Page 107 of Brutal Birthright

His head snapped up and took in the sight of the figure crumpling to the ground the moment they reached the outer extent of the woods. Without hesitation, he portaled the distance between the training arena and where she had fallen to the ground.

Fuck. Fuck. Rowan barked out a volley of ancient curses into the fading light. His instincts had been certain something was wrong. She was injured. He should have gone to her. He needed to—

And as his boots crunched onto the gravel in front of her, every muscle in his body froze. The limp and bloodied figure wasn’t Oriana.

It was the shifter girl. Vanya.

She’d finished her round in the assessment earlier in the day. Why was she here now? What the fuck had she done with Oriana?

Rowan’s fingers flexed into tight fists. The sound of running footsteps behind him drew closer at a rapid pace. Finnic raced past him also muttering curses and he dropped down to lift the girl’s head.

A thick crimson tide washed over his vision. His eyes scanned quickly amongst the trees, hoping—stupidly wishing—that he’d catch a glimpse of her dark hair and feisty spirit. Imagining just how much he’d love to see her saunter out from amongst the darkened forest with both middle fingers raised in his direction.

For the first time in centuries, he stood frozen. Immobilised by the rage and all-consuming need to rain down whatever destruction was necessary to ensure her safety.

“Where is Oriana?” He barked. Already formulating a plan to burn the forest to the ground if that was what it took to find her.

The blond girl was silently sobbing, blood caked her clothing and one entire side of the material covering her leg was soaked through. Finnic shushed her and tried to help her up, but she was almost incoherent with pain and delirious ramblings.

“The girl.” Her eyes were cloudy and hazed over. “In the forest—I tried—Couldn’t stop it—” Vanya’s mouth opened and closed on gasping, desperate breaths.

“What girl?” Finnic gripped her chin. Holding her steady as her body convulsed. “Fuck. We need to get her to a healer immediately.” His voice dropped low and he shot a glance at Rowan.

“What. Girl?” There was no fucking way he’d be taking her anywhere without an answer. She could bleed out for all he cared. “Answer me right fucking now.”

Her eyes rolled back in her head as she cried out in agony.

“Rowan. We need to move her.”

“I don’t give a shit.” He jabbed his hands through his hair. “Fuck.” He roared.

As Finnic scooped her up in his arms, he sliced at Rowan with a glare. But it was at that moment the girl’s head lolled back and a whisper dropped out of her mouth that made Rowan’s blood turn cold.

“Fiadh.”

Teeth bared and ready to make this little bitch suffer the consequences of lying; he rounded on her. “What the fuck did you just say?”

“She said… to tell you… her name… Fiadh.”

“It’s not possible.”

Lachie sat with an ashen face and his head resting in his hands. As ever, Belle was positioned by his side. Neatly perched on the arm of the chair, with a pensive crease between her brows.

Ruby paced the length of the room under Niall’s watchful gaze. They’d barely contained her when the news had been delivered that Oriana had been taken.

And by something or someone, purporting to be their sister. One whom they had all presumed to be dead for the past century.

“We saw the bodies that day.” A deep voice rumbled from the far corner. Fehrn, the hulking great lump of a shifter wolf and practically another brother to them, had his arms folded around the shoulders of his witch. From where he stood, the confusion and disbelief was a palpable thing extending amongst them all.

“For a start, you only saw fragments of bodies. There was no telling exactly who lay among the dead that day.” Rowan inwardly shuddered. He hadn’t been there when it happened, but the moment his sister had lost her mind had scarred her twin, Lachie, to the point he almost sacrificed himself on a suicidal plan to bring down the House of Elharean single-handed.

“Her Ampher power would have been uncontrollable,” Belle murmured. As a witch with rare Ampher powers herself, she knew more than anyone about how Fiadh’s magic may or may not have allowed her to survive the carnage she’d unleashed that day.

“I don’t fucking care what you all did or didn’t see two hundred years ago. We need to move. Now.” Rowan thundered. Making every head in the room snap in his direction.

He’d had enough of this bullshit of sitting around talking and planning. He needed to be out there looking for her. Fuck knows what might have happened to her in the time they’d wasted.

“Rowan.” The pleading eyes of Ruby met with his own. “We need to wait.” She didn’t know what her sister meant to him. Yet none of that mattered right now.

---