AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Oberon was on alert, as always, but the reality of where we had returned hit him too. “Gods . . . we’re actually here,” he murmured in awe before reining it in. “Which direction?”
The invisible tether wrenched forward, pulling at what soul I had left and threatening to rip my heart out with it.
I nearly fell to my knees, growling at the searing ache.
“That way, apparently,” I said, pointing and exhaling loudly, trying to ignore the pulsing discomfort coursing through my body.
“You feel your soul calling to you?” Styx asked, though I heard the skepticism in her tone.
I nodded, unable to speak. Yes. My soul. I would have believed that to be the truth if it weren’t for the fire lancing through my back. Broca said it was the guardian who had reached me.
Shewas my compass.
We ran over the grassy knoll, the sound of our footsteps pounding the dirt and echoing in the silent night.
Our steps quickened along the stone pathway, leading onto streets with tall dwellings and eventually down to a row of houses. My heart pounded as the tether pulled me sharply to the right and down another row, until I came to an abrupt halt.
All of the houses were one and two levels tall and made of wood panels. Most of them had peeling paint. Even fewer had carved pumpkins sitting on their porches. It was sad and a far cry from what my home in Tartarus was.
“What in the . . .” Styx started. “Are those what houses look like now?”
“It would appear so,” I said, scanning the line of patchwork rooftops.
A heart wrenching scream sounded, and it ripped apart my insides. The torture my body felt in Tartarus increased beyond measure.
I snarled, swallowing the transference of pain.
“There,” I ground out, pointing to a dwelling on the corner of a street.
It didn’t look like anyone was home. No lights were on, no windows were open. The town was asleep, but I knew without question she was in there. The tether inside heaved me toward that exact spot.
“I’m in first,” Oberon said, taking the lead and darting at a full sprint. When he reached what I presumed to be the front door, he threw a small fireball of magic toward the knob. Seconds later it exploded, the door flying off its hinges as multiple screams of surprise filled the air.
Plumes of dust created a fog, and shards of wood littered the ground. Oberon was already inside, weapons drawn. Styx went in next, looking less intimidating, though she was just as deadly. They were ready to defend, but I stopped dead in my tracks the moment I crossed the threshold.
The scent of infected blood, sweat, and decay filled the room.
“Stop,” I commanded. Styx and Oberon followed orders, not advancing further as I took in the scene before us.
A woman lay stomach down in the middle of the room with her cheek pressed to the floor, tears streaming down her face, and a leather strap between her bared teeth.
Some boy with dark, shaggy hair held one arm down while a child appeared to have been stroking her hair. Two young women kneeled, one pressing her other arm to the ground, one with glowing hands hovering over her back.
A large shifter held a small dagger at her back while an older woman sat atop her legs, restricting her movement.
Everyone looked in our direction, startled, and they began shouting questions.
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t do anything but focus on her.
Time slowed.
The pull. The ache. The connection.
She was the woman I had been dreaming about. Her face had haunted me for years, and we never found her in Tartarus.
Everything clicked into place.
It couldn’t be.
