Page 98 of Gift from the Stone

“You heard my little wanderer. Let’s go.”

Seventeen

Willow

Elementra, that was awful.

We only have a few more moments as the guys get regrouped. Lyker’s giving them a rundown of how we’re going to be able to get to the caves behind the Alpha house without being seen and the palace team is already transporting the shifters still under my command and non-shifter members who were here in the arena to the holding cells.

The damage done to my body is completely healed. Between the cure, Jamie’s healing, and my guys embracing me, I’m like new. I don’t feel any side effects from the poison. Other than the raised skin I feel through my shirt, it’s like it never happened…physically.

Mentally, I’ll be thinking about the pain of the dagger forcing its way through my skin and the slimy feeling of the tar coating my blood, sending me to a void of darkness, for a long time to come. I can’t even bring myself to think about what I saw of Tillman, or I’ll fall apart. I wish I could just curl into bed with my men surrounding me and go to sleep rather than think or do anything else right now.

Oakly’s concern hits me full force the moment she wraps me up in a hug, telling me how mad she is at me, and I laugh, trying to play the situation off lightly, even though I know that if the roles were reversed, if it had been her, or any of them, I’d have lost my mind.

The tension surrounding everyone is thick and not just my Nexus. Everyone feels strained. I feel like shit knowing we haven’t had any time to process, much less get over what just happened, and now I’m setting us out on another task.

“So just these three Nexuses are going to go to the caves, while the palace team, the rest of team one, and Rhett and his guys keep transporting this bunch to the holding cells?” I ask Tillman for clarification. Lyker says the smaller the group, the better, which I agree with.

“That’s right. Everyone ready? Transport to the tree line at the back of the Alpha house,” he instructs.

Lyker’s Nexus splits up between our two Nexuses so they can transport us as one since none of our group has ever been to the back of the Alpha’s house to know where to go. Well…technically, I’ve been there but not physically.

“You sure we need to do this?” Lyker asks me as I grab his forearm. I try to touch him in the most appropriate spot for the transport, yet Draken still growls, and I have to bump him with my hip and send him a ‘cut the shit’ look.

“Yep, I’m sure.” I can’t tell him any more than that for now, so I just look away, hoping he and his Nexus won’t ask me any more questions.

The transport opens to a very familiar scenery, one I’ve visited multiple times over the last few weeks, only my visits weren’t in person, they were in one vision, and other times in my dreams. The time that I walked this forest, I didn’t foresee us walking into any trouble, so I’m begging Elementra mentally to let that be the case now.

“Lead the way, Fortune Teller,” Lyker instructs with a wave of his hand.

“Don’t call her cute nicknames. Just because she saved you doesn’t mean I won’t eat you.” Draken snarls, pulling me into his arms possessively.

“Stop that. We don’t have time for it. He’s not being flirty. It was a friendly regard,” I lightly scold, but there’s no threat to my tone. I love his possessiveness.

“Yeah, it was. How did you know that?” Lyker asks as he cocks his head to the side, looking at me strangely.

Mimicking his gesture, I study him back. There’s a comfortableness to him that I feel, not like with my guys. The thought of even thinking about Lyker in a romantic way makes me feel sick to my stomach, but I do feel something. I just don’t know how to explain it. I can only assume it’s from the many visions I’ve had of him dying that’s made me feel like I know him, and my mind is categorizing him into the little box with certain guys I’m close with and can trust, like Oakly’s Nexus, Vince, and Walker.

Still, I didn’t really realize it until he asked, but I’m not sure how I knew how he meant his words. I just kind of sensed it.

Weird.

“We need to move,” I announce, rather than answering him. Everyone is going to start thinking I’m crazy if I say I can sense him or fucking flip out; one or the other and we don’t have time for either.

The narrow path we take wasn’t created with an earth element. It was etched by footsteps over time. You can tell by the flattened fallen leaves, broken twigs, and how the undergrowth is more worn here than the rest of the dense foliage. The fuckers who use this path on the regular have tried to keep it hidden in plain sight.

There’s barely any wildlife. Prey animals know better than to make a home so close to a den of predators, so the only noises of animals you can hear are the birds flying through the tall trees overhead and insects chirping loudly as we walk through their home.

Traipsing along through the tree line, I know we don’t have a long walk, and my mind’s whirling over the fact I know so much about this path, but I’ve never actually been here.

After a few short minutes, we come up to the entrance of the cave. Its mouth is framed by rugged rocks and draped with vines. A deterring ward pulses from it with hopes of turning any stragglers away.

“It’s warded. How are we supposed to get in there?” Lennox asks.

“Jarod’s father set this ward, and he was Alpha before. So the land will recognize a new Alpha. Go on, Lyker, slice your hand with that big-ass knife you got on your hip, place it on the ward, and let’s get moving,” I instruct casually. I really have no clue if the land part is the truth or not, but that’s what I saw him do in my vision, so I can make a pretty good assumption.

“What?” He and his Nexus all ask at once.

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