“Juda, wake up,” a voice whispered in my ear, shaking my shoulders gently. “Come on, Juda, you have to get up. Deja’s going to kick your ass.”
My eyes opened, and I started to look around, attempting to remind myself of where I was and why we were there. It was still warm around the camp. Luna’s idea to have several fire pits actually worked, and if anything, I was burning up instead of freezing. I finally faced Hudson who had been trying to wake me up. He definitely hadn’t slept, which meant he stayed up when it was supposed to me who watched for any kind of signal. I guess I owed him once again.
“Look,” he said as he pointed above the trees. It was definitely a smoke signal coming from the direction of the cave. Deja and Gavin must’ve seen something they felt we should all come and see. I reached around me for the rock that I was distracting myself with earlier, twiddling it in between my fingers and then balancing it on my index finger. One does desperate things when they’re bored. I threw it towards the sorcerers, hitting Kory in the back. He started to fight his blankets as he turned to face whoever decided to wake him. It was never fun to wake the Alphas from their sleep. They usually woke up on their own, early in the morning, but if someone had to wake them up, they usually regretted it.
“You need to bring the barrier down,” I snarled as I stood up from the blankets, folding them before putting them back in my bag.
“Give me one fucking reason why I shouldn’t pin you to a tree for Malachi to get?” he shouted as he stood up from the ground.
“Don’t be dramatic,” I hissed. “Take the barrier down. We need to get to Deja and Gavin.”
“Are they in trouble?” Dion asked worriedly. He was out from underneath his blankets with speed that reminded me of a vampire when I brought up his sister and best friend.
“No, but they found something,” I told him. “You see that smoke signal?”
I pointed up above the trees and waited for them to acknowledge what I was trying to show them. They shook their heads as they stared at it, waiting for me to explain.
“If Deja sent a smoke signal it means they found something that we’re going to want to see,” I told them.
“Did even think to tell us about this?” Juno asked, stepping towards me with his Strong, Alpha stance. “You were just going to keep this a secret until something happened?”
“Do you really want to talk about keeping signals a secret?” I barked. “You and the Alphas did the same thing when we were at the farm, and your signal was so obvious. Who the fuck thought it was a good idea to just wave like a mad man on the second story floor of barn.”
“I think I did a great job sending the signal,” Liam whined, annoyed that we didn’t seem to appreciate his role of signaling us back when we were at Ivy’s family home.
“Shut up, Liam,” Levi scolded. “It’s not important right now.”
“Fine,” Juno threw up his hands. “Fine, you’re right. We’re all guilty of keeping things from each other. Kory, just bring the barrier down. We need to make sure Deja and Gavin are okay. Did you know about the signal?”
He pointed at Hudson, who was standing behind me with wide eyes, knowing he was in the same position he was in when Juno questioned where the girls and I had gone. I really needed to figure out a way to keep Hudson in the loop without getting him in trouble.
“No,” Hudson lied. “Well, kind of. Yes, I knew about it.”
“What’s the point of being my second in command if you’re just going to join forces with my sister?” Juno questioned. “She does some sketchy shit.”
“Excuse you!” I interrupted. “I don’t do sketchy shit. I explore. There’s a difference and you know it.”
“Let’s face it, Juno,” Hudson moaned. “You could beat the shit out of me every day and I’ll heal an hour later but she can make my whole life a living hell. That’s five hundred years, Juno!”
“Fine,” Juno shouted giving up completely. He shifted over to me, looking directly into my eyes as he said, “Stop messing with his head.”
“Stop bossing everyone around!” I snapped back just as Kory’s spell was finished. The barrier was down, and our bags were packed. I could tell we were all still tired after only getting a few hours of sleep, but it was better than nothing. Hopefully, whatever Deja and Gavin found was worth it, otherwise, I wouldn’t hear the end of it from the Alphas.
“Do I really make your life a living hell?” I asked Hudson as ran towards the smoke signal. It was easy to talk to him as we were running but it wouldn’t last much longer.
“No,” he answered. “I said you could make my life a living hell. There’s a difference.”
“You need to tell me if I do though,” I told him. “I don’t want that kind of life for either of us.”
“I doubt it’ll come to that,” he smiled as we both picked up the pace.
We were closing in on the smoke signal. I couldn’t sense Deja and Gavin thanks to Kory’s spell, but I could hear two different heartbeats from up ahead and I knew it was them. I’d recognized Deja’s easily, but Gavin’s was still a hit or miss. I was making more of an effort to remember the different heartbeats of the new members of our family. Hudson was easy, but the others would take some time. Their energies were easy to remember, but heartbeats were trickier.
I saw the Alphas stop and I knew we had found Deja and Gavin. The smoke signal was right in front of us now, the bright yellow and orange colors shining brightly in our eyes.
“What did you guys find?” Luna asked as we all crowded around.
“Follow us,” Deja said, as she flicked her wrist, water coming from somewhere to put the flames out. The signal was no longer needed so I guess that makes sense. We followed them along the path that led to the cave. I kept waiting for whatever it was they wanted to show us to just appear but so far nothing happened. None of us questioned them, instead, we continued to walk until we finally came up to what they wanted to show us.
We saw the cave, five lights lit up around the entrance above the carved symbols. That was enough to make me want to go inside again but that wasn’t what Deja and Gavin found. As soon as they pointed their fingers above the cave, five different colored lights caught my attention, making me feel stupid for not noticing them before.
The first color was red, the color of the vampires. The second color was blue, the color of the werewolves, the third was purple for the sorcerers, the fourth was green for the fairies, and the fifth was yellow for the giants. I couldn’t believe we didn’t see them from farther away. They were so bright and shining high in the sky. How did we miss it?
“What’s so special about this cave?” I asked Juno. “I know it’s where the Alphas would meet in secret but why here?”
“This is the center of Medova,” he answered. “This cave sits in part of each territory. I don’t know anything about the lights though. Dad never mentioned those to me.”
“We need to get up on top of the cave,” I decided. “We need to see what’s up there. It might have to do with dad.”
I started to walk towards the cave, going around it instead of going towards the entrance. I was looking for some way to climb the walls, noticing that this cave went on for a long time. Juno wasn’t kidding when he said it was part of each territory. It makes me wonder how we didn’t notice this the last time we were here. There must be more inside the cave than we originally thought. I didn’t see any other hallways but maybe I wasn’t looking that closely. I was only paying attention to what was right in front of me. Could that be where our fathers were hiding when we were inside?
“Juda, look,” Hudson pointed towards the vines that were coming down as we finally reached the back side of the cave. It was the only area that had any kind of plant life attached to the Alpha layer, so I knew we were now in fairy territory. Hudson tugged on the vines, noticing they were strong enough that we would be able to climb them. The sorcerers cheated, magically lifting themselves up to the top while the rest of us climbed. I don’t know why
they couldn’t help us up. Maybe it would take up too much energy. That’s all the Alphas every lectured us about these days. Save your energy because we don’t know when we’ll come face to face with Malachi again. I don’t think the sorcerers got that memo.
Once we were on top of the cave, we noticed there were stairs, leading us to the center, taking us down into a small circular area. This cave was definitely a lot more than I originally thought. When we got to the center there were five stone pillars, each of them containing a circular crystal and a carved image of a species symbol. I walked up to the pillar with the image of a club for the giants. Underneath sat the yellow crystal, giving off the light that shined up into the sky.
“What is this place?” I whispered only loud enough for Hudson to hear me.
“The Alphas never mentioned this,” Nico said from the other side of the circle. “Why would they tell us about the cave but not this?”
“That’s because they didn’t know,” an unfamiliar female voice said, forcing us to whip our bodies around to face her. I didn’t know who she was or what species she came from. She had a glowing silhouette surrounding her entire body, the same color as Kota and Nathan’s eyes when they were fighting Malachi. Her ebony skin was beautiful and flawless, her dark black hair was pulled back into a braid, and her gold color eyes watched us as we tried to figure out if she was a threat or not. I knew in my gut that she wasn’t, but I needed to be sure. She walked towards us until she was in the middle of the circle, stopping so that the rest of us could surround her.
“Who are you?” I asked softly. I was so mesmerized by her beauty. Even though she had the glowing silhouette I could tell that her own skin shined, adding to many features that seemed to be perfect.
“My name is Sage,” she answered, nodding at me, closing her eyes and then opening them again. I’d seen my mother do that when she was around one of the Council members or their families. It was her way of acknowledging them with respect.
“What are you?” Luna asked next.
“Luna,” Levi snarled under his breath.
Sage laughed, covering her mouth delicately before answering Luna. She reminded me of all the things our mothers wanted for a daughter. Polite, respectful, ladylike, and so much more. As if we needed to be reminded that we were more like our brothers than our mothers wanted us to be.
“I was once a fairy,” she answered. “Now I am part of the spirits. I have been waiting for all of you for two thousand years.”
“Wait, what?” Nova raised her voice, too which, Nico and Nero pulled her back, covering her mouth so that she couldn’t get any louder.
“I am one of the spirits who blessed the original Alphas with the Alpha spirit that lives inside them,” she explained. She walked over to Dion and gently touched his chest. “This is the one that I created.”
It made sense that she gave the original fairy Alpha his spirit because she was once a fairy. Her beauty also fit the fairy stereotype. I should’ve known when I couldn’t find a flaw on her. Dion touched his own chest after she pulled away as if something was making sense to him. I wish he would enlighten the rest of us.
“I am also one of the ones who sent all of you here to save Medova,” she revealed. “We put more attention into the details of your personalities and your energies than any Alpha child before you. We did the same with all of your mates. You all are closer to the spirits than any Alpha will ever be.”
“It’s why the blood ritual results for compatibility showed no other shades of red,” Kota said. “They were perfect matches because you made it so.”
“Yes,” Sage answered. “We needed it to happen that way. Malachi has tapped into foreign energies that are so strong that we needed to intervene. You all come from the strongest bloodlines from each species. Together, you all will bring peace to Medova.”
“What about the girls?” Juno asked. “The prophecy was about them. If we’re all supposed to bring peace why single them out?”
“It’s like the prophecy says,” Sage nodded again towards Juno this time. “He will never see them coming. He knows there’s something off about them because we made it so that an Alpha never had a daughter. We had to do this as well in order to warn Medova that danger was coming. You girls were our message to the Alphas that the time the prophecy predicted had come. Malachi doesn’t think of you as a threat though and it’s because the Alphas kept the book of prophecies to themselves. If it were common knowledge, then Malachi would be able to figure it out and the element of surprise would be gone.”
“After what Kota did in the forest I don’t think he believes she’s not a threat,” Nathan mumbled.
“He thinks it’s because of you that she became more powerful,” Sage corrected him. “It was when you touched her that her power released. He has no idea that it’s actually because of her that you both were stronger.”
“What about the late Alphas?” Nova asked. “We found my father’s journal inside the cave. What does that have to do with all of this?”
Sage hesitated for the first time since she showed herself to us. She was contemplating how to answer this, but she had to know that we wouldn’t give up until she told us. Everyone we ever met figured that out one way or another.
“If I answer that question, you must promise me that you will stay focused on the mission to stop Malachi,” she negotiated. “I think it’s beneficial for you to know the truth but there is still an enemy destroying lives all over Medova.”
“Even before our fathers died, stopping Malachi was always the plan,” Levi assured her. “You don’t need to worry about that.”
Sage seemed satisfied with Levi’s promise. Continuing to nod at one of us whenever there was an understanding between us.
“We needed you to be the Alphas and the only way to accomplish that was for your fathers to die,” she started to explain. Hesitating once again when she noticed the unease between all of us. “That part of the prophecy was correct. We knew you all would need guidance that you could trust because you’re all still so young, so we intervened in the physical world for the first time in two thousand years.”
“You intervened when you manipulated our personalities and energies,” Luna reminded her, Levi trying to get her stop talking, once again failing.
“That was on a spiritual level,” Sage answered, staying calm, even though Luna was being rude. “That did not require us to enter the physical world. Bringing your fathers back to life did.”
Even though we had our suspicions, hearing that it was actually true hit all of us a lot harder than we anticipated. There was so much happiness and relief going on in my head that I couldn’t think straight. Sage had so much more to tell us, but she suddenly lost all of our attentions. I remembered the promise that we made to her and tried my best to stand up straight and let her finish.
“Why didn’t they come home?” Deja asked, her voice shaking as she tried to hold back the tears that were building up behind her eyes.
“We needed you all to mature on your own,” she answered. “The spirits understand that you’re all still children, but we needed you to grow up a little more. Whether you believe it or not, the deaths of your fathers taught you a great deal about the world we all live in, which is why I think you’re ready to hear the truth. Though they are still alive, you must win this battle on your own. You need their guidance and their knowledge, but most importantly, you need their love, to help you get through this. That is why we brought them back. Although, we have found that they’re just as rebellious as you all are.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kory questioned almost like he took it as an insult.
“Your sister was recently bound, wasn’t she?” Sage asked even though she already knew the answer. “Did you really think your father was going to miss that?”
“He was there?” Kota spoke softly, a few tears falling down her cheek.
“Of course, he was,” Sage confirmed sympathetically. “He had strict instructions to stay p
ut but they broke those rules several times, just to see you. Who do you think it was that was up on that mountain peak?”
“We thought it was Malachi,” Nova remembered.
“He was up there, too,” Sage told her. “But he was not the one who set up the fire pit and spent hours watching you train from a distance.”
“Where are they now?” Dion asked.
“I will tell you that when this conversation is over,” she answered, which was fair. Sage wasn’t stupid, and I think all of us had figured that out by now.
“What else do we need to know to stop Malachi?” Nico questioned, knowing it was what Sage wanted.
“I have nothing left to tell you that you don’t already know,” she replied. “However, you’ll all need these crystals.”
She waved her hand, commanding the crystals to leave their engraved homes. They floated above her head as she circled them around, closing her fist as tiny little pieces broke off of the crystal. Her other hand reached for the vines we climbed up to get here, breaking them up the same way she had with the crystals. Right in front of us, she created bracelets and rings for all of us to wear at all times. The bracelets were for the girls and I, as well as our brothers betrothed. The rings were for the guys, and I was actually quite impressed that she took the time to make them look manly, not that it would’ve matter. The guys would’ve had to get over it. As soon as she was finished the magic stopped, forcing the crystals back to their original position as if nothing ever happened. They didn’t even look like anything had been chipped off of them.
“Your fathers already have theirs as well as your mothers,” she told us once we all were wearing the pieces that she made. She may have created them using vines, but they were much sturdier now. Nothing would break these even if a lot of effort went into it. “These crystals contain the power of the spirits. As long as you wear these you will be able to access that power whenever you need it. Just swipe your finger over the crystal in a circular motion and the power is yours.”
Deprived (Daughter of an Alpha Book 2) Page 25