Chapter 255: Rhys
Grace’s hands clenched my sleeves tightly, and I held her firmly by her forearms. I didn’t like the way she stiffened or the panic that I could see on her face. I wanted so badly to say to forget it, we didn’t need to know, we could just leave, but something stopped me. She was tapping into her power, and she had done it with next to no hesitation. She had so far. Before she would have never dreamed of shifting or using her powers, and now it was almost second nature. I had never seen anything like it before. I was so proud of her, but right now, my worry was winning.
“Is she okay?” My mother asked, her face a picture of composure, but I could still see the worry in her eyes. The eyes I had learned to read all those years ago.
“Just wait,” Sawyer snapped at her, moving to protect Grace from the unwanted eyes of both our mother and the Vampires.
Grace made a whimpering noise, but she didn’t open her eyes. I wondered if I could see what she was seeing if I reached for our link, but I was afraid that that was how we were going to get stuck or something, sort of like the Land of the Gods. I didn’t want to risk it when we were in such a vulnerable position,
After what felt like an eternity, she sucked in a breath, and her eyes popped open, but they were still unfocused.
“Gracie?” I tried as she swayed slightly.
She blinked up at me, the daze she was in fading into sadness.
“They’re dead.” She whispered.
“Who?” I asked quietly, still not quite ready for outside voices to be a part of this yet.
“Sandra. And this guy. I don't know who he was. He was horrible. He was yelling at her about helping someone and then told her to renounce something. But she said whoever they were talking about was the Chosen One.”
“The Chosen One?” I felt my frown deepen. These were new words, but somehow, I felt like I knew exactly who they were about, and I didn’t like it.
“Is it safe to go in?” I asked.
“Yes. The magic has died down. But they will send more when he doesn’t return.” She answered, but even she looked a little stunned that she knew that.
“Do you want to continue? We can just leave.”
“No, we should go in. See what she’s protecting.” Grace answered, taking a shaky breath.
I looked her over. She looked unsettled, but not terrified. Her face was a little paler than usual, but after everything she had been through that wasn’t much to go on. I searched her eyes, and reached for our link, but it almost felt numb. She wasn’t all there, which worried me, but there was a look of determination in her eyes that made me agree with her.
“We don’t have to do this.” I mindlinked her.
“Yes, we do.” She answered with a resolve that I was proud of.
I slid my hand into hers, and we walked back to the others who were staring at us with curiosity and fear. I didn’t have an answer for them. And honestly, it didn’t matter what we’d say. They’d never fully understand what was happening. They hadn’t been in this situation long enough for any of it to make sense yet.
Grace and I reached for the door at the same time, and she sucked in a sharp breath as if she was preparing for whatever she was about to see.
“Together.” I murmured.
She nodded, and we opened the door slowly.
The blue haze took me by surprise. I was surprised to still see magic moving in slow streaks across the room. I thought it would die when Sandra died, but apparently, I was as naive about witches as I was about Lycan’s.
Sandra’s body laid sprawled out on the floor, her body covering something that I couldn’t see. And there was a man I didn’t recognize, but he was in an unnatural position, looking like her was reaching for something. It was hard to look at.
Sawyer and Maizie followed us in and Sawyer went straight to Sandra to check for a pulse. The slight shake of his head told us what we already knew.
“Oh, it stinks in here.” Mother complained.
I glared at her as Grace and I walked around the small hut. The fire was still burning, so that told me none of this could have happened too long ago.
“What’s Sandra holding?” Maizie asked hesitantly, walking over to Sandra’s childlike body.
“I don’t know,” I frowned. I had thought she had looked like she was protecting something, but I hadn’t realized she actually was.
I approached cautiously, trying to avoid the little streaks of magic that seemed to still be coming from Sandra. Sawyer had made it look so easy, but it was harder than I had expected.
I grabbed what she was holding. It was a small box. About 3 inches high and 3 inches long. A perfect square, and it held power.
“What is it?” Queen Margaret asked, inching closer to get a better look.
“I have no idea...” I answered hesitantly, handing it to her, hoping she had a better understanding of magic than I did.
“It’s a pyxis.” She answered before passing it to Elara, who was studying it carefully. “But I have no idea what’s in it.”
“Definitely magic of some sort.” Elara agreed. “But I’ve never seen one like this. Usually, witches sell these. They give a sort of power that normally couldn’t be accessed. There was a time where they were selling fake ones to humans, and it was causing a big ruckus a couple hundred years ago.”
My heart hammered uncomfortably in my chest, and Grace looked at me, mirroring what I could only imagine was my own expression. What if that was the secret to the Red Blood Pack? We already knew that the Lycan’s were using something that we didn’t understand, but what if they found someone to specially make what they needed? What if they had a pyxis?