"*Harper*…"
Harper could hear Alex's voice drawing closer to her. She looked to her right, but there was nothing; she looked to her left, and there was still nothing. So she continued down an infinite hallway. His calls were growing closer, but he was getting further away from her. The ringing in her ears was getting worse, and she was slowly falling off to sleep.
His calls were getting closer, but he was getting further away from her, the ringing in her ears was getting worse, and she was slowly falling off to sleep.
*No*! *Must stay awake*!
The throbbing in her chest was becoming more audible as well, and she was making every effort she could muster to stay awake and keep her eyes open.
*Why am I suddenly sleepy*? Harper asked herself, her eyelids becoming too heavy to remain open. So she shut them, and they stayed closed for a while longer. Then, as the throbbing in her chest became more intense, everything fell silent.
Alex's calls were no longer audible to her.
The darkness had taken over, and she could no longer see anything.
The next time Harper opened her eyes, she was confronted with an unusual layout of the room she was in. Inside, there was nothing that resembled any of the Casa's chambers. A large hearth could be seen across the room from the wooden door. She also noted that the bed she was resting in was situated near a wide window through which the sun's rays flowed in. There was also a chair and a small desk that she had never seen before.
She examined herself behind the sheets and discovered that she was dressed in white undergarments with full sleeves.
She gradually pushed herself up on the bed, her back against the wall, to get comfortable in the pillows and to take in the details of the unfamiliar room. She raised her eyes to the ceiling and then surveyed the room before settling on a wash table near the door and a small square mirror mounted on the wall over the basin.
She clasped her fingers together on her lap as she tried to recall the last thing she saw after seeing the griffins soar off into the sky with Gillen's demon form caught in one of the majestic winged-creature's claws.
Francine had struck her.
It had been frightening enough when the vampiress nearly choked her to death after learning that she had rejected Lucas and had somehow prompted the latter to murder his brother, but that had been a spontaneous reaction to her grief. But when Francine stabbed her claws into her abdomen, it was another blow to her.
Rather than hating Francine, Harper chose to place the blame on her own. Alex was Francine's mate, and all that had happened between them had left the vampiress broken and bitter.
Lucas' words and his expression when she told him she was no longer in love with him were particularly painful for her to recall. He looked completely broken and defeated. And it was at that point that she fully comprehended what it was like to be mated to someone only to be rejected. She couldn't even fathom the torment of such magnitude.
Harper's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps and a door opening and closing outside the room she was in. For a little while, she waited to listen to the footsteps moving along what she believed was a corridor. When she couldn't hear any more footsteps, she eventually decided to exit the room and explore where she was and to whom the footsteps belonged.
Flinging back the covers, she steadily swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She winced slightly when the movement tugged at the stitched wound, but the discomfort was short-lived. She rose to her feet, the dress revealing that it belonged to someone a few inches taller than her, as the hem hung only a few inches above the hardwood floor.
She carefully brought her hand up to her side, cradling her abdomen, which was encased in several layers of thick bandages. She walked up to the door, reached for the knob, and turned it. Cautiously, she pushed the door open.
As she stepped outside the door, she realized that she was looking straight down the narrow corridor. There was a closed door just across the hall from her. She began her walk by looking at each of the other closed doors along the long corridor, then paused for a few seconds to admire the drawings on the walls.
She then made her way down a narrow stairway. By the time she got to the bottom, she could hear voices coming from behind a closed door. Slowly, she approached the door, turned the handle, and pushed it open. She walked into a kitchen, avoiding the high threshold and the low header.
Around the long table, she noticed Alex, Lucas, and Gwinifer's familiar faces among the others who were staring at her.
Alex was the first to get up from his chair and rush over to her side. "Harper, you're finally awake!" He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug.
She grunted.
Suddenly, Gwinifer came up to them and gave Alex a playful shove. "Alex, take it easy! Harper, how are you feeling today?"
Harper responded with a smile, and when she was freed from Alex's embrace, she added, "I'm feeling a lot better, I guess." She looked around and asked the first thing that came to mind. "Where's Francine?"
Instantaneously, everyone in the room turned dismal or bitter.
"We have no idea. We all went on a search for her. But I suppose it's difficult to find someone who doesn't want to be found," Lucas replied. He was happy to see her and wished he could hug and kiss her, but he didn't. He reasoned that after everything Harper had been through, she didn't deserve to deal with any more tension between him and Alex.
Thus, he chose to remain in his seat and simply watch, grateful that she had lived.
"She was responsible for the deaths of several of Gillen's soldiers. I wish she could be here so Alpha Redmane and I could personally express our thanks," said a well-built, tall woman in the center of the table, who was close to six feet tall with a black patch on her left eye. "My name is Hazel, by the way. I'm Alpha Redmane's beta," she added after observing Harper's attempt to place a name to her face.
Harper smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you, B-Beta Ha-"
"You can call me Hazel. Just Hazel." The beta chuckled.
"Alpha Redmane and General Connall have returned to Velaris. The alpha is set to re-establish his control over his land and to arrange terms of surrender with those who fought under Gillen. Don't worry, he has a few of his men over there to search for Francine," Gwinifer said.
"What do you remember, Harper? Who struck you?" Beta Hazel asked.
Harper swallowed hard and cleared her throat. "I was helping the slaves... and... um... I thought I was... I saw... or felt something..." she began to ramble on. Then her eyes were suddenly drawn to Gwinifer, and she took note of how the mage looked at her, as if Gwinifer had sensed that she was struggling with some information.
"It's all right, Harper," the mage said, with a warm and reassuring smile.
"I-I'm sorry, I don't really remember everything, or the details, I guess. I just felt something hit me and... I suppose I passed out for a few seconds," Harper claimed. She felt terrible for not telling them the truth, but she reckoned none of them would really be able to fully gasp and understand Francine's actions and why she did what she did. None of them saw the shock, the hurt, and the guilt that flooded the vampiress' face after she struck her.
She lowered her gaze to the ground. Perhaps this was the reason Francine ran away. The vampiress couldn't bear the pain and the guilt at the same time.
"Here... why don't you sit down?" Alex led her to one of the available chairs and sat down next to her.
"How long was I out?" Harper asked.
"Six days," Gwinifer answered, settling into the seat across from her.
"It had been six terrifying days." Alex's face became solemn. "We were worried that we were going to lose you."
Harper sighed and then flashed a small smile. "Well, here I am." She looked around. "And here we are. We *won*."
"Indeed, we won. I have this to remind me of that every day," Beta Hazel proudly declared, pointing to her black eye patch. "How you convinced the Moon Queen to send those griffins is beyond... beyond all of us. We couldn't have done it without those half-bird, half-lion creatures. We owe you our freedom and our land."
"Absolutely." Gwinifer stared at her beaming for a moment before asking, "So, are you ready to go *home*, Harper?"