Chapter 48: Chapter 48

*Minerva’s Point Of View*

I think my chin is broken and maybe my scrap will rip off too. I can fell the throbbing in both my face and my head as she holds my hair tightly and uses it to drag me into the warehouse.

Blood drips out of my mouth as I cough, also trying to stop her from pulling off my head. I continue to struggle even as she throws me into a room and leaves me, not completely. It is only for a few seconds but when she does leave me, my body recoils forward and I pour out the blood that is in my mouth with a cough.

When I am done, the only thing I can do is wipe my lips with my sleeves and I end up hissing in pain as I feel how broken my chin is.

“I never knew that my chin could get broken,” I laugh and wince at the same time as I try to stand on my feet. “Thank you for clearing whatever doubts I had.”

Suddenly, a hard force hits my stomach and I end up tumbling a few feet away from her till I hit the wall and bounce back to the ground.

I cough out again and hold on to my stomach as blood pours out of my mouth again. This time I don’t care about my back that hurts. I don’t care about the blood pooling out of my mouth. I don’t care about my broken chin. All I care about is my baby and tears fills my eyes at the thought of something happening to my child.

“Minerva! Minerva!”

I catch Sebastian’s anxious blue eyes in the dark and it is then I know that they are been kept here too. I thought it was different rooms but it is a big dark room full of chains.

Chains holding up a bruised Sebastian, Finn and Greyson up by their arms but no matter how I tilt my head as the world zoom around, I don’t see Gwen.

My hair is being dragged up again and I hear Sebastian call out my name as I drown in the pain, trying to forget that I just lost my baby.

My little baby.

She throws me into another corner and I land on the ground with no struggle.

“Oh please, stop the pity party. Your baby is not gone. My doppelganger put a protective spell on that little thing and no matter how much I hit you, it won’t just die!”

I hear the sound of her foot kicking the ground as she screams in agitation. “But what she forgot to do was put a spell on you because after I am done having fun with you, I am going to cut you open and gut out that little insect. It’s lucky that it isn’t big enough or I would have loved to eat it.”

Relief blossoms in my chest as I feel the heaviness leave me when I hear this. My baby is okay and it warms my heart to know that.

I hear her footsteps coming closer to me. “It’s actually crazy how I could defeat two strong kings by just bending their nature. If only Asteria can see her potential and agree to join me.”

She drags me by the hair again and I begin to feel like she has a personal vendetta over it.

This time, she walks over to a part of the wall and chains me on it. My hands sting immediately as the chains pulls my feet off the ground, keeping me in the air.

“My sister would never join a psychopath like you, always forcing along what is not meant to be and may I remind you that I am currently a human.” I look up at the chain holding me by my wrist with a smirk. “I don’t get burnt by silver or iron.”

She narrows her eyes at me and cuts the chain using her magic in seconds and I end up tumbling down.

“Fudging tadpole! Can’t you be more careful? How about you use safety scissors next time.”

I’m sure her blood is boiling right now and as I look up, I catch the worried eyes of Sebastian. They follow me as I slowly stand to my feet.

“Are you causing all this trouble for my sister to join you, do you really feel that lonely that you can’t get a boyfriend?”

I rest my back on the wall as I watch her movements.

“Don’t speak another word or I might end you right now. This has nothing to do with that, though she could have joined me but that wouldn’t be what dad wants.”

She unconsciously moves closer as she speaks.

“So this is what your dad wants.” I say, breathing in as I try to reach out to my wolf. “Not what you want but what he wants. That’s really mature, Davina.”

“What he wanted is a huge plan. A plan that came in motion the day he separated your sister and I. It started with your stubborn mother, Irish.”

I don’t see my wolf, I don’t feel her anywhere either and I reach out to my magic but still nothing. My request bounces back to me, leaving me empty handed and I begin to look for other alternatives.

“Is it Irish or Iris?” I squint my eyes as my fingers search for something I can defend myself with, in the darkness.

“It’s Irish. That’s what she was called.” She argues back and I hum, moving to the side slowly, my back still on the wall.

“Or it’s what your father told you because I have never heard a name like Irish.” I say, trying to hide my glee as my fingers touch a rod. I hold it tightly when she comes closer with her eyes looking strange in the dark.

“You argue too much so I’ll show you. I’ll show you how much of an Irish your mother was.”

When she comes closer and her outreached finger touch my head, I gasp with the feeling it brings and then I am being sucked into another world.

“You can’t do this to us. You can’t this, Zephyr.”

I turn to direction that the voice is coming from and it is then I see them.

My parents.

I don’t know how I am able to figure it out right away, maybe it is because of the face features or my mother’s skin or the way they cling to each other.

Everything becomes queasy in my head. When I see the father of Davina I know why I figured it out quickly.

“No, can’t do, little Irish but I will make your children’s life a living hell.”

I focus too much on their dialogue that I don’t notice that they are standing behind a big furnace of flames. With wide eyes and flapping arms, I run to them but I end up passing through like a ghost and just like that, I watch them being thrown into the fire and Zephyr watch them scream as they plead for help.

The air knocks out of my chest as I stubble back into reality and the first thing I see is Davina’s smirk directed at me.

“Did you like what you saw?”

“Your father killed my parents!”

With rage influencing my every move, I grip the rod tightly and fling it at her.

She catches it with ease and it surprises me when she drags it out of my hands.

“I thought that I have been saying that since the beginning.” She looks thoughtful for a second before she shrugs, holding the rod with her two hands. “Oh well.”

The metal hits my head with a loud bang and I fall to the ground immediately.

Blood…

When I was little, I scrapped my knee and ended up bleeding badly. My alpha told me that it’s okay to cry and let it all out. I did cry and let it all out but now I lay in the pool of my own blood, listening to sound of my name being shouted out by Sebastian, I can barely cry out at all.

The intense pain at the side of my head drowns me. Even as the life leaves my body, I can only blink at the ground of the abandoned warehouse I end up dying on…

I didn’t save Gwen…

Lightness, peace.

Those are the things I feel next as my eyes softly close… as I die.

Are those really what I am supposed to feel?

I open my eyes when strange humming invades my hearing, and just like that, I am staring at a blue clear sky and a varieties of birds in the sky.

“Two seconds to open your eyes. Now that’s a new record. Bring the gifts.”

“Gifts?” I frown and turn to where the voice is coming from. The amused voice. Angel Writes stares at me with a raised eyebrow and a lollipop between her lips.

Surprisingly, my head doesn’t feel heavy again, there is no pool of blood beside me, just green grasses and beautiful butterflies flying around in the air.

“What is this place?”

Her knowing eyes watches me carefully.

“This where I bring the souls that are destined to go to hell, then I actually take them to hell.”

My eyes widen as I hear this. “What?”

The sudden sound of her giggles reaches my ears before she actually holds her stomach to laugh. “I’m joking. I’m joking.”

She can barely talk straight with her laughter in action and as if I have been slapped, I recoil and my memories start coming back in a fast pace.

My hands slowly move to my stomach as I peer up at her in worry. “My baby. What’s going to happen to my child?”

It takes a while for her to completely stop laughing and she says to me. “Your kid is going to die in a few minutes, along with the rest of your friends.”

She shrugs happily… happily?

“They are going to die, your creations and you sit here telling me this with happiness.”

She sighs, crossing her ankles across each other. “It is your choice to save them. That is, if you want to.”

“Of course I want to, but I can’t figure out how I can save them when I don’t have my magic or my wolf.”

“So they both left you.” I nod at her words and she continues. “Or did you let them go.”

“I didn’t let anything go. She- they both went away when I was- I don’t even know what state I was in.”

“Devastation. Denial. Should I continue naming them?” She insists and I narrow my eyes.

“What are you trying to say. That I don’t value my wolf.” The accusation is as clear as day and she stands to her feet.

“Your whole world is about to go down in a few minutes because you don’t accept it.”

“Accept what exactly. That I don’t have a wolf or that I am dead and can’t go back, is that it?” I emphasize with sudden eye opening words.

I am dead and I can’t go back. I can’t go back to save my child. To save Gwen.

“You’re a hybrid. You have no separate part of you as you believe. You are one person, just a hybrid of both the wolf and the fey genes, you have to accept that.”

“Okay, I am accepting it right now.” I exhales, hoping to be transformed in the next second but I get nothing.

“Accepting it doesn’t mean saying it aloud, Minerva. I want you to do that in your mind, connect the two parts together. You have to do it or you won’t be able to save them, you won’t be able to save your kid.”

Her voice fades out of my hearing as I dive into my consciousness, with the aim of searching for my ‘other parts’.

I see my wolf first. She is curled up in a ball, whimpering in a corner of my head. I walk to her, ignoring the destruction that I pass by. All I can hear is her whimpers as I reach out to her but she doesn’t react to my touch.

Her state remains the same so I pull the images of Sebastian into her…

The images of our time together. The time he actually cried because of me. The time he decided to take me out for dinner.

Her ears immediately spikes up and then her head follows and the next thing I know, I am staring at my wolf and she is staring back at me.

“Hey, wolfy. You can’t imagine how much I missed you.” I laugh as she tilts her head at me and slowly, she uncurls herself.

I open my arms in an embrace and she runs into me, rubbing her fur on me as I giggle. The feeling that comes with it is pleasant and for once in a while, I hold my wolf tight and hope to never let her go again.

“I’ll take that as you missed me too.” My giggles stop as I look up from my excited wolf and turn to the other part of me.. the fey. “Yeah, took you long enough to come find us.”

She hasn’t changed. Her features are sharp and her cheekbones high up, making her dark skin glitter. Her eyes remains humorous, always waiting for something exciting to happen.

I stand to my feet and take confused steps to me. “You’re here too. How?”

“You subconsciously pushed us to the farthest place in your mind.” She responds immediately. “But you are now here to accept us right?”

I nod at her arched eyebrow. “Thankfully, I am back to my real senses.”

“I never knew we had a fake sense before,” She smirks and takes a hold of my arm. “I am also glad we are in our real sense now.”

I smile at her…

The world sucks in and before I know it, I am gasping on the cold hard floor. My eyesight takes a while to clear out and I watch the blood on the ground move back.

I don’t think much into it but I think that it’s going back into me.

Slowly, I stand on my feet, taking note of how light I am and it makes me giggle. “I miss being a fey.”

Davina stops on her steps and turns to me. “You’re alive… oh well, I’m just gonna have to hit you properly this time.”

She holds the rod tightly and try to swing it at me but this time, I catch it with my hands. “You really don’t know how to kill someone.”

I drag the rod from her and take a swing at her, just like I wanted to do in the first place. She soars through the air and lands on the ground, coughing out blood as she somehow bounces on the ground.

“Wow, that’s partially what happened to me.”

I grin and throw the rod away. The remembrance of why I am here in the first place hits me and I walk to release Sebastian first.

He smiles at me as I touch his arm, leaving my wolf wagging her tail in my head. The feeling that blossoms in my chest distracts me for a second. The mate bond… it is back.

It came back with my wolf and it is then I figure another thing out…

The feelings are coming from him. They are his feelings directed to me. The feelings of l-

The air is knocked out of me as I am being pushed away from him and my back hits the wall with full force.

Immediately, I feel several hands pressing my face hard to the wall and I groan, pushing against it but to no vail. It doesn’t work…

“You see, I am also immune to iron. My father made sure of that. He stole that from your sister’s mate right here. Ever wondered why he is not immune to iron, that’s why. I got his kingly immunity.”

I can imagine her jumping as she squeals. “And now, I am sorry to say that I must kill you, properly this time.”

As I hear her footsteps come closer and I see a slow movement at the corner of my eyes. Dark eyes of a never ending darkness…

It takes a moment to know what’s pinning me to the wall is not someone or something. They are ‘somethings’. somethings that have an eerie feeling and with each of their touch, I feel it, and things like this are terrified of one thing.

Light. So I reach out to my powers and slowly, light slips out of my body. Growing brighter and brighter at each pacing second.

I hear her giggle behind me. “The thing I like about my nightlings is that they aren’t affected by any type of light.”

“I never said that it was what I wanted.” I close my eyes tight, only for me to hear shrieks and I laugh.

“Bright light hurts the eyes.”

The hands pressing me in, all disappears. Immediately, the light vanishes and I turn to see two ‘nightlings’ as she calls it, trying to get their eyesight back. Focusing my mind on Davina, I rush to her as she struggles and I snap her neck in a swift action. She falls like a board to the ground but I don’t take time to properly watch her.

The sound of inhuman shrieks reaches my ears and I summon a blade, as I turn back, I cut the twist ‘nightlings’ in half.

“That was quick.”

Greyson is the first one who talks and I discard the blade and rush to remove his chain. As I do this, the sound of bone cracking invades my hearing and when I move to Sebastian, he shakes his head.

“Minerva, you have to leave. Go find Gwen now.”

“I am not going anywhere without you.” I argue as I try to quickly undo the chains, not caring to look back.

He turns to Greyson. “Get her out of here and find Gwen.”

Greyson being the obedient kid, grabs my arm and I scream, struggling as he drags me away.

“No, Sebastian. I can’t leave you.”

He smiles at me as the darkness slowly covers him, his voice echoing in a small whisper. “I love you.”

I don’t feel anything. I don’t talk. I just turn to Greyson and we start running deep into the warehouse. I can feel the darkness catching up to us, licking at our feet as we run.

“Don’t look back.” I say.

“I already did.”

“Shit! We have to find Gwen.” I whisper then end up screaming out her name. “Gwen! Gwen!”

Greyson decides to join me and it is then I hear wheezing sounds. “Minerva?”

I notice the way the darkness increases its pace and so do we.

“We’re coming!”

We follow the direction of her voice and it leads us to the place. I see Gwen looking bruised and battered, laying in a pool of her own blood. My eyes scan her stomach to see if the baby is okay and I breath out in relief.

I immediately rush to her and try to help her up. “We have to find a way out of here. She is coming.”

Gwen places her hands on me as she exhales with great effort. “I’m poisoned.”

“What?” I gasp, looking down at her hands. What I see is red on her skin, her body slowly filling with pores and sores. A rash that I can’t understand.

“We can remove it in time. Just get up.”

“No, you can’t, Minerva. The thing can’t be removed.”

Darkness surrounds me for a second before I can finally see again. The chilly feeling it brings fades off immediately and what do I see?

Davina smirking at me as she holds Gwen’s chin in place. “That’s because I made the poison. It is very lethal, very slow but don’t worry because it won’t hurt the baby. I made it specially for my little Gwen.”

I glare at her as I stand to my feet. “You bastard. Hand over the cure!”

Greyson rushes forward but I stop him before he can go any further.

“Oh, baby daddy’s having a hard time believing this. Don’t worry. I’ll take the kid for myself.”

Greyson pushes my hand away and hurries towards Davina in a rage of fury. She blasts him to the side like an insect and Gwen and I gasp.

“He’ll live but I’ll kill him when I am done with you all. After all, he came to protect you. He is your protector.”

When she sees the confusion on my face, she laughs. “You have no idea, do you. Greyson was put in your life because he had to protect you. The Moon Goddess actually sent him to protect you. It’s really laughable.”

“You’re the Moon Goddess child too?” I peer at Greyson who doesn’t know what to say.

“No, Estella is her daughter but I am just a follower.”

“A bloody bad follower. You got a woman pregnant on the job.” Davina laughs and I try to clear my head as I blink.

A follower… I shake my head, trying to focus on the situation at hand.

“Release her, Davina.”

The fey in question tilts her head to the side. “Make me.”

“Gladly. I’ll rip out your heart.” A sword slices through the air as it appears in my hand and I take a step closer.

“It is my only way of finally dying but who said that you can even come close.”

I squint my eyes at her as she trails her long fingernail on Gwen’s neck as an open threat.

“I plan to.”

She slowly lets go out Gwen and once she does, I rush to her but she shifts back before I can strike her.

Her movements are precise and quick as she appears and disappears around the room. I hear her laughter in an echo.

“You can’t catch me.”

All this while I have been listening to the sound of her movements and when she appears at my back, I turn immediately and strike her on her stomach.

She ends up flying into the wall with a grunt and when she looks down at her stomach, she sees blood and I laugh, holding my sword which is dripping with her blood, tight.

“I can catch you.” I turn to Greyson and Gwen. “You guys have to g-”

I scream in pain as my head is suddenly being banged on the wall.

“You might have hurt me but I will kill you.” I feel her breath on my neck as the sword is being pulled out of my hands with force.

My lips pull apart, with no sound coming out at all as I feel intense pain in my back. She pierces the sword into me.

“Slowly.”

The pain can only intensify as she grabs my chin and turn me to face her. Her grip is tight and my legs are lifted off the ground. I try to pry her hands off me, but she is stronger. She raises me higher and pulls me closer to her face.

“Time to die.”

I smirk at her in pain. “Yes, it is time for you to die.”

The smugness on her face is wiped off when I push my fingers into her chest, doing what I have always wanted to do. I rip out her heart at once.

Her grip releases as she stares at me with shock and she coughs, pulling back and I land on my feet with her heart in my hand.

I wonder how she staggers back and summons a dark crystal blade. I stand and watch her throw it in another direction.

“You missed.” I smirk, only to hear a grunt and a sharp scream as she falls to the ground in her last breath.

The dark crystal blade sticks out of Greyson’s chest as blood slowly pours out of the sides. I rush to him, even as Gwen holds his hands, sobbing her heart out and I discard the heart in my hands.

Slowly, I pull the sword out of my back and kneel before him, no matter how bloody I am right now.

His dark grey eyes move to me in a slow pace and he whispers out. “I am so sorry, Minerva.”

“Shut up and save your breath. I need to find a way to pull this thing out without hurting you.”

He coughs as I place my hands on the object with great care.

“There is no way. Just keep my kid save and tell them how much I-”

“I thought I told you to keep quiet…” I trail off when I find his lifeless eyes staring at me with a small smile on his face.

“He’s dead.” Gwen sobs. “Why is he dead?”

I blink back whatever tears that tries to fall and I grab Gwen as I stand up. She staggers behind me as we walk out so I retort to carrying her in my arms. My mind blank.

Sebastian and Finn have already gotten themselves freed and I can only say two simple words as we get closer to them.

“He’s dead.”

I stare back at their wide yes and I repeat. “Greyson is dead, and Gwen has been poisoned.”

“Davina! Davina!”

The sound of yelling distracts us. It’s coming from outside and when we reach there, Asteria is standing outside. She sees us and quiets down.

“You’re okay. Where is Davina.”

“Dead and I will be soon if I don’t get help.” Gwen says as she plays with her fingers.

“What?”

I look up at my confused sister. “She has been poisoned.”