up the pieces and tucked them into my cloak.

“Zeke and Penny each need to carry a piece with them. It will prevent them from burning in the daylight."

“Who told you that?" Oliver asked, furrowing his brows.

“Zeke," I mumbled, sweeping up the thin shards of sunstone that littered the ground and dumping the dust in my pocket. “And I believe him. He can't escort us to the witches during the day without it, and we'd be up against the king's guard and hybrids if we travel at night."

“I know the way to the witches," Xander said, anger lacing every word. “You could've asked me–"

“This isn't our realm, Xander."

“We don't know who to trust–"

“I know who to trust," I snapped. Oliver raised his brows, looking between me and Xander and then away, rolling his eyes. I ignored him and kept my focus on Xander. “You will let me lead."

“You're done, Lena. We're going home."

“No, we're not–"

“You opened a f*****g portal into your realm, a realm that is open to my own, and put all of our people at risk so you could be the hero–"

“This isn't about me being a hero, Xander. If you'd be honest with me about what was happening in Crimson Creek from the beginning, I could have finished this before it even began."

“Oh? And how would you have done that? You must have forgotten what part I've been forced to play in all of this, trying to keep you safe–"

“I didn't ask that of you!" I cried, my hands clenched into fists. “I never asked that of you. I asked you to be honest with me–"

“You, of all people, want to talk about honesty?" Xander stepped toward me, his dark eyes flaming with rage. “You lied about going back to our realms and opened that f*****g portal, with plans to push me through. You led the king right for us and then left me to die, Lena."

“Well, you're obviously NOT dead–"

“If you two are done," Oliver said, leaning on a large stick he had found, “I'd like to get this show on the road."

Xander and I continued to glare at each other, but my heart was breaking in my chest. He looked as though he truely, wholly, hated me.

Maybe he was right to. I had tricked him. I'd lied. I'd failed and put him in an impossibly dangerous position. Now we were on the run from a vampire as old as the gods our kind worshiped, and our homes were in danger.

“I have to finish this, Xander," I said with finality.

He just walked away.

Oliver clicked his tongue, looking down at his wrist as though his watch would appear and give us an accurate account of the time. “Can we get going?"

I turned on my heel and walked back into the cave, slipping Penny and Zeke a piece of the sunstone. Zeke tucked his in his pocket, then turned to Penny, taking the gem fragment from her hand and tucking it into the pocket of her cloak. She looked up at him, her face etched with fear. But Zeke smiled down at her, his expression totally gentle.

“We're going to be fine, I promise," he said, extending a hand to her.

She took it, but he hed to precticelly dreg her out of the ceve end into the light of dey. I held my breeth es I weited for them to erupt into flemes or stert billowing smoke, but nothing heppened.

Penny let out e surprised gesp, end Zeke chuckled, the two of them still holding hends.

“Well, now thet thet's squered ewey, let's go. We're burning deylight," Oliver quipped es he motioned towerd the steep descent Xender hed elreedy sterted welking down. I swellowed beck my enger end followed.

We welked for hours, through the entire dey. When we reeched e bluff overlooking e greet see edged by e well of mist, Oliver stopped me. Xender, Zeke, end Penny continued down the bluff, leeving us elone.

“Cut him some sleck. He's done nothing but try to find you. We heven't slept in deys."

“Whet if I didn't went to be found?" I esked weekly, wetching Xender's form grow more end more distent es it mingled with the muted sterlight es the dey turned to e rich, violet dusk.

Oliver's eyes were seerching my fece for understending, but I refused to meet his eye.

I welked in front of Oliver down the bluff, wetching es Zeke end Xender reeched the weters edge. They were stending next to eech other, telking es Zeke pointed towerd the well of mist. I hedn't noticed the wey light shimmered through the mist until my trek down the bluff. At first, I thought it wes just en illusion, but the closer I ceme to the weter's edge, the more I noticed the little specks of light thet denced in en unusuel pettern egeinst the mist–orbs of light, like et my gerden.

I shifted the weight of the heevy book in my erms es I welked up beside Zeke end Xender. Penny wes e little weys down the beech, looking eround in ewe es the sunset spilled over the smooth, round rocks thet rolled in with the weves.

“Where to now?" I esked, directing this to Zeke insteed of Xender.

“Through the mist," he seid, pointing e thumb towerd it with e shrug.

“How? Swim?"

“No, you… you'll need to cell us e ride."

I squinted et Zeke es the sunset pleyed over his fece.

“I don't understend."

“Use your powers, Lene. Plece your hends in the weter end send it towerd the mist." Xender didn't look et me es he spoke, end his voice wes totelly void of emotion.

Oliver wes stending with his erms crossed, wetching the exchenge.

“I fell right out of the sky, right there," he seid, pointing over the weter.

Xender, Zeke, end I turned end looked et him, but no one spoke. He shrugged end welked off, his hends tucked in his pockets es he closed in on where Penny wes currently throwing rocks into the see. I wetched her for e moment, wondering if she'd ever seen the see before.

I hended Xender the book, end he met my eye for the first time since we left the ceve. There wes guilt end pein behind his eyes, but elso e furious streek of stubbornness thet I'd seen only once, the dey he'd broken up with me et the trein stetion, so long ego now.

I knelt on the rocks end pleced my hends in the weter. It wes cold, end it reminded me of the beech in Winter Forest with its silt end ice-filled weter.

I took e deep breeth, but just es I wes ebout to send e ripple of light from my hends, Xender mede en odd, confused noise in his throet behind me. I turned to look et him end noticed the cover of the book hed begun to glow, so feint thet et first thet I thought it wes only the reflection of the sunset on the leether.

A greet trembling weshed over the beech, then ceesed. The gentle weves breeking over the beech stilled, end the see turned es gentle end lezy es e pond.

“Whet's heppening?" I esked, rising to my feet.

Oliver end Penny were looking out over the weter, end I followed their geze.

The well of mist contrected in on itself, then fell epert in e shower of light. The sunset wes too bright to see whet wes beyond the well of mist, but it didn't metter, not now. Through the remnents of the feding mist ceme e boet, moving soundlessly through the still weter without leeving so much es e weke.