Chapter 71: Chapter 73

~Zirah POV~

My surroundings dissolve, her screams ringing loudly as I am swallowed by darkness. Her screams are ear piercing, but it’s not her burning at the stake as I thought. No longer am I standing in the square, chained to a pillar, but inside a tunnel. Peering around the darkness, whispers are carried on the draft that caresses over me me. “Hello?” I murmur, yet my voice carries too, echoing back at me as I try to figure out where I am. Yet the deeper I move through the tunnels, the whispers grow louder, like a chant in an icy-breeze.

“A bond once sacred, now torn apart, in the Lycans fate lies in a broken heart.” Turning, I look for the voice, but find no one there. My heart is beating in my chest so loudly it makes me pause as I peer around the darkened tunnel. The only light offered flickers ahead, casting shadows on the wall, when I hear another whisper, only this one sounds from behind my ear, the iciness of its breath skating across my neck..

“No daughters born, the line shall fade, a heavy price for defiance paid.” the whisper makes me jump, but once again no one is there. Suddenly the whispers repeat, echoing around me, more voices, their taunting whispers making goosebumps rise on the back of my neck. So many that I run, clutching my ears, wishing they’d stop. I keep running, trying to find my way through the tunnels. Only when I find the source of the light at the end of the tunnel does the last whisper skim across me.

“In shadows hidden, the truth is near. The Oracle’s power brings hope and fear.”

As the whispers dissipated, the tunnel suddenly opens up a little. I stop in my tracks when I see two women. One woman stood clutching the stone walls, her clothes filthy and her hair matted, she wears a filthy floor length dress that once white is now stained in blood and dirt. Her pain echoes through the tunnel and the runes glowing up her arms burn brightly in the darkened room.

The other women is clutching her arm, trying to help her up, as she falls to one knee. It takes me two seconds to figure out who they are. “You must move, Litha. We need to get out of here,” the woman whispers urgently, trying to haul Litha to her feet. The woman peers down the tunnel, yet when I catch sight of her face, I stagger back a step. “Grandma?” I murmur. My mind is racing as I try to make sense of what I’m seeing. Yet I have no doubt it’s her, her face the same though brighter, younger, not marred with the lines of old age.

“I can’t,” Litha gasps, clutching her swollen belly. “The baby is coming.” she groans.

My grandmother’s eyes widened in fear, but she held Litha’s hand, offering what little comfort she could. “Please, Litha, come on. We can’t stay here; the war is spreading. It won’t be long before they check the tunnels.” My grandmother begs Litha. “Then go, mother. Just leave me, there is no point in both of us dying!” Litha yells, shaking off my grandmother’s hand.

“I am not leaving you… I will not abandon you.”

“Get the coven, run. He’ll go after them next.” Litha urged my grandmother. However, my grandmother shook her head.

As the contractions grow stronger, I know there was no turning back for Litha; the pain making it near impossible for her to take a few steps before the next one comes. Time seems to stand still in the dimly lit tunnel. The air ripples with each of her contractions when footsteps sound. “Litha, up. They’re coming!” my grandmother hisses, pulling her up only for Litha to scream and clutch her stomach. My grandmother clamps a hand over her mouth, her eyes frantically peering down the corridor tunnels.

Suddenly, the footsteps grow so loud it makes me turn to see Zeke and Regan storm into the tunnels, walking straight through me as if I am nothing more than apparition. But met with the scene before them; they stop in their tracks. My grandmother puts herself in front of Litha protectively.

“You don’t have to do this…” Regan and Zeke look at each other in shock. “She’s pregnant?” Regan gasps. “He never said anything about her being with child…” Regan says, looking at Zeke.

“I’m not killing a pregnant woman….” Zeke says, clutching his hair when Litha screams, drawing everyone’s attention to her. My grandmother turns trying to help her but also trying to watch the kings.

“What do we do?” Regan looks at Zeke as he paces but Litha’s screams echo loudly.

“Shut her up! You need to keep her quiet!” Zeke hisses at my grandmother, glancing nervously down the tunnels.

In the dimly lit tunnel, with the support of my grandmother, she gave birth to her daughter. “She’s perfect,” Litha whispers. My stomach sinks as I take in what I’m witnessing, what I’m learning. When Litha turns her pleading gaze to the kings.

“Please, I beg you just let us go, we’ll leave. We won’t return, you can have the Kingdom.” she pleads.

Her voice is weak as she continues to bleed my grandmother frantically trying to stop the bleeding by removing the placenta. “Here, take her,” my mother says to my grandmother. I still can’t wrap my head around it, however, I know that title feels right. Litha is my mother.

“Please, spare my mother. Let her take my daughter? Please, she is just a baby…” she pleads, lifting her arms to Regan. Regan scratches his chin. “Let me think…. let me you have half the city hunting you–a bounty on—” his words trail off as he looks at the baby in Litha’s arms.

Regan suddenly falls to his knees beside her, hands trembling as he knelt down beside Litha, and carefully took me from her arms. He looked up at Zeke and I see the same wonder in his eyes. “It can’t be…” Regan murmurs.

Yet no sooner had the baby been placed in Regan’s arms, Zeke staggered forward. Zeke’s eyes locked onto me in his arms, and I could see the hunger in Zeke’s eyes as he reached for me. “She’s mine!” he snarled. My grandmother screams, shoving him back, but Zeke lunges at her, knocking her aside and into the wall, only for Regan to shove me back into my mother’s arms and tackle Zeke. “What’s got into you? You’re not touching her?” Regan snarls.

“The baby, she’s mine. Take the fucking kingdom, just give me my mate.” Zeke snarls. Regan looks at him, confused, then growls.

“No, she is mine,” Regan snarls. Yet the confusion on both their faces is evident. However, Litha glares at them, clutching me in her ripped shawl as she tries to stand, only to fall heavily back to the floor when Zeke turns his attention to Litha. “You! You did this! It’s a trick… fix it. Tell him she’s my mate!” he yells, shoving Regan off.

“No, it is not possible. How could we share a mate…” Regan snarls.

“She did something. She can fix it. I won’t share her!”

“You won’t touch her!” Litha screams her anger. Zeke’s eyes flash dangerously, his head tilting, and he lunges at Litha only to be once again tackled by Regan.

Regan tries to calm his brother down, but the situation escalates quickly. The two brothers fight while my grandmother demands they stop and keep the noise down, telling them that they’ll draw attention to the tunnels. The sound of their growls and snarls echoing through the tunnels. As their fight raged on, I could hear the distant sound of approaching footsteps and shouts from guards.

As the guards draw nearer, both Regan and Zeke looked at my mother in panic, realizing their mistake, they’ve alerted the king’s guard to their location. Regan’s skin ripples as he peers over at the tunnel entrance, just as guards emerged. They carefully took in the scene before spotting my mother, and one guard smiled wickedly, lifted his gun, aimed it at my mother, and pulled the trigger.

The bang echos off the walls, drilling into my ears and Regan attacks the guards, ripping them to shreds, yet I pay him no mind. Instead, I stare down at Zeke, gasping for breath, having taken the bullet to protect my mother.

“Zeke, we need to get them out of—” Regan turns around drenched in blood, his brother gasping for breath on the hard ground. “Get them out,” Zeke rasps, as Regan falls to his knees beside him. “No…”

He tries to stem the bleeding, but it doesn’t stop. The poison in the bullets spreading through Zeke as the blood drains from his face.

I could see the anguish on Regan’s face as he looked at his fallen brother. “No, stay with me, Zeke,”

Regan begs, clutching his brother when Lyon stumbled into the tunnel. He staggered forward, then stops making Regan look at him. Lyon stuttered, hands shaking. “I heard the guns… the… Zeke?”

“Get a fucking healer!” Regan snarls at Lyon, who seems to be in a state of shock. Lyon nods, “I’ll get help… I will get…” his eyes go to Litha and I watch something change in Lyon.

Like a switch had been flicked suddenly, his voice no longer trembles. “I’ll get help,” he assures Regan, who is fussing over Zeke and not witnessing the wicked glint in his brother’s eyes. Yet when Lyon doesn’t return quick enough. Regan can tell he’s dying. Suddenly Regan straightens. “You’re a witch.

Fix him…” Litha stares at Zeke, then her eyes flick to Regan.

“Litha, you can save him,” Regan begged, his voice breaking with desperation.

“You want me to mess with the fates to save someone trying to kill me?” my mother snarls.

“He’s dying!”

“I know…” Litha tells him. Regan looks at my grandmother.

“She can’t save him, her connection to the fates now gone. My mother handed that power to me when I became queen,” Litha tells him, which makes her look at Litha.

“I save him, you let us go!” my mother demands, and Regan nods.

“Anything. I will set you free. Just save him,” Regan begged.

“Litha you’re too weak. You can’t?” my grandmother pleaded.

“She’s a high priestess!” Regan yells at my grandmother.

“One that has been hiding in tunnels for days. She’s lost her connection to the sun and moon, trapped down here hiding from your father! She just had a baby!” my aunty yells at him, and Regan growls.

“No, I am a mother. I save him, you give me your word you’ll get us out of here, saving him will deplete me of power. I can’t cloak my daughter with the elements, without the moon,”

“Yes! I said yes, now hurry before he dies!” Litha stares at Zeke, then her flit back to Regan.

“Your word, I want your word, you get us out. I need the moon, I need the moon to cloak them.” My mother tells him.

“Yes, I give you my word… I will get you to the moon. Just hurry,” Regan tells her. I watch my mother heal Zeke, tying his life to Regan’s while the energy it takes exhausts her. By the time she is done, she can barely stand. “She did what you asked. Now help her, help me get her out of these tunnels.” my grandmother yelled at him. But as Regan moved to grab her, footsteps sound and Zeke wakes, disorientated. Within seconds, the tunnels are filled with guards blocking all exits, and King Theron walks into the tunnel.

“See, father.” Lyon says in a taunting voice coming up behind him.

“What is the meaning of this?” he demanded, his voice cold and unforgiving.

Lyon, still in shock, struggled to find his words. “Father... I found them like this.”

King Theron’s eyes flick from my mother to Regan, and then to Zeke. “Is this true?” he asked, his voice dripping with menace.

Regan hesitated, casting a furtive glance at me, before responding. “We were... trying to protect them, father. She was pregnant. The guards attacked, and Zeke—-.” a deep threatening growl leaves King Theron, cutting off his son.

“I said bring her to me. I never asked you to play midwife!” Theron boomed.

“She’s just a baby!” Regan growls back at him.

“You betrayed me!” Theron points at his son.

I could see the anger building in King Theron as he took in the information. He turned his gaze back to my mother when his eyes fell on me in her arms.

Regan glares at Lyon, and Zeke sits up while Theron takes in the scene and smiles cruelly at Litha.

“Seize them!” he orders, but Regan steps in the guard’s way. “I hoped your brother was wrong, but clearly, there is truth to what he claims. You were told to bring her to me, not help her escape.”

As the vision ripples, it moves along while I ponder everything I’ve learned from it. The whispers return, only this time I welcome them as they transport me to a new vision. Showing me the ghosts of my mother’s past, showing me their sins.