Page 3 of Chosen Destiny

“Mila, wait,” Zeke said. “Just talk to me a little longer. I need you here for a few more minutes.”

All three sets of footsteps headed toward me, and the three of them paused in front of the study doorway. Daddy’s face was flushed in a way I’d never seen before. His nostrils flared, and his eyes glowed. “Leave our house.Now.”

Something powerful laced his voice, and my wolf trembled within me.

Zeke flinched.

“He didn’t want to do that.” Mommy shook her head. “I think it’s time we cut ties. Lynerd will be announced as the new Oregon royal advisor soon. Go back to your wife and son. Spend time with them. Let me go.”

Zeke bowed his head as he strained not to walk away. But his feet moved, step by step, away from the study.

I heard the front door open. Mommy stayed put as if to make sure he’d left as Daddy went to the fireplace.

He’d bent down, his finger touching the button to turn the fireplace on, when Mommy spun around, her eyes locking on mine. She raced toward me, yelling, “Richard! Don’t!”

Bile churned in my stomach as Daddy’s head turned toward us. Mommy’s body crashed into me, shoving me against the wall just as the world shook all around us.

Hot air hit every piece of me, and my mother’s body sagged against me like dead weight. The stench of burned flesh and the sound of crackling flames were the last things I experienced before blackness engulfed me.

My body was being jostled, and each jerk felt as if I were burned alive. The movement stopped, and I looked up to see Zeke’s tortured eyes staring into mine. Tears dripped down his cheeks as he shook his head and glanced back at the house.

I managed to turn my head enough to see flames shooting from the study’s window. Zeke hurried to a car parked at the edge of our property and slid me into the back.

“Fuck,” he growled. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

“Samuel,” I croaked. He’d been downstairs.

“Michael’s here.” Zeke ran his hands through his hair, his expression strained. “I can’t get him, so we’ll do the next best thing. You’re coming with me.” He closed my door and went to the driver’s seat.

The car moved, and my chest constricted. “My brother.” Even the little girl version of me knew it was pointless to ask about Mommy and Daddy. My current heartbreak blended with hers, and the tears in our eyes and the pain of our loss hurt worse than her burned skin.

Zeke slammed his hands against the steering wheel. “Shut up!” His breaths came out inwhooshes. “Let me think. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. I wasn’t supposed to loseher.” His voice broke on that last word.

Even as his words rang in my little-girl ears, my surroundings faded again.

I tried to force my eyes open. Maybe I’d regret it later if this was the way to get all my memories back, but now I knew Zeke was to blame. He’d been behind everything.

“Callie,” Samuel’s grown-up voice sounded far away, but something inside me stirred.

Whatever I’d done was working. I just had to keep it up.

A hand gently slapped my cheek, barely making it sting. I wanted to smile, knowing Samuel was probably cringing from such a minor thing.

“Everyone, help search for Bodey,” Samuel commanded out loud, not having the luxury of being able to link with everyone like Bodey and I could since being marked as king and queen.

My eyes popped open, and the afternoon light startled me. “Bodey,” I whimpered, sitting up. I needed to find him. Through our fated-mate bond, I had the best chance of tracking him down.

But as I tried to stand, my head pounded, and I nearly fell over.

Lucas’s strong hand gripped my arm and held me upright. My head throbbed as if a hammer had beaten my brain into a bloody pulp. It felt the same as when Sybil had tried to free my memories.

Sybil.

I turned and saw her dead body a mere ten feet away from me. Blood oozed from her ripped-out neck, and her bronze skin was pasty. Zeke stood by her, staring at me warily.

“Don’t move too fast,” Lucas said as he moved, blocking my view of the dead witch. He squatted, his dark hair messy from the fight and his dark-brown eyes filled with concern. Blood trickled from the scratches down his arm.

Guys, he’s gone,Jack linked, and we all felt his trepidation.There’s no sign of him, not even his scent. They must have had a witch here.

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