Sage
"This was his bloody shortcut?" I turned to see Axel eyeing Xander with clenched teeth.
"It took less than a day" i tried to give him a smile and looked up at the Cohen palace that towered before us. It was white, completely opposite to the one we had in Kallihan which blended into the dark grey skies.
"Its five in the evening Sage. We saved barely four hours" he looked at me with that same glare.
I shook my head and open the car door, stepping out to stretch my legs for the first time in hours.
The car ride wasn't as disastrous as I thought it might be. Neither of us mentioned the incident on the balcony, neither did we talk any more about the War. Well it was mostly him cussing at Xander for making us go through rough terrain and not taking the main highway.
"Welcome to Cohen" Xander stood a few feet away from us with his hands in his pockets, an arrogant smirk plastered on his face. And rightly so.
It was obvious he meant that greet for Axel since this was his first time here. Axel was out of the car by now too, looking around, scanning the place.
Cohen was a beautiful place. Built centuries ago, much like all the other Kingdoms. The only difference was they preserved most of their old architecture, which made the whole city look somewhat out of a vintage painting.
"You were right" Axel smirked
"About?" Xander took a step towards us.
"Y'all aren't savages" he turned around to take in the architecture around him and turned to grab some things from the back seat.
My eyes widened in surprise at his statement and immediately shot to Xander who was already shooting me deadly glares.
I walked towards him putting my arm through his and turning to face the palace.
"He likes being funny" I shook my head.
"He tries" he rolled his eyes at me , causing me to chuckle.
We took a few steps ahead when we heard a laugh and I immediately recognised that sweet voice. Xander's eyes immediately shot to the entrance of the palace. His lips formed into the widest smile as he looked intently in the direction.
"Daddy" the little girl came running towards him with open arms. I recognised that pretty little face. Kinsley.
Xander took a few steps towards her, kneeling down to match her height as he wrapped her in a warm hug, making the child almost disappear in his broad arms.
I felt someone step beside me, I didn't bother looking, I knew who it was.
"He has a daughter?" he leaned into my ears with a low voice.
"Long story" I nodded. Still keeping my eyes on Xander and Kinsley, feeling my heart fill with joy looking at them like that.
"Let's go in" Xander stood up with the little girl in his arms and glanced at us before walking in.
The interior of the palace was completely opposite to its exterior, it was dominated by dark hardwood floors and almost similar walls and furniture. The windows were huge, allowing ample amount of light to pass through.
I sat down on the couch as Xander spoke to one of his men with a grimm look on his face. They continued speaking in hushed tones so I didn't evesdrop on their conversation.
"You gonna stay at the boarding house?" Xander walked over to me along with one of the men he was talking to.
"No need for that. We're just here to meet the witch." I sat up. I wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.
Axel had walked over to us by now and sat down on the sofa opposite me.
"Where is she? The witch" his curious tone made Xander turn towards him.
"She'll be here any minute. Why don't you both go freshen up. The boarding house has been cleaned up for you" he did nothing to camouflage the grimm expression on his face.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing" he shook his head.
I didn't respond. I just leaned back and continued looking at him. This usually worked. And it did.
He ran his hand through his hair and sat down on the sofa beside Axel.
"One of our men got attacked " he looked back at the blonde haired man standing beside him who reflected the same expression as him.
"How?" Axel looked back and forth between the men beside him.
"Hunters" Xander began getting fidgety, tapping his foot, licking his lips.
I looked over at Axel, he had his head down pinching the bridge of his nose. I knew he had something on his mind. He probably wasn't comfortable enough to say anything about in front of Xander and the other man.
"Now what?" I looked at Xander with a serious look. He was one of the sweetest men I knew, but when it came to defending his pack and his people, he could be the most ruthless person.
"Stefan here will show y'all to the house" he glanced at the blonde haired man beside him. "I have some stuff to take care of. Excuse me." He turned around and disappeared in seconds.
I knew he was trying very hard to contain his anger. I was surprised how he managed to contain himself that long and not snap.
I glanced at Axel who had stood up to follow Stefan, I gestured him to carry on and ran after Xander.
I walked down a long hallway only to enter a huge hall. It was surrounded by glass on all sides, it wasn't hard to spot Xander standing outside on the porch with his hands on his hips. My ears focused on his rapid heartbeats as I walked towards the back door.
"Xander"
He turned around to look at me. His eyes held a kind of anger I hadn't seen in a while.
"Don't" his tone had a warning in them as his eyes started getting yellow by the second. I knew exactly what was happening so I took a few steps back.
His shirt ripped apart as his shoulders began expanding and fangs started getting more and more visible . His nails started shooting out getting darker and longer until they were sharp enough to rip through anything in sight. His pants were nothing but rags on the floor.
Within a matter of seconds his clothes were lying ripped on the floor and Xander stood before me as a full fledged wolf. He was tall, dark grey. Absolutely majestic. He just stood there for a few seconds staring out at the forest infront of him and took off running. I stood there watching him run until he disappeared into the green abyss.
I took a step out to feel the cold breeze.
"Sage?" I turned around to find a pair of green eyes staring at me.
"Yes" I furrowed my eyebrows at her.
She gave me a warm smile. And pushed herself off the door frame she was leaning against and walked towards me.
"My name's Arabella" she reached her hand towards me to shake and I did the same.
The minute my hand touched hers her smile faded away and she looked down at my hand with furrowed brows. She put her other hand over mine as well and focused on it for a second before letting go slowly and looking back at me.
"That's the most intense handshake I've ever had" I smirked, causing her to let out a chuckle.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make things uncomfortable" she took a step back.
"Well I just saw Xander's clothes rip off before he transitioned so don't worry about it" i shook my head trying to get that image out of my head. She looked at me for a second before she processed what I meant and burst out laughing at the same time I did.
"So do you greet everyone like that?" I tried gave her a sarcastic nod.
"I'm the witch you're here to see" she took a few steps out and sat one of the steps beneath us as she tried to contain her laugh as well.
"Ahhh" I walked down the few stairs of the porch and turned to face her.
"Its not in you. The hex has worn off" she shook her head.
"Are you sure?" I gave her a questionable look. She nodded.
As glad as I was to hear that, it meant this trip was a waste. We came all this way for nothing.
"Now what? What do we do?" I furrowed my eyebrows.
She just sat there for a while with a vacant stare before something clicked and her eyes focused on me.
"There is one thing we can do" her voice was hesitant, making me curious as to what was coming next.
I gave her a look and she understood, so she continued.
"There's a spell we could try..." her eyes fixed on the floor as her voice trailed off.
"Its risky" there was a warning in her eyes.
"Spit it out" I shot back, getting impatient. The thought of coming so far and not getting anything out of it was annoying me.
"Its a little complicated but it could work" it was as if she was convincing herself.
"Arabella" I shot her a glare.
"So basically you'll be in a state of hypnosis and I'll try and go through your mind to see if we can find anything" she exhaled a long breath.
"Haha do I look stupid to you?" She was taken aback by my tone. Her eyes widened almost in surprise. She shook her head but I didn't want to hear anything. Witches are not to be trusted. Period.
"No" I put a finger up and she stopped whatever she was about to say.
"I'm not that desperate for answers to let some witch into my head." I hissed out through clenched teeth.
Something snapped in her and the surprise in her face turned to an intense glare.
I stood in my place for a second before a felt a sharp pain through my temples and my hand immediately reached up to grab my head. She stood up and took a step back. I lost my sense of reason and rushed towards her, but was I ran into something. It was like an invisible baracade keeping me away from her.
"Listen to me Sage" she said in a determined tone.
"I'm not some shady amateur witch from the woods. I know exactly what I said. And I know you don't trust me. And I know you're not selfless enough to put yourself on the line for anyone but yourself. Guess what? I don't care. You know why? Because there are other people at risk here besides you. Too many."
The pain shooting through me was becoming worse by the second.
"Stop it" I slammed my fist against the barrier.
I thought she wouldn't stop until my brain exploded, but to my surprise she did. I was almost ony knees, leaning against the barrier for support.
I took a second to compose myself and ran my hands through my hair and pressed them against my head to soothe myself.
"You do have a temper" she smirked.
"Put the barrier down. You'll see." I smirked back, mirroring what she did.
She waved her hand.
"Its down" she crossed her hands over her chest and eyed at me with a challenging look.
What? Why would she do this? Was she suicidal?
No one had ever done something like this infront of me before.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" I put my hands on my hips, looking at her with a confused look.
"We're all just as threatened by these attacks as you are. Why don't you understand that?" She took a step towards me, stepping down from the porch.
"I'm not letting you into my mind Arabella" I crossed my hands over my chest.
"You don't have to let me into your mind Sage" she copied my tone. This woman really wanted her neck snapped didn't she.
"What do you mean?"
"I'll link us both. You'll have full control over your memories. You decide where you go. I'll just be riding shotgun to keep you anchored. Does that sound good?"
I took a second and just looked at her, processing her words, combing through all the worst things that could happen.
"But I don't remember most of what happened that night" i shook my head.
"It happened.You blacked out, maybe that's why you can't remember it but it's there, in the back of your mind.You witnessed it so it has to be there. You just gotta go deep enough" she gave me a meaningful look. I knew she wasn't lying.
She wasn't wrong when she said other species are at risk either. Cohen already had unknown vamps strolling in, the hunters are practically always ready for was, the witches...I don't know about them. But this one seems adamant on figuring this out.
"Why are you helping us?" I furrowed my brows at her in confusion.
"Witches are being attacked and threatened and accused Sage." She ran her hand through her hair, clearly frustrated.
"We've always had a bad reputation. One witch kills a baby and the whole village gets burned down you know" she smiled sarcastically. Again, she wasn't wrong.
I gave her a hesitant look.
"So what say?" She gave me a wide eyed look. "We can only go in ten minutes." I know this was unlike me but somehow I just knew she wasn't lying.
"Ten minutes." I gave her a glare.
"Done" she nodded.
"So Dream walking it is"
************
Dream walking?
I need some thoughts and theories!
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