Chapter 162 Chapter 162

Chapter 162 Chapter 162
CRYSTAL’S POV

I stood at the heart of the woods, shivering in the thin linen dress. A cold wind blew threw and I wrapped my arms around my body because for the life of me, I couldn't figure out where I was.

The trees loomed tall and twisted around me, branches weaving together like dark fingers to block out the moon, turning every path into a shadowed dead end. I spun in every direction—left, right, back the way I’d come—but all I saw was endless wood, and the wind sighing through dead leaves didn't make things feel any better either.

“Ugh!” I let out a frustrated groan as I kicked a stone hard against the earth, frustration bubbling up beneath all the fear and confusion.

And against my own better judgement of the situation, I yelled out one last time.

“ASHER, WHERE ARE YOU?”
He couldn’t have gone far. I kept thinking to myself, because the gap between the both of us hadn't been that much to begin with.
But then I remembered that I was still a human, and he was a shifter who could run ten times as fast as I could. Especially if he were running at a speed much faster than I could follow.
My breath plumed white in the cold air, and I wrapped my arms even tighter around my body trying to rub warmth back into my skin that wouldn’t stay for more than a few seconds because of how thin the material of the night dress was.

I’d left the library without shoes too and the ground was rough with roots and sharp stones, and it brought back memories I've been trying so hard to get over, but how could someone even get over something like that?

Every step was a reminder of the night I escaped Barron, and I soon found myself looking over my shoulder out of habit now.

I didn't know what he was going through, but the struggle in his eyes...i can't get over the hunger in his eyes. Like he wanted me, but didn't.

Fuelled by a frantic, desperate need to find him I pushed on.
“Asher!” I called out, louder this time, voice cracking with how much I needed him to answer. “ASHER, WHERE ARE YOU?!”
But only silence answered me.

"...Where am I?"

Every direction looked exactly the same, and the library had vanished behind me as well. I couldn't even remember which direction I'd come from.

A knot formed in my stomach as another kind of dread swooped in.

I'd been so focused on chasing after Asher that I hadn't stopped to think about where I was going and now I was alone, and possibly lost too.

I ducked under low-hanging boughs that snagged at my hair and sleeves. Every shadow looked like him for a heartbeat—broad shoulders, dark hair, the line of his jaw—only to dissolve into nothing when I got closer. Every rustle of leaves made my heart leap in my chest, every shift in the dark made me turn fast, hope rising only to crash back down because it wasn't ever him.

Drawing a shaky breath, I cupped my hands around my mouth.

"ASHER!"

My voice echoed between the trees.

"... Please, just answer me!!"

I swallowed the disappointment threatening to choke me and kept walking when my calls went unanswered.

Could I have taken a wrong turn?

No. This path looked freshly trampled underfoot. New hope kindled within me as I followed the signs.

Someone had definitely come ome through here. Recently too. And I followed them.

"Asher..."

I called out as I hurried after the trail left behind.

A low branch brushed my shoulder and another snagged my sleeve.

Thorns scraped my bare ankles until tiny lines of red appeared across my skin, and I cursed my impulsiveness. Did Aquila and Nayara even know we were out here?

My rationale told me to go back and get help if things escalated, but for the first time , I let my emotions lead me. And the funny part? This wasn't the first time my emotions decided things for me when I thought I was thinking with my head.

Every sign convinced me I was getting closer.

Then I heard it.
A low, heavy snap of wood somewhere ahead, followed by a soft, uneven breath.
My heart soared.
“Asher?” I called out, but I was left with silence and the dounɗ disappeared, almost as though it had been part of my imaginations. Or was it?

I pushed through a thick screen of brambles, ignoring the thorns that raked at my arms, and stepped into a small clearing where I thought I heard the sound, but it was empty.
Not only that, but the air smelled wrong.
Like gasoline and gunpowder.
I froze, straining my ears, and that was when I heard another sound. This time it was a faint, quiet crunch of boots on leaves, coming up fast behind me.
“Asher?” I whispered, turning slowly.
But I never saw it coming.
Something hard and heavy cracked hard against the back of my skull.
And a bright, blinding burst of white exploded across my vision before my legs gave out underneath me. I couldn't even gasp, when I crumpled straight down into the damp earth, and darkness rushed up to swallow me whole.
The last thing I saw before darkness swallowed me was a pair of worn leather boots stopping beside my face.

Then verything faded.

...

Two hooded figures stepped from the shadows.

One nudged Crystal's unconscious shoulder with the tip of his boot.

"Out cold."

The second one knelt beside the unconscious woman, prodding her shoulder with a finger like she was nothing more than prey caught in a trap.

Moonlight fell across her features.

A slow grin spread beneath his hood.
“Look at that.”
“Luck must be on our side,” the first one said, his voice rough and graveled. “just wandering right into our hands."
The first figure leaned over to get a better view of her face, fingers brushing my hair back from my face, cold and cruel.
“Barron is going to pay us a fortune for finding her.”