Dread seeped into my skin as we approached the cave. The area was dark and there was no light peaking from behind the waterfall. King Ruben had commanded that a fire always be lit after what had happened.
My breathing hitched and I pushed my legs to go faster. Valen sensed my urgency and sped up as well.
Soon, we were diving under under the black water and resurfacing under the waterfall. I took in my surroundings as my eyes adjusted to the scene before me.
The base looked like it had been ransacked. Papers were everywhere, tables and chairs had been thrown around and knocked over, and burnt ashes and logs from a previous fire were scattered all over the dark ground.
My ears perked as I heard groaning coming from the opposite end of the room. Valen and I rushed over to see two bodies slumped on the floor.
He pulled a waterproof flashlight out of his bag and shined the light on them.
Celia and Von lay before us, unconscious and bleeding.
Von's nose looked crooked and there was dried blood around his mouth. Celia was bleeding from somewhere in her hair line, a thin trail of the red liquid running down her temple and pooling below just below her ear.
We immediately rushed to them. I tore the hem of my shirt off and put it to Celia's head. She hissed in pain and tried to roll away from me.
I glanced over to Valen who was trying to rouse Von into a sitting position. Once he finally got him up, Von clutched his head and groaned again.
Valen flashed the light into his eyes, checking his pupil dilation. Von angrily slapped the flashlight out of his hands.
"Yes, I probably have a concussion but that's not important right now," he muttered out.
Valen retrieved the light and bent down in front of Von.
"What happened here?" he asked while handing him a piece of cloth to press to his nose.
Von took it gratefully before explaining.
"We were ambushed. It happened so fast that I didn't have time to mind-link King Ruben. Seven wolves barged in here and wrecked the place, before knocking out Artemis and taking her. We tried to fight back, but Celia and I couldn't take them on by ourselves." He looked up into Valen's eyes.
"She's gone. I have to get her back." His voice cracked on his last words.
Valen clenched his jaw in anger but put his hand on his brother's shoulder.
"It's okay, Von. I've known you long enough to know that you fought your hardest. What about her?" He jerked his head in Celia's direction.
She was still passed out, but was beginning to make little whimpers of pain. I pressed the cloth to her head once more.
"I didn't see much. I was focused on Artemis," Von looked down with shame clouding his face.
I saw Valen's eyes glaze over as he mind-linked someone-who I assumed to be his brother. They sat in silence for a moment, just staring at each other.
"Son of a bitch," Von swore when their silent conversation had ended.
He looked to Celia with pure rage in his eyes.
"I swear to the Goddess, if she's the one who's helping them, I'll kill her myself."
I glanced at Valen and he nodded, confirming to me that he had told Von what we had discovered at the ruins.
"I'll be right back," Valen excused himself.
"I need to get in touch with father."
He stood up and walked to the fire pit, bending down and to begin assembling a new one. Von turned to me.
"We can't let her know yet that we suspect anything."
"I agree."
It was silent for a moment before he spoke again.
"I can't believe she'd do this."
He ground his teeth together and I saw his eyes flash in the low light that was coming from the newly burning fire.
"I'm not so sure she did," I responded to him.
"The scent was similar, but I can't be positive it was hers. Maybe she is helping them, maybe not, but I don't think she'd be the mastermind behind everything."
Before he could respond, Celia sat up and glared at me.
"What do you think you're doing?" she snarled.
"Trying to keep your head from bleeding more," I bit back.
"Here."
I threw the cloth at her and moved away. She narrowed her eyes at me but put it back to her head, wincing a little as it touched her skin.
Valen returned at that moment and sent her an icy glare.
"We are to return to the safehouse. Now."
Celia's eyes widened just a bit at his tone, but she nodded her head.
"Help me up then, Valen," she purred to him and raised her hand in the air.
He lifted his lip at her in disgust.
"You sat up by yourself. You can walk by yourself."
He slapped her outstretched hand away and approached Von and I.
"Are you able to walk?" he asked him.
Von nodded his head and stood. He was a little wobbly at first but he quickly regained his balance.
I heaved myself off of the ground and stood next to my mate, sending a look over to Celia.
Her eyebrows were furrowed and her lips were pursed but she didn't hesitate to follow our lead. I curled my hand in Valen's as we made our way out of the cave.
The journey back to the safehouse was long, and the night sky covered the mountains when we arrived.
We made our way down to the sitting room and Aislinn immediately jumped to action and began treating Von and Celia's wounds.
I wondered how she knew all of this. She wasn't a pack doctor, but her steady hands proved to me that she had done this many times before. I decided I'd have to ask her about it later.
"Where is the king?" I asked her.
"He'll be here shortly, along with Anton. They were able to get in touch with the council members. They'll be arriving in the morning."
Her voice sounded strained, and I knew there was something she wasn't telling me.
When she looked my way, I raised an eyebrow at her.
She clenched her jaw and shook her head. The movement was so slight that, unless one was looking directly at her, it would have been missed.
I set my jaw and looked away. What could have happened that she couldn't say it in front of us?
Once she finished stitching up the deep cut in Celia's head, she moved over and sat in front of Von.
"This is going to hurt," she warned as she dabbed antiseptic on his nose.
Once the blood was cleared, I could see a deep gash across the now crooked bridge of his nose. I tried to hide my gasp but failed.
"It looks worse than it is," Von tried to assure me.
I had to look away when Aislinn took the bone between her fingers. I heard a loud crack and Von swore under his breath as she set the bone back in place.
Valen walked up behind me and put a comforting arm around my shoulders.
"You can look now, it's over," he whispered into my ear.
I glanced back at Von to see that he was holding another cloth to his nose, but luckily, it was now straight.
Popping it back into place must have caused it to start bleeding again.
Aislinn stood up and gathered up the bloody gauze and clothes she had been using.
"I'll bring out some coffee," was all she said as she left the room.
Valen led me over to one of the couches and pulled me down to sit beside him. I pulled my legs up underneath me and cuddled into his side. He began to stroke my hair and I could feel myself trying to fall asleep.
I snapped out of it when Aislinn returned with five steaming cups of coffee. I took one and breathed in it's heavenly scent.
"Thank you," I said before taking a sip. She smiled at me and handed the next one to Valen.
We sat in an awkward silence, sipping our coffees, until we heard the outside door slam.
I saw Celia jump out of the corner of my eye and Von clenched his jaw. The door to the study flew open and King Ruben stomped in with Anton right behind him.
Valen clutched me closer to him and I was glad he did. I hadn't seen King Ruben's rage first hand yet, and it was very intimidating.
Anger rolled off of him in waves and he took a few deep breaths to try and calm himself. He was grinding his teeth when Anton put a hand on his shoulder.
He glared back at him, but let out one last breath before turning to us.
"The meeting with the council is in the morning. Get some rest."
I lowered my eyes and followed Valen when he grabbed my hand to retreat to our room.
"Not you, Celia," I heard King Ruben call.
"You're going to be staying right here all night."
I turned back and saw her face pale as she faced King Ruben once more.
"Yes, your majesty," she whispered as she sat back down.
I caught King Ruben's gaze once more before we turned the corner and it was very clear that he believed she was involved with everything.
I shuddered and followed Valen to our room, wondering what tomorrow would bring.
Author's Note:
It's about to get TENSE up in here. What do you guys think? Is Celia guilty? What does King Ruben have planned for tomorrow? And most importantly, what happened to Artemis?!
Comment and Vote to let me know what you think!
Xoxo,
CrimsynIris