by Jenna Lee
“But I should be with you guys helping,” she pleads.
“No Dara, just go be with our mother,” Harlan grits out harshly.
She lowers her head in defeat knowing not to push him any further. I know she just wants to help but having Dara with us, we would be more worried about her than finding anything. She’d be a distraction.
We head off, leaving Dara behind with Blair. Looking over my shoulder, I watch as Dara walks off with her head bowed in defeat. I know it will kill her not coming with us, she always wants to help in any way she can.
We reach the outskirts of our village; the barrier is so clear between our land and the parts that James has destroyed. Our village is full of the lush vegetation then outside it’s like blackened charcoal as far as the eye can see. If it wasn’t for Jolie’s protective bubble, she put over our village, we would have nothing left. Looking toward my sister I notice she’s on edge, constantly glancing around.
“Let’s keep inside our land, the villagers wouldn’t have caught anything outside here anyway,” Harlan suggests as he walks along the barrier.
What could our mother and the other villagers have caught that caused this outbreak; I wonder. If Jolie and the other healers are having trouble creating a healing spell, it isn’t looking good. They usually could heal anything but with this they are stumped because they need to work out the source. Jolie sets off ahead; her eye on something. She stops in front of a Ladybirth flower, kneeling down she picks off some of its petals placing them into the pocket of her pants. I raise my brows at her in question.
“These could help with creating some medicine to ease the pain,” she explains standing back up.
We continue looking around the forest looking for anything out of the ordinary. Oliver squeals from above. Glancing up into the skies I see him coming down to us. We stop as he lands and transforms back into human form.
“There’s something off with the water at the waterfall, the colouring isn’t normal. We need to check it out,” Oliver says walking off toward it.
The waterfall is where we got our water supply as of late since James burnt out the rest of Silvia. It’s our only water supply, could it be causing this outbreak?
We make it there in record time, Jolie kneels down beside the water looking closely at it. I join her noticing the red tinge the water has to it, it’s faint, but it’s there.
Jolie reaches into her supply bag pulling out a thin vile. She goes to put her hand in to collect some water. Quickly reaching out I stop her.
“The water could be contaminated, I can’t have you catching this too,” I say my brows drawn together in concern.
She shakes her head and pulls out some thick gloves from her bag placing them over her hands. She fills up the vile in seconds, placing the lid back on tightly.
“We have to run some tests on this back at home. Something’s not right,” Jolie states putting the vile into her bag zipping it up.
We make it back to the village quickly, Jolie hurries off to one of the healer’s houses. I hope that we get some answers before it’s too late.
12
Dara
When I hear the front door slam shut, I stand up racing toward the stairs to meet Harlan and Declan.
“Something’s off with the water at the waterfall. Jolie’s taken a sample to the healer’s house now to test. We should get some answers soon,” Harlan rushes out before I get a chance to open my mouth to ask.
Declan looks hopeful as he passes me, he places a kiss to my forehead then he goes in to see his mother. She hasn’t moved much in the time they were gone, she mostly slept but tossed and turned every now and then. The way her brows were drawn together I could tell she was in pain, but she didn’t want to say anything. She doesn’t want us to worry even more. I join the guys back in the room as we wait for news from Jolie.
An hour passes by with no news, my eyes start to drift off just as I hear the front door open and Jolie yelling.
I’m up in a flash following the guys down the stairs to find Jolie standing there. I stop in my tracks, reading the worry written all over her face. It doesn’t look good.
“Good news or bad first?” she asks moving farther into the living room.
“Bad first, always,” Blair says joining us.
“Alicia from down the road just passed away, she had the same symptoms as Mum and the others,” Jolie says wiping a tear away from her cheek.
I never met her but losing anyone in our village hurt. Blair reaches out pulling me back into his chest, hugging me. Holding on to his arm I rub up and down giving him comfort.
“The water has been contaminated with a toxin that’s affecting everyone who consumes or comes in contact with it. It’s not known to be a bacteria that grows here, which means we believe it was planted by someone,” Jolie continues.
“One guess who that would be,” Declan growls beside me.
“It makes sense, it’s the easiest way to get rid of everyone. Poison one of our water supplies. Lucky that we haven’t had to refill our supply for a little while, otherwise we would all be falling ill.” Harlan shakes his head in disgust.
Another win to James, contaminating our water supply to kill us off one by one.
“He’s going to pay for this,” Blair barks out tightening his grip around my stomach.
“Make sure everyone gets rid of their water and gets a fresh batch from our tanks. Have you got anything that will clean out the water back to normal?” Harlan asks Jolie getting straight to business.
“Yep, the healers are trying to come up with a remedy as we speak to fix the water and help heal others affected. It may take a little bit of time to get it right though,” Jolie explains.
But we didn’t have that much time on our hands especially since someone’s life has already been claimed. James is going down for that among the other list of shit I have to get back at him for. My shit-list would be ever growing until I finished him once and for all.
The next few days go by painfully slow, between training, looking after Anna, and getting updates from the healers. It’s like everything’s been put on a pause button, while we wait for news. Everyone’s been on high alert, always watching our backs waiting for James to make another move to destroy us. We’ve lost another two lives to the virus, which just added to the pressure of getting a cure ready. We can’t lose any more friends; we have to pull through. I won’t let James bring us down any further. With changing over the water supply to our tanks we haven’t seen anyone else affected which is some good news at least.
I haven’t seen Jolie much at all the past week, only for magic training. Every other second, she’d been at the healer’s house working on the cure. Everyone’s been anxiously waiting for some good news.
I’m sitting by Anna’s bed feeding her some soup; she isn’t well at all. Her colouring is pale-white, and she’s lost a lot of weight. It pains me to look at her because she isn’t the beautiful healthy woman I remember; she’s frail. But we are close to getting a cure and I know she’ll pull through; she has to.
This whole situation only added to the urgency of finding the final stone. But I haven’t had any visions of its whereabouts as I had previously with Emerald and Topaz. The Ruby stone will be the hardest to find and the most important one.
Jolie has been working with me to try to bring forth a vision of where the Ruby may be, but we haven’t had any luck so far. As each day went by, I’m growing more and more anxious to end this once and for all. I can’t stand James destroying any more of my home or my family and Friends. This needs to end.
A hand on my shoulder shocks me out of my thoughts. Oliver starts massaging trying to loosen my knots.
“Is she eating much?” he quietly asks over my shoulder.
I shrug, unsure of how to respond. Do I tell him the truth that she hasn’t been putting much down at all? Or lie? To try to ease the pain.
“Doing okay,” I decided to say not exactly lying. He would be naïve not to see it in her now. How weak sh
e’s become just in the last few days.
He wraps his arms tightly around me placing a kiss on to the back of my neck.
Someone knocks on the door just as I place some soup into Anna’s mouth, she opens slightly letting the liquid slide down her throat. At least she’s getting something into her belly.
Albert’s on Anna’s other side holding her hand, he hasn’t left her much the past couple of days, afraid that something will happen if he leaves. He’s been getting Harlan to update him on what’s happening in the village and giving back orders to him to pass on to his men. Harlan comes inside offering me a tight smile.
“We need to have a meeting to discuss our next move. Do you want to do it here or downstairs?” Harlan directed at his father.
Looking toward Harlan I noticed his arms are tightly crossed, his jaw tight and he won’t look toward his mother. He can’t stand seeing anyone he loves in pain; I think that’s why he hasn’t visited her much. Whereas Blair, Jolie, and Oliver have to visit their mother at least twice a day to just sit and talk to her to keep her company. Jolie preferred coming late at night once she did everything she could to help with the cure. Declan is a bit like Harlan he still visited but not much.
“Let’s do it downstairs. This isn’t the right place,” Albert says, getting up giving Anna one last look. I don’t miss the pain that crosses in his eyes.
13
Dara
I found Elijah, Alaric, and Kayla downstairs in the living room. Kayla sits down next to me. She places her hand on my leg offering me a smile. I haven’t spent much time with her the past couple of days with everything going on, I saw her at night but briefly. She’s looking so much better and looks to be back to her healthy self. Alaric has been staying in my room with her, never leaving her side. It’s safe to say they are officially a couple, the way they are around each other all loved up. It feels good to see her here with us back to normal, that’s one less thing we have to worry about.
“We need to send a team out with Dara to see if we can get any leads on the Ruby stone. I think we should head for the castle and its surrounds, to see what we find,” Harlan suggests glancing around the room at everyone.
“I know our main priority is finalising the cure which will be ready at any time now. But we still need to get some leads on the final stone. James will have slayers patrolling throughout the forest and surrounding his kingdom waiting for Dara, so we need to be on high alert,” Harlan continues, his eyes staying on mine the entire time. As soon as he mentions my name my throat goes dry. He’s right, we had to be on high alert, especially me.
With everything else going on, it isn’t going to be easy. I’ve been cooped up inside all week, I feel on edge maybe some time out in the forest would help clear my mind. Something that I need to do so I can focus on connecting to Ruby.
“Who’s going and who’s staying?” Blair asks rubbing the back of his neck.
“Me, Dara, Declan, Oliver, and Alaric,” Harlan responds, pausing looking to Kayla next to me. Her hand that is tightening on my leg starts to sweat.
“Are you up to coming, Kayla?” Harlan asks, sounding unsure.
Kayla’s silent for a minute before opening her mouth.
“I-I’m not ready just yet,” she stutters out.
I reach down and give her hand a squeeze telling her it’s okay. She doesn’t have to be ready just yet. If we are to run into any trouble, she could freak out and it could be a trigger that she’s not ready for.
“That’s fine, you can stay here with Blair and Jolie,” Harlan says offering her a smile.
Oliver claps his hands together.
“All right let’s head out.”
Standing up, I lean down to give Kayla a tight hug.
“Please be safe,” she whispers in my ear.
“Always, hard to bring me down.”
She smiles back, giving me one last squeeze.
Meeting the guys at the door we head off. It’s deadly quiet only a few people are out, and they are on edge constantly looking around, peering over their shoulders. I look at one guy who I’ve seen with Albert before. His eyes scan the forest, his brows are drawn together, he’s trying to cut some wood with his ax. He catches my eye, and a smile hits his lips. He nods his head going back to work.
Everyone’s tucked away inside their homes, not one child is out playing. This hits me hard. Everyone deserves to wander around especially kids playing, feeling safe. But James has caused this, he’s caused panic. Everyone’s on edge waiting for his next attack. I want to scream out to the forest, to tell him what I think. I want him to hurt like we are. To live in fear like we are. The only way I’m going to hurt him is by finding the Ruby stone and finishing this once and for all.
Oliver places his arm around my shoulder bringing me back from my thoughts.
You ready, Vixen, he mentally asks me. It had been so long since we’d used our mental connection to communicate it sends a shiver down my spine.
I was born ready.
I smirk, reaching over placing a light kiss to his lips. Just as we reach the border of our village, Harlan turns around crossing his arms over his chest.
“I’ll be heading out in front, Oliver and Declan you both stay next to Dara at all times. Alaric you take up the back.” He pauses catching my eye.
“Dara, as we head through the forest, I want you to connect with the forest and your magic.” Taking my lip between my teeth I nod.
It feels different out here now; it used to be easy to connect to the forest, but this outside part is now dead. I can’t feel the magic. The once lively forest is gone. Which made it harder to connect to, because the magic of Silvia was dying down, that much was evident. I’m always grateful to still have our little village alive and vibrant.
We continue on, but I instantly stop as I hear a crack of thunder followed by bright lightning that lights up the sky. Glancing up I notice the skies turning darker and darker as each second goes by. I notice the guys are up ahead still walking, unaware that I’ve stopped. They’re looking up at the sky noticing the change but haven’t noticed that I’ve fallen back. Alaric stops coming up from behind me.
“Storms coming in strong, maybe you should try connecting to the forest now before we head back,” he suggests just as more thunder rumbles around us.
“I’ll signal for the guys to stop,” he says walking away.
Kneeling down, I place my hands on the dry blacked out forest floor grabbing onto the dirt. Closing my eyes, I take several deep breaths trying to calm down my beating heart; the thunder roars aggressively from above putting me off slightly. Focusing on the soil between my fingertips, I manage to bring my breathing back to normal. Reaching within I find my blue magic giving it a light tug bringing it to the surface.
Please help me find my Ruby, please help me find my Ruby, I repeat over and over again in my head digging my hands farther into the ground, gripping on to the soil. A light flicker appears in my vision showing me a glimpse of a figure, but I can’t make out its features. It’s too faint. I try to push deeper into my magic but then suddenly everything disappears, and I’m brought back just as a crack of lightning hits right next to me.
The sound is deafening. I cover my ears with my hands letting out a loud scream. Just an inch and that lightning would have struck me. I stumble, landing on my arse, just as someone hovers over me.
“Dara, Dara, are you okay?” Harlan asks reaching for my face.
I give him a small nod, but I’m shaking. He gives me a moment to catch my breath, as Oliver, Alaric, and Declan join us.
I fill them in on what happened with the vision. Just as I finish, we hear a squeal from above. Looking up I see an eagle coming toward us but it’s not Oliver because he’s right here next to me. I look to him in question.
“I’ve got no idea who the hell that is,” Oliver answers, his brows drawn together.
The eagle flies down landing right in front of us. Declan helps me up and we stand to wait for the eagle
to reveal itself. Harlan stands in front of me, Oliver and Declan next to me and Alaric at my back. My protective bubble.
Peering around Harlan I notice it takes a moment for the eagle to transform back to human form, which is odd. Normally, shifters made it look effortless changing in one swift movement. As it transforms into its human form, I gasp. Pushing past Harlan, I run toward her. It’s Kayla.
We know that Kayla was given shifter abilities when James brought her here, but she hasn’t had the energy to change over yet.
She looks terrified, tears are flowing down her cheeks. She’s trying to say something, but I can’t understand her. Taking her hand in mine I finally make out what she’s trying to say.
“Home, now, it’s Anna,” she whispers barely audible.
But I heard the word Anna and see her panic. I whip around screaming out to the guys.
“We need to get home now it’s your mother.” As soon as the words leave my mouth Declan and Oliver turn around running off. Alaric’s right at Kayla’s side helping her up. He takes her into his arms carrying her. She looks weak, obviously, the transformation took a lot out of her.
We run, following the guys back to our village as rain starts pouring down followed by the crack of thunder and more lightning filling the sky. The rain gets heavier each step we take but we don’t let it slow us down. We make it back in record time heading straight for home.
Anna, please, please be okay, I pray.
14
Harlan
Racing up the stairs, I take them two at a time needing to get to my mother to make sure she’s okay. When Dara told us earlier that we needed to get home because of her my heart sank. Something feels wrong. Walking into her bedroom I know instantly that it’s not good, not by a long shot.
Jolie’s balling her eyes out, the tears falling onto our mother’s chest. One look at my mother and my heart crushes. She looks so weak, her skin is a sickly white, her chest still rises and falls but just. She’s barely holding on. I can’t lose her. Please, give us a miracle. Blair and Oliver are close to Jolie looking lost in thought closely watching her. Declan’s in the corner with a faraway look in his eyes and our father’s clutching on to our mother’s hand with tears falling down his cheeks screaming at her to hold on. This pains me, seeing my father like this. So emotional, our mother means everything to him. Their bond’s like no other I’ve ever witnessed.