Chapter 38 THIRTY SEVEN
Chapter 38 THIRTY SEVEN
NYRA'S POV
I close my eyes and take in a deep breath. The amount of shocking things I've uncovered in less than a month is enough to write a novel.
Riven leans back in his seat and interlocks his fingers. " It's just my hunch, but I'm a hundred percent sure it's true. I can't put it past Xorus to have his former mate captive."
“But why would Xorus hold my mother captive? It's not like he has anything to take from her.”
Riven scoffs and chuckles. " He's her mate, sweetheart. He doesn't need to have a reason for keeping her. Your mother betrayed Xorus and ran away to be with your father. Any other male wolf will feel hurt."
“Will you?" I ask.
He doesn't answer me for a whole five seconds. Something flashes in his gaze, too quickly that I can't decipher what it is.
He leans back in his chair and his expression darkens. When he speaks, his voice is heavy and strangely erotic. “Never in your life thinking of leaving my brothers and I for someone else. I'll kill whoever even looks at you wrong. "
I don't say anything, just focus on finishing meals as several thoughts assault my brain. Nothing seems to be as it seems anymore. Everything has a hidden truth to be uncovered in due time.
My mother who I thought was dead turns out she's actually alive and might be in the custody of her past mate.
We finish our meal, Riven settles the bills and we head out to the car. We get in, tuck in our seatbelts and he drives to the airport.
\~~~
Istanbul is large and lively.
We get there in the early hours of the day and Riven instantly drives us to a luxurious hotel.
“Welcome, Mr Blackthorn," the receptionist greets as we step up to his table. “Your room is ready as you instructed sir."
Riven nods and pulls me with him. We step into the elevator and presses the button for the penthouse.
“You own this hotel too?" I ask and he nods.”
" The main reason we needed to build this hotel in the first place is because we needed a guise to hide the portals,” he responds.
The elevator opens to the penthouse and I'm marvellled. The entire place is tiled and has floor to ceiling window that give a pretty good view of the landscape outside. The chairs are made of black leather and the wall is spotless.
" Wait here,” Riven says. " Let me grab something upstairs. I'll be back in a minute."
He runs upstairs and I'm left to my own thoughts. I move to the window and stare out at the city below. My heart aches knowing that somewhere out there, my mother is being held captive by her ex mate.
“Come here, sweetheart," Riven's voice alerts me that he's back in the room. I turn around and walk back to him where he's seated on one of the chairs. He's holding something that looks like a chessboard but not really. “This is a compass to the dimensional world. I want you to try and trace from which dimension the signal is coming from.”
I nod and place my entire focus on the board. I close my eyes and try to trace the signal. It's high and bright and I don't have an issue tracing it. I open my eyes and point to the place with the capital B.
“This one."
He nods and stands up. He moves to the wall
" Are you ready, sweetheart?” Riven asks. I nod, but I'm not sure I am.
Stepping into that portal will open a door far more dangerous than anything I have experienced in my life. I step back as Riven holds out his arms and whispers some words I can barely hear.
A blinding light shines and an inter dimensional portal opens. Riven holds out his hand and I take it. He pulls me through it.
My vision goes dark for a while and by the time it clears, I can't recognize where we are. The space is vast and empty, almost like a barren land that has been abandoned for ages.
This place is awful! Lyric says disgusted.
"Welcome to the barren realm, sweetheart.” He says. I'm not surprised they named it so because there's literally nothing here. " Get to work, baby. We can't spend more time than necessary here.”
I nod and close my eyes trying to find the signal. I take a step forward following the trail. The signal is high, like it's guiding my steps to find it until it stops.
I stop in my tracks confused. “The signal was there just a moment ago. I can't find it anymore. It's like something is blocking my magic."
Before Riven can say a word, a terrifyingly painful screech is heard from the distance.
“Oh, no!" Riven mumurs. “Fire birds! They're the only inhabitants of this realm. They gaurd it against strange magic.”
He hasn't finished speaking when a huge fireball is thrown my way. I manage to dodge in time, but the heat from the attack is terrifying.
“Quick!" Riven says, his voice carrying an urgency I'm not used to. “Take your protective shield up. I'll take my wolf form and ward off the birds."
Before I can say anything, he shifts into his wolf form and charge at the birds that are sending endless attacks our way. I put on my protective shield and focus on breaking the barrier that's holding back my magic.
The signal fluctuates like a light switch. Sometimes it's high, sometimes it's low, sometimes it's gone. I close my eyes and think of the barrier as a wall blocking my magic. The fight with the birds is loud and distracting, as such I have to use twice the energy.
After several tries I finally get the signal.
Riven must sense my excitement because he growls in my ear. " Shift and go for it.”
I do exactly that. I let Lyric take the reins and we speed away from the vicinity of the battle. We follow the trail of the magic until we stop at a pile of dead bodies. I shift back to my human form, taking the reins and picking up the piece of paper.
The fuck? Lyric snaps.
It's not a fragment of the crystal I'm holding, but a map to where it is.