Chapter 35

Chapter 35 Sleeping Ace

-Liam

Behind the mansion, deep into the woods where wolfsbane grew in abundance, which was about a

kilometer and a half from the territory's boundary, was an isolated house. It was a bungalow like the

rest of the pack’s houses, painted in the same red and gray motif. The only difference was that the

blinds were all drawn, and the outside was unkempt.

One person lived here, and no one else was to come near this area except for Rigel, Gale, Lexy, and

myself. The rest of the pack knew better than to take the risk of getting close to the house anyway

since he accidentally zapped a few members thinking they were intruders. Their timing was

unfortunate — he had just woken up.

“Is he awake?" I asked Gale.

We stopped at about ten meters from the entrance. After the last incident, he might've set some

traps around the house. He didn't like being disturbed. At least not when he was asleep, which was

st not when he was asleep, which was almost an entire year.

“If 1 knew, we wouldn't be standing here with you,” he replied.

I surveyed the surroundings. Brown fallen leaves covered the ground thickly. I f there were markings,

there was no way o f telling. The trees could've been marked

too.

“Do you want to do it?”

“No,” he said. “I don't like pain.”

“Still going on about that?”

Gale wasn't weak. He just abhorred pain with a passion he'd do almost anything t o avoid it.

“Your arm,” he said, pointing to it.

The lines lengthened, creeping up from my elbow to my upper arm, intertwining to follow the same

pattern. It was almost sad to see this lovely piece of art be regarded as a marker of the remaining

time of its bearer.

“Leave it,” I said. “The match will be over soon.”

over soon.”

Gale shifted his attention back to the house.

“I'm sure you need a warm-up before the duel,” he said.

Going down on one knee, he picked up a piece of stone and threw it carelessly. We held our breaths

as we waited for something explosive or flashy — whatever performance he wanted to show off. The

stone landed on the ground. Nothing happened.

Eight...nine...ten seconds, still nothing.

Gale exhaled in relief.

But it felt wrong

"He must've undone them?” he asked. “ Maybe he’s awake! We could be in luck, Liam.”

It didn't feel like it. I picked up a stone and threw it as well. It landed on the ground and —

One after another, rings with written sigils around the inner area lit up on the ground. The colors

were red and yellow.

Fire.

Pire.

"Stand back!” I shouted at Gale and pushed him to his side.

We each hid behind a tree, and a blast of

fire blazed past between the trees. It lasted for a few seconds. The heat was more than enough to

burn the skin.

Thanks to Luca, I didn’t have to worry about getting a burn.

Peeking behind the tree, the other half of the trunk had burned to charcoal, and all around were

embers from ashes of burnt leaves and nearby trees. That was overkill, even for him.

“Is he trying to kill us!” Gale shouted in frustration. “Jaymer, you ass! Get out of here!” 1

No response came from the house, no sound to indicate the presence of a person.

"He's still asleep?” I asked.

Gale warily looked around. “Was that all o fit?"

“Let's find out,” I said.

Getting behind him and grabbing him by

tting behind him and grabbing him by the collar, I dragged him towards the front lawn

"Hey, hey, hey... don't — “he protested but I shoved him down the once marked areas anyway. “I'm

indispensable you ass!”

“Nothing happened,” I said simply as I looked around warily.

He got back up to his feet, brushing the dirt off his jeans

“Thank Goddess. Look, I didn't know you were with Anna, alright? Maybe next time, mind-link me to

get you after you two are done.”

"Where's Rigel?”

"With Salina. Our spies reported a witch. Other than that, we've got nothing,” he replied, narrowing

his eyes at the front door.

"Sister Katrina. Used to be of the Black Star Coven. What do we know about her?” I asked, carefully

making my way to the house.

«The coven’s gone. She's the only one

he coven’s gone. She's the only one alive who used to be a part of it.”

"What happened to them?”

He wouldn't set traps directly in front of the door, would he?

"Everyone burned to their deaths.”

“She survived?”

“She killed them all.”

I stopped. Witches were nasty, to say the least, but a sister killing her sister, worse. Her entire

coven... the rest of her kind would hunt her for it. They were a sisterhood, all of them, regardless of

their covens. To kill one of them would normally go unpunished... 3

“How's she still alive?” I asked.

The sisters should've hunted her down to avenge their kind. Or did they change their system to

adapt to the times — everyone was capable of change, especially if it meant their survival.

“I don't know,” he said. “The team suddenly lost her, and the trackers can't pick up her scent. She's

bad news, Liam.”

pick up her scent. She's bad news, Liam.”

"He's asleep,” I said, sighing,

Of all times.

We needed him now.

"What do we do now?" he asked, sounding worried.

“We'd have to handle this without him, Assign the Delta Unit to guard Anna. Tell Rigel to split the

trackers and spies. Have them go by three’s, two trackers, one spy on each team. Have a team join

the Delta Unit, another to the patrollers, three teams on the village.”

I turned to head back to the village.

“Inform Lexy to prepare for the worst. Have the medical unit on standby and distribute potions to

our men. Keep all channels open.”

“Get a team here but keep them twenty five meters away. Jaymer can take care of himself but I have

a feeling he'll need a bit of time if someone uninvited wanders here.”

"What about Rigel?” he asked.

convince Rigel to stand by me.

My eyes glazed over as I tapped into the mind-link. Using the open pack channel, I called for their

attention. The noise died down instantly. They had to be informed a s well. We needed everyone...