Chapter 16 16
Chapter 17
ADRIANA CROSS
I spent some hours with Zoey in the hospital. Just like Dimitri had told me, the doctors also reassured me of the upcoming surgery in a few days and that there was a high chance it'd be a success. I really couldn't wait to take her out of the hospital. Zoey has spent most of her life in the hospital, and I couldn't wait to show her everything beautiful the world has to offer.
After Dimitri and I left the hospital, leaving Zoey with her caregiver, we stopped by my old apartment where I had hidden Mother's Grimore before heading back to the pack.
I was with Agatha, Gwen, and another witch, Talia, in the witch's quarters when I did the location spell on the Nhermis Coven using my mother's Grimoire, and after some minutes, we had a location that led to the outskirts of the city.
Dimitri only took a few warriors to accompany us. Caden, Maya, and Sabrina. Surprisingly Sabrina was one of the best female warriors in the pack. While Gwen, Talia, and Agatha also came with us. Only the nine of us knew exactly where we were going; it was better that way, and I didn't want to expose the coven to any harm or draw the attention of the vampire king to them.
After hours of driving, we arrived at a cave where the location spell had led us, but unfortunately, it appeared to be a dead end in the middle of a forest.
Agatha, the other two witches, and I were about to redo the location spell when our surroundings started to change, and soon we were surrounded by a group of women. One could feel the ancient magic vibrating from them. The Nhermis Coven.
“Welcome to the Nhermis Coven. The head witch has been waiting for you,” A woman stepped forward, confusing me.
“You know who we are?” Dimitri asked
“Of course. Alpha King Dimitri Valequez, Agatha and you're Esther's daughter. Adriana Blackrose,” The woman spoke again. “The head witch wants to speak to the three of you only, while well keep your friends company,”
We were led inside, and a woman was waiting there. I remembered her, she was one of my mother's friends and was no doubt the head witch Cora.
“Welcome to the Nhermis Coven, I am Cora,” The woman smiled warmly. “I wish we had a lot of time to talk, but we don't. It's only a matter of time before the vampires lurking around the borders of this place get in with the help of the dark witches,”
“Vampires?” Dimitri, Agatha, and I exchanged glances. “That's impossible,”
“We weren't followed,” Agatha added. “I made sure of that,”
“I don't doubt that, Agatha. You didn't lead them here but Nikola's has somehow found our location. Someone told them,” Cora strolled to the wooden shelf at a distance.
“No one else except for those who came with us knew about the Nhermis Coven and what we are here for,” I said.
“Someone has betrayed you, Alpha. One of those people out there brought Nikola's men here, and that's why I allowed only the three of you in,” Cora said, and just then the woman from earlier walked in.
“Nikola's army is almost in, we must hurry and leave. Tamara has safely led everyone through the portal,” The woman said.
“We’re truly sorry for this, Cora,”
Cora shook her head. “It's no one's fault. But the sooner you weed out the traitor, the better,” She muttered some chants and a magic box appeared on the shelf.
Cora opened it and took out a small brown book, and a Phoenix sword with a red stone attached to the hilt of the blade.
She handed the sword to Dimitri. “Esther made this herself and it's powerful enough to kill an immortal,” She turned to me, giving me the book.
We all knew exactly what it was. The last piece of the spell.
Agatha smiled gratefully. “Thank you, Cora, and we're sorry again,”
“No worries, the Nhermis Coven has survived this long by moving from one place to another. We lasted this long here because we knew you'd come one day,” Cora moved her fingers, and suddenly, the wooden shelf moved from the wall, revealing a narrow passage. “This would lead you safely out of here. I know you might want to stay and fight Nikola's army but now's not the time. You must conserve your strength, Alpha. With the blood moon only a few days away, every one of your kind would feel your wolf getting weaker. You must break the curse no matter what happens, Nikola Vladimir mustn't win this war. If you ever need us, Adriana can find us,” With that, a white portal appeared, and Cora and the witch from earlier went through it.
Agatha turned to Dimitri. “How do you want to do this?”
“We need to unmask the traitor before heading back. We can't let Nikola know any more details about our plans,” Dimitri ran his fingers through his hair.
“Do you have someone you are suspecting?” I asked, and as Dimitri's eyes met mine, I could tell we both had one person in mind. Sabrina.
“Do you really think she could go this far?” Agatha brought our attention to her.
“She did when Adriana almost lost her life, and this could explain why those rogues showed up that day,” Dimitri said.
“But the curse…” I started.
“Just as Nikola's rogues aren't affected, he must have done the same with her, or maybe she might have been a spy all along,” Agatha sighed. “It doesn't matter, and while I hate to do this, we'll have to search through everyone's memories without them knowing,”
“I'll take Maya, Gwen, and, of course, Sabrina,” I crossed my arms against my chest.
“That leaves me with Caden and Talia,” Agatha nodded; she was about to speak when the earth vibrated, and a powerful explosion sounded from outside, and everything within me froze.