Chapter 56 - Trap

~~~ Hayden ~~~

I let Arianna and Amiera know about what happened to Allaya, the bigger the search party, the better. Plus, she will need emotional support, her friend was murdered cold-bloodily and her lifeless head was delivered to her in a box.

Fuck! She must be in so much pain, first her mother was taken, and then her closest friend was killed.

I wish I’d be with her, holding her in my arms and telling her that everything will be okay, that we will survive this, together. That she can count on me, that I love her, today and forever.

My stomach muscles churn and as much as I hate to admit it, Maddox was right. We should have stayed together. If only I had been there as well, I could have calmed her down.

I chose not to let our parents know for now, they have a mission that needs to be completed if we want to win this war. I know Allaya would agree with me.

That monster is up to something, he must not be underestimated for I’m sure he has several hidden cards, he’d lived for one thousand years and all this time, he ruled the magical world.

“Her family was killed as well.” Amiera’s broken voice pulled me straight out of my thoughts.

“What?” I inquire. “Sorry, my mind was somewhere else.”

“I’m talking about Alexis, the girl that was brutally murdered. She was my friend too. I visited her parents’ home after you called me. I wanted to let them know about their daughter, but instead I found out that their house was burned to ashes.”

“Ohh.”

“The firemen found their bodies slaughtered beyond recognition, before being burned.” Amiera conveyed, still in shock. “She didn’t even live there, so why kill her parents as well?”

“It sounds personal to me.” Arianna cuts in, tears touching her eyes. “Like a hate crime.”

“Personal?” Landon narrowed his eyes, then shook his head as if he had an idea, but dismissed it.

I don’t know what he was thinking, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Morrigan or his witch killed them personally. He had been chased out of the castle he lived his entire life. His thirst for revenge might have driven those sorts of actions.

It makes my gut twist that he stooped so low as to involve humans in our battle. It was a line he should not have crossed. The Head of the Council should have acted as a protector to both the human and the supernatural world.

“I have some news. Unfortunately, they are rather bad. There was a massacre at a camping site nearby.” Gabriel’s words leave me in shock, my body tenses at the rush of emotions that hit my heart all at once.

He is not thinking that Allaya did it, isn’t he? Because that’s not possible.

“It was not Allaya!” Landon growls before I have the chance to open my mouth. “She wouldn’t hurt anyone!”

His jaw is tight, his eyes blazing fire at the unspoken accusation.

“I don’t want to believe she had anything to do with this either, but some of my men spotted her there.”

“This must be some sort of mistake!” I grab his shoulders, anger stirring inside me.

“It’s even more serious than that. She was spotted by others as well. By now, the news must have spread like wildfire through the forest in the magical world. The fact that a hybrid born from the mating outside the species sin has slaughtered more than twenty people, women and children included, is what concerns our world. She is considered dangerous, and a price has been set on her head.”

Fear crept into my bones, she is now being hunted by everyone and she is all alone. I was wrong, I should have alerted our parents. Both the father that raised and her biological father deserve to know.

‘Our mate didn’t do it!’ Maddox is furious inside, growing desperate to get free.

‘Of course, she didn’t do it! This was Morrigan’s plan. To enrage her by sending her friend’s head in a box, this way to separate her from the others and then set her up, making her a target. And the motherfucker succeeded. We walked right into his trap.’

“But where could she be?” Landon runs his fingers through his hair nervously.

“I have no clue.” I answer, feeling so fucking useless.

“If she was spotted at that camping site, we should start from there.” Amiera suggests and we all approve.

It felt like ages passed until we reached that camp, it was already cleaned up by the Council’s men, but the heavy smell of death still lingered in the air.

And there was something else Maddox picked up from the second we arrived at the scene. Allaya’s scent.

“It’s true that she has been here.” Her uncle declared concerned, inhaling the air.

“That means nothing!” I growl aggressively, my fists curl into balls, my breath growing thin and rugged.

“I just stated that she was here. Be careful, boy, I’m not in a good mood!” He fired me a lethal glare. “She was here, but clearly, she left. The question is, where to?” His eyes snap at me, I’m searching my brain for an answer.

“I have no idea.”

“Luckily for you, I know a place where she might have gone. I’m not confident she’d be there, but it’s worth a shot.”

“What are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Arianna pushes forward.

My head is throbbing all the way to the tree house that was Allaya’s mother’s favorite spot. Her safe place.

Gabriel believed my mate would think of that location as a refuge, as she had her mother’s memories, and he was right. As we edged near the place, her scent became more and more obvious.

“I’ll go alone from here.” I demand and they nod in agreement.

My heart is pounding in my chest as I open the door and my eyes meet Allaya, curled in the bed in the fetus position, blood scattered all over her clothes, all over her body.

Her mouth is smeared with blood as well, and she is peering at me with hurt and guilt in her eyes, making it hard to breathe. I desperately want to do anything in my power to ease her pain.

“Hayden, I did something horrible!” She jumped from the bed, directly into my arms, holding me tight.

Fear cripples my entire body, I stay completely still for a few moments.

Allaya, my love, what have you done?