Chapter 190 Like Porcelain dolls
But looking at Leela’s pale, vacant face, that physical power felt useless. He reached out, his massive hands trembling as he cupped her cheeks. "Sparky," he whispered, his voice cracking. "Come back. I’ve got them. I’ve got the babies. They’re safe."
Beside him, Jax was still coughing, his lungs struggling to clear the acrid smoke Magda had left behind. He watched as the twins, sensing the gravity of the moment, wiggled out of Toby’s arms. They didn't cry now. They crawled toward their mother, their small hands reaching out.
Caspian placed a tiny, sticky palm on Leela’s arm, while Briar gripped her mother's thumb.
"Mama?" Caspian murmured, the word a soft, innocent plea in the dark.
Despite the children's touch and Fennigan's desperate calls, the women remained horrifyingly still. The "veil" Magda had spun was thick, a heavy psychic blanket that refused to lift. Their breathing remained shallow, their heartbeats slow and steady, like clocks ticking underwater. They were trapped in the gray space between worlds, and the more Fennigan pushed his Alpha will, the more the silence seemed to push back.
Fennigan looked at Jax, his silver-tipped eyes wide with a rare, naked fear. "Why aren't they waking up? Jax, I can feel the children's blood calling to her, but she's not moving."
Jax wiped a smudge of soot from his forehead, his expression grim. "The smoke, Fenn. It wasn't just a sedative. It was a lock. Magda didn't just put them to sleep; she buried them. If we try to force them awake while the toxins are still in their system, we might break the connection for good."
He looked at Ginny, his heart aching at the sight of her chest barely moving. "They're safe for now, but they’re under deep. We need to get them to the infirmary—away from this house and whatever Magda left behind. We can’t bring them back until we know exactly what she was chanting."
Fennigan growled, a low, frustrated sound, but he nodded. He gathered Leela and the twins into his arms, his grip protective and iron-clad. "Get the medical team ready. No one touches them but us. And Jax?"
Jax looked up, his jaw set.
"Find Magda," Fennigan hissed, the air around him freezing. "I don't care if you have to tear this mountain apart. I want her alive long enough to tell me how to undo this."The chaos of the night hadn't peaked; it had just shifted. While the Alpha and Beta stood over their unresponsive mates on the porch, a new realization shattered the air.
Toby stumbled back from the group, his face turning a ghostly shade of white as he scanned the line of unconscious women. His breath hitched, a high, thin sound of pure panic. "Where’s Sarah? No... no, no, no. Where is she?"
He didn't wait for an answer. He turned and sprinted back into the smoke-clogged house, his wolf-enhanced lungs screaming against the acrid air. He hit the Elder’s wing first, finding the heavy oak doors barred from the outside with a thick iron rod that hadn't been there two hours ago. With a roar of effort, he ripped the metal from the stone, the wood splintering as the Elders tumbled out, coughing and confused.
But he didn't stop to help them.
"SARAH!" he bellowed, his voice echoing up the grand staircase. He took the steps three at a time, his heart hammering a frantic rhythm against his ribs.
He burst into the nursery, the room where the twins' scent usually lingered like sweet milk and lavender. Now, it smelled of ozone and the cold, metallic tang of Magda’s magic. Sarah was crumpled on the hardwood floor near the cribs, her hand still outstretched as if she had been reaching for the babies when the world went dark.
"Sarah?" Toby dropped to his knees, sliding across the floor to gather her into his arms. He tucked her head under his chin, his body shaking with a violent tremor. "I was supposed to protect you. I’m so sorry... I’m so sorry."
Her eyelashes fluttered, dark fans against her pale skin. She let out a jagged, broken gasp, her fingers clutching at Toby’s tactical vest with sudden, frantic strength.
"Toby..." she rasped, her voice thick with the remnants of the sedative. Her eyes snapped open, wide and filled with a raw, bleeding terror. "Caspian... and Briar... Damon took them. He just... he walked in. I tried to stop him, but I couldn't move. He took them, Toby!"
She scrambled to sit up, her head spinning as she looked at the two empty cribs. The silence of the room was a physical weight. "Where are they? Did he get away? I have to find them!"
Toby pulled her back against him, his grip iron-clad as he tried to ground her. "Hey, hey, look at me. Look at me, Sarah. They’re safe. Fennigan has them. They’re downstairs on the porch. We got them back."
Sarah’s entire body went limp with relief, a sob breaking from her throat, but then she froze, her eyes locking onto Toby’s. "Magda... it wasn't just Damon. Magda gave him the keys. She told him the 'Architect' was waiting at the East Ridge. Toby, she’s not just a traitor. She’s... she’s something else."
The air in the nursery was thick with the residue of Magda’s magic, but it was Sarah’s grief that felt the heaviest. Toby lifted her easily, her legs shaking too much to support her weight, and carried her down the grand staircase and out onto the porch.
The sight that met her was a nightmare. The three most powerful women in the pack—Leela, Ginny, and Elana—were lined up like porcelain dolls, their skin unnaturally pale and cool.
"Fenn... Alpha..." Sarah’s voice broke as Toby set her down. She collapsed to her knees beside him, her tears falling fast and hot onto the wooden boards. "I’m so sorry. I tried... I ran for the nursery the second I smelled the herbs, but the door... it wouldn't open. I heard them crying for me and I couldn't get to them. I failed you. I failed the pack."