Queen of Midnight

Chapter Fourteen.

James.

There were bodies everywhere. Dead wolves, dead humans, blood. People were screaming and running around the pack houses; many innocents had been caught in the crossfire, and my people were in a panic. Emil managed to get as many as he could cramped into the castle cellars, but not everyone made it. We may have won the battle, but we were far from winning the war.

Soren and I had shifted back into our human forms just as Violet and Emil came running from towards the castle, looking around at the awful scene as they slowed to a stop.

"The cellar is locked," Violet managed to say between pants of breath, doubled over to help ease the discomfort. "We've lost fourteen innocent lives. How the fuck did they get past the border without us knowing?"

"Ask Terk," I growled, my fists clenched into balls at my side. I shook my head as soon as the words left my mouth. "It's not his fault. It's not anyone's fault but mine. We should have expected this. Anthony was sending me a message when Rhea fell off that cliff; I ignored it, and here we are."

"What do we do?" Soren asked, wiping at the wet blood that stained his forehead with his bare arm.

"Check on Rhea and Terk and reevaluate," Violet said, glancing around at the dead wolves that surrounded us. "There might be more. We need to figure out whether this is was just meant to scare us, or if there were other intentions. I mean, he could have taken Rhea back at the cliffs, so I don't see why he would want to do so now."

"Of course there were other intentions," I snapped. "He's a fucking maniac. He's tormenting me." I took a deep breath, looking down at my bloodstained shirt and hands. "I need to see Rhea. Then we can talk."

Without another word, I ran back towards the castle, weaving between houses and bodies on my way. As we neared, however, I could already sense something was wrong. I hesitated, slowing to a stop outside the castle doors. And then it hit me. I paled, feeling my entire body begin to shake. I broke into a sprint, charging through the throne room and going straight for the door to my room. I slammed my shoulder into it, feeling something holding it in place, and I growled angrily at the resistance. I stepped back and hurled my shoulder at the wood once again, and this time it cracked, caving beneath my strength and crashing to the floor loudly. I leapt inside, panic bubbling to my throat, and nearly screamed at the sight before me. The window was wide open, the white curtains blowing out gently in the wind. There was shattered glass and scuffs on the floor, and a pile of blood on the ground near the bed. And no sign of Rhea or Terk.

"Fuck!" I shouted, whirling around to storm back out of the room, but I was stopped by a pair of strong hands holding my arms back.

"James, stop," Soren ordered. Something in his voice made me hesitate, and I felt myself take a deep breath before I shoved him off me. "There's nothing we can do right now. They'd be miles away by now. We need to stop and think rationally. Okay?"

All I wanted to do was scream and rail my fists into my brother's face, but Soren was right. I spent all my energy while Rhea was recovering being angry and helpless. At least now, when she really needed me, I could try and be strong.

"Let's gather some of our best trackers," Emil suggested as he moved further into the room, kneeling down by the pile of blood to examine it closer. "Is this Rhea's blood, James?"

I shook my head.

"It's a lot of blood," Violet announced uneasily, sharing a glance with the rest of us.

"Terk is strong. That's why I sent him in to guard her. I should have stayed..."

"Rhea was still severely injured," Emil reminded me as he straightened up. "Anthony would have gotten his hands on her easily, and threatened anyone who tried to fight him. At least they're together. Terk has gotten himself out of a lot worse, so if they're gonna have any chance, it's a good thing it was him."

"He is a lot more resourceful in his human form than the rest of us probably combined," Violet admitted, crossing her arms over her chest. "They'll be okay, James," she added quietly. I nodded in reply, not trusting my voice.

"The trail leads out the window towards the forest," Soren announced, and all our heads turned to him. "I can track Terk a lot better in my wolf form since I've known him the longest out of everyone here. We should start moving now."

"What happened to stopping and rationalizing for a moment?" I said with a scowl. He shrugged.

"We did. Moment's up. Let's get moving. Even if we can't catch them, we might be able to see where they were heading."

I sighed, but didn't object as we all moved to follow Soren out the window. He shifted before us into his dark brown wolf, his coat splattered with random streaks of gold, and bounded out towards the forest where the cliff Rhea fell from stood. The blood trail got weaker and weaker; we passed the cliff face and kept walking alongside it, until Soren was just tracking their scent; there was no blood left to follow. Finally, we made it to a small patch of dirt that had been blasted in the snow, and my heart skipped a beat. Soren transformed back into his human form, looking grim.

"Magic," Emil murmured, slowing to a stop before the small patch of dirt.

"I can feel it too," Violet breathed. "She used her magic to get them out."

"I can't sense her," I announced, trying not to choke on my words. "She's not in the pack borders."

"So Anthony knows."

"How could he know?" I argued, feeling the panic and fear well up in my heart for my lost mate. "She didn't use her magic. He had no idea about her powers."

"That necklace she went back for, that you said he took," Soren thought aloud. "It was given to her by the Moon Goddess. Could he have figured out what it was for?"

"Maybe. Either that or he found out about her magic. Regardless, she's taken them somewhere through her magic and we can't follow."

"So, what do we do?"

I bit my lip, trying not to show the fear I felt. No one wanted to answer the question, because we all knew already what we could do. And it was shit all. We were completely and utterly helpless. We just had to hope he didn't want either of them dead, and that they would be able to find a way out, because there was no way we had any chance at tracking down their location if it was magic that spirited them away.

All I felt I could do at this point was break down and cry.