Page 25 of Bound By the Moon

“She’s dead, but you guys have a bunch of othersisters, right? Surely, one of them was closer to Sophia, and maybewilling to carry on her vendettas?”

Layla hesitated, and that was enough to convince methat there may be another witch at play. “It’s possible.” Shefinally whispered to me. “Highly unlikely, I think, butpossible.”

Layla chewed her own perfectly manicured nails as wecontinued through the caverns. She was clearly upset that one ofher sisters might be involved in this mess, this massacre of femalewolves. “I’m sorry, Layla. I know that no matter how horribleSophia was to me, she was still your sister. Whoever is doing thisnow, may be too. That can’t be easy on you.”

“There is no reason for you to apologize for what mysisters choose to do of their own free will. My mother, rest hersoul, liked to dabble with the lives of those she considered lesserthan her too. It runs in the blood, you might say. Some of us dotry to stay clear of that life, but I suppose it proves alluringonce in a while. You werewolves are long-lived in comparison tohumans, but we witches… Ahh, we witches are damn near eternal. Ithink a certain madness comes with the monotony of living the samethings over and over on repeat.”

“So what you’re telling me is the longer you live,the crazier you get?” I sighed and added, “I know some people whoprobably shouldn’t live very long.”

Layla and Gabriel both chuckled at that. “I don’tthink that’s all there is to it. Your Serena is a good example.She’s saved the day more than a few times. That has to count forsomething in the land of the crazy.” Gabriel offered. “I hate tosound like a petulant hunter, but are we getting close?”

A light went on behind Layla’s eyes, in the mostliteral sense of the word. The silvery gray in them now glowed,brighter than a wolf’s eyes when light reflects from them. “Almostthere…” she whispered.

“Whoa! Your eyes!” I couldn’t stop staring, and onceI pointed them out, Gabriel joined with me.

“Sorry, my magic is showing.” She shrugged off ourcurious stares, and continued pushing forward through the dark cavesystem. The slope to the land wasn’t the only tip-off that we weredescending into the depths of the earth. The scents around uschanged too. I could no longer smell the flora and fauna from theforest outside. Now, everything took on a musty smell that denotedclosed off spaces and limited escape routes. My heart was beatingfaster in my chest as the slight smell of sulfur also tickled mynose. Flashes of memory haunted me as I likened being this farunderground to that of being caged by my captors. Too many times Iwas a rat caught in a trap. Now, I was willingly walking towardsthe same fate.

I didn’t even realize I had stopped walking or thatI started hyperventilating a bit. “Jess, you will be okay. I knowwhat you’ve been through. Serena explained everything to me. Thisis not a cage. You will have choices. You will have a way out, Ipromise.” Layla’s eyes shot through with mercury fire as she spoke.“Just breathe.” Once I got myself under control again, Laylaattempted a smile, but it was tight and the strain she tried tohold back had become evident. “We’re nearly there. I don’t thinkGabriel and I can continue on with you from this point.”

“Is it straight through the rest of the way?” Thepanic started to bubble up inside me again. There was so much atstake, and as usual, I found myself wondering if I was up to thetask.

“It is. There will be various little nooks andcrannies here and there off to the side of the cave walls, do notfollow any of them. Straight on, it should start opening upshortly.” Layla was whispering now. “I can sense beings up aheadfurther. If I can sense them, they are of death magic. Dark ones,most likely.”

“Dark ones are ahead?” Gabriel’s stance changed fromhis low level cautionary stance to one of high alert.

“Will they let me pass?”

“They should. I don’t think they want to anger theFiul Sange that lies in wait.”

“Neither do I, for that matter.” A nervous chuckleescaped my lips as the words did. I took a moment to remind myselfwhat I was down there for. I was there to get baby Jack back to hismother, to save him as much as to save Sierra. I was also there tomake sure no other girls went missing, or were tortured in myplace. I turned to a skeptical Gabriel, squared my shoulder, andput my game face on. “I’ve got this.” Before I could second guessthat shot of confidence, I moved beyond them, and into the deepershadows of the cave.

It was then I realized what the light behind Layla’seyes had been. She had been guiding us with her internal witchlight. Once I stepped beyond the area where she could see, thelight dissipated, and went out altogether. I knew then that I wastruly alone for the rest of my journey. I could still see in thedim cave, just not as well as the dark ones who I could feellurking on my periphery. This was their world. I was the invader,and none of them seemed too happy about it.

***

SOLO BATTLE

My phone wouldn’t stop buzzing in my pocket as Iwalked through the caverns that, somewhere up above, linked myfather’s lands to Avery’s. Finally, I decided just to answer it,only to hear Mikael’s angry voice on the other end.

“Have you lost your mind, Jess? We’re out here onthe trail of the rogue hunter and Clarissa to stop them fromhelping the others to find you. Now, you’re going to just walk yourass to them?”

“Technically, yes.” I was definitely going to be introuble with Mikael if I made it back alive.

“Seriously, you’re going to be a smartass, rightnow? What about Willow, Jess?”

“She’s taken care of until you get back.” As much asit pained me, I had to keep my emotions on lock down. If I hadtaken too much time to think about possibly leaving Willow andMikael behind, I would have chickened out, and Sierra’s baby wouldsuffer for my cowardice. “Who told you?”

“Does it really matter? You should have toldme.”

“I didn’t want you worried while you were out on aretrieval mission. As for Willow, she’s safe, and she’s taken careof. It’s not like I was bringing her along for the ride. They havebaby Jack, Mikael. What else was I supposed to do? They thought hewas Willow when they took him. If it had been Willow, would you beon the phone with me right now, convincing me not to go?”

“No, I’d be running towards you to help if it wereour daughter, and you know that. This is different. I know you carefor Sierra and baby Jack, but you’re running off to make yourself amartyr, and you’re leaving our daughter behind to be motherless.How does one more tragedy added to the list help at all?”

“Damn it, Mikael, and where are you right now? Oh,that’s right, you’re tracking down dangerous people. I never askedif you were trying to leave our daughter fatherless, because I knewit was something you had to do. So, stop trying to put that guiltoff on me.” I sighed heavily into the phone as I collected myself.“Besides, I do not plan on dying today, but if I did, I know youwould take care of our daughter and remind her that I did what hadto be done. I am not the type of person to leave innocent people,especially a baby, to die in my place.”

“Jess,” he whispered into the phone, “please, don’tdo this right now. Wait until I can get back.”

“We can’t wait, Mikael. If we wait, the baby dies.You’ve held him in your arms too. Hell, he was the baby we bothcoddled while we waited for our own to be born. He’s the one thingthat saved Sierra after Jack’s death. Could you really wait if ourroles were reversed right now?”

---