The Queen's Conquer

Chapter 51 : Killer Instinct

Matibay • [mah-tee-bay]
To be unwilling to yield or give up, to be fixed and unchanging no matter what.

🖤

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~ Anastasia ~

"Ana, I need to stop for a second," Max says, trying to keep me from hijacking one of the nearby vehicles—trying to keep me from running back to where this nightmare started. His hands grab my shoulders only for me to shake him off, aiming for a grey-colored car. He grabs me again, but I push against his human strength.

Sterling's gawking at me, now on her feet, too, as she and everyone else chases after us. "Anastasia, wait," she orders. "You said the cabin? Are you sure?"

"Hold on, hold on, hold on," Killian now intervenes, crossing in front of my path to cut me off as he puts his hands up, an indication that's begging me to pause for a moment and listen. "How do you know this, Anastasia?"

"I-I—" My throat is so tight that my words become stuck. I'm too fixated on getting out of here that I can barely think straight. But I take a deep breath and continue. "When I was surviving alone in that cabin during those two months, I obviously tried to find ways to entertain myself—mostly with whatever the previous owners had left behind." Max eases his hold on my shoulders, eventually letting his hands drop to his sides. "And in the attic, I found this heavy box, and when I touched it..."

"You came in contact with silver," Lilith says, coming into view on my left. "Was this just before your return?"

I nod, my eyes wholly focused on her—because I'm confused as to how she knows this.

"You had another vision?" Killian eventually says, staring at his mate. Lilith only swallows tightly, provoking him to further say, "You had a vision about the box before we found Anastasia, Lilith?"

"I had a vision of blinding pain and a powerful aura," she corrects, trying to recollect whatever she saw all those months ago. "This one was more of a...sensational feeling. Nothing that gave any indications about a box, but likely something indefinitely just as robust as it sounds."

"But that's not what I felt," I say, glancing between the four of them as dread rises through me. "I-I touched that box and was only briefly stung by its metal."

Sterling pipes in, "Then the vision hasn't occurred yet...unless it was meant for something or someone else?"

"You can see the future?" Max says, gawking at the young warrior. I keep forgetting that he's still unaware of the lives we've all been living during these last two months.

"They're not always fully coherent, but yes. I'm somewhat psychic for some unknown reason," she answers, crossing her arms. Then she looks back at me. "What did the box look like, Anastasia?"

"Like...Like it was important." I'm squeezing my fingers with my hands, the anxiety growing like an illness through my veins. "Goddess, I feel like such a fucking moron for thinking it was ever meaningless."

"Hey," Sterling says, trying to offer her sympathy, "you couldn't have known. And if anything, it just means Maddox is less likely to find it before us."

"Then how do we get my husband back?" I ask firmly. "H-How...I need to know how we're going to fix all of this." My hand shoots for my hair, pulling on a handful of the light brown locks with desperation.

Though the temptation to collapse into a peaceful slumber lingers through my body, there's no way I'll be able to sleep soundly knowing my mate is somewhere else other than by my side.