Chapter 75 An Almost Futile Tracking
Xander
She's gone.
At first, I had assumed she left for the usual morning runs and self-practices she has now taken a keen liking to; It's a great way for her to connect more deeply with her true self. But it's been more than twenty-four hours now and there's still no sign of her yet.
The bond between us had been strangely quiet since this morning and my wolf hasn't stopped pacing, even until now. Usually, I can feel her emotions faintly through it - a subtle thread of awareness connecting us no matter how far apart we are.
Something feels off and I can't seem to shake off the gnarling feeling of dread that sits in my guts like a heavy stone.
I visit the clearing just outside of Elda's chambers since that's where Vanessa had last been seen.
The ground shows signs of the previous training: scorched grass, a few broken branches, but there's nothing unusual, or out of the ordinary.
I exhale slowly and run a hand through my hair.
“She probably wandered off somewhere else after,” I mutter. It wouldn't be the first time either, she tends to get carried away when distracted.
Just a few days ago, I had only discovered that Oliver, one of the few people who bore witness to my mother's fate had been silenced in one of the most devastating manner, and now this happens.
Had they found out we were getting to close to the truth? Of finding them?
I push the thought away. No, I shouldn't be thinking like that. Vanessa isn't missing, she's just currently...absent.
“She’ll come back,” I say, trying to reassure myself further. But somehow, that only seems to make it worse.
The hours pass excruciatingly slow.Then night falls.
My mate is still yet return. The silence in the bond begins to gnaw at me forcefully now.
By the second day, the unease continues to grow until it turns into something sharper, more painful for me to admit.
Fear.
I stand in the clearing once again, scanning the forest for the hundredth time in my wolf form, carefully sniffing from one end to the other in case I pick up something I had missed the day before.
Even Elda has offered to help with her powers but even she can't sense anything at the moment.That is saying a lot for someone of her standing. She ends up leaving muttering something about accessing more magic.
Suddenly, the wind picks up and the subtle scent of lavender invades my nostrils and my pulse quickens. I snap my head to the source and start to run ahead with no clear direction in mind.
Elda calls for me but I ignore her, hoping and wishing it isn't just my mind or the bond trying to play tricks on me.
My paws come to a halt in the middle of the Vale forest where Vanessa had pointed her arrows at me for the first time; when I had discovered her true identity and what that meant for the agreement between us then. But fuck that now, I just want my mate back more than anything.
The realization hits me like a punch to the stomach.
I shift back into my human form, standing side-by-side with Elda as she examines the place. I had thought of tracing Vanessa with the tracking device I had secretly installed in her golden locket but all that would be useless in the face of actual magic if someone did take her.
"Anything?" I ask Elda, already getting frustrated with the long wait.
"Nothing yet, your Highness," she replies in her usual calm, and cool demeanor. But in the next instant, she sucks in a sharp breath.
I lean in to take a closer look at the spot where her eyes are fixed. I tilt my head, not understanding what her reaction means.
"This is a very familiar symbol, descended of the first dark magic witches to ever exist during Evanora's time."
Evanora? That is the powerful witch Vanessa had originally descended from. I know that much at least. But what does Vanessa's ancestor have to do with this?
"What is this doing here then?" I ask. studying the symbol of a hawk. But it isn't your regular hawk. This one has four wings, a large beak and bulging yellow eyes that seem too heavy for its head to lift, paired with red, heavy feathers. The most unsettling part of it isn't even the size of the bird, but its eyes. It looks...alive, like a creature straight out of a horror movie, but a hundred times more dangerous.
"I do not know, your Highness, but if this is here, then delay is not an option. She's been taken and we need to find her as soon as possible."
Anger ignites instantly in my chest, hot, heavy and violent enough to rip apart everything that stands in it's way.
Elda makes a quick work of drawing a circle and inscribing symbols into the ground. She chants some ancient spells and they all start to glow.
"Your hand, your Highness," Elda urges.
I thrust my hand forward into her waiting palm. Her magic moves around, poking and circling until it finds the bond, giving it a sharp tug.
That's when I see it. Like being sucked in through a live screen, I find myself standing in the middle of a cell.
There she is.
Her hands and ankles are bound in shadow-like things behind her. Her eyes are closed but she's breathing evenly, her hair is matted and stained with blood, and while the pressure in the bond calms a little at the closeness, it doesn't douse the simmering anger in my bones that someone has actually dared to do that to her.
Then the cell opens, revealing the last person I ever thought I'd see again.
Melissa.
I frown, disbelief twisting inside of me. Banishment wasn't enough? I'll kill her myself this time.
Her blue eyes hold so much malicious intent as she looks down at my mate with heavy contempt before squatting retrieve something from her.
She stands back down and says something to Vanessa who only replies with a middle finger.
Like a call without a sound, Vanessa's head snaps towards my direction, almost like she can actually see me, her mouth slacks a little. My heart skips.
Can she?
Then the connection fades and I'm ripped out of the space, finding myself in the forest with Elda once again.
She flinches a little once I'm back, but other than, she doesn't look to be affected much.
I close my eyes briefly.
“I’m coming for you,” I whisper. Somewhere in the distance, thunder rumbles across the sky, as if agreeing with me.
Elda watches me with an unreadable expression. “We will find her.”
I open my eyes again, staring into the dark forest. “As fast as we can.”
Because whoever took Vanessa is already already ahead of us.
And the trail they left behind leads absolutely nowhere.