We’re alive, and that’s what matters to me.
As tempting as it is to wait for someone to save us, I’m not sitting idly. Not anymore.
This time, I’m fighting back, and I’m taking my daughter home.
Chapter 26 - Caleb
The closer we get to Wraith Peak, the worse the rage inside me becomes.
When my bond with Lila snapped tight before flickering to nothing, it left something cold and hollow in me that I still haven’t managed to shake, even if her presence on the other end has slowly returned. It isn’t the same beating heart it normally is, but it’s enough to let me know she’s still alive.
Still, I run harder than I ever have before while the others follow, trying to keep pace. Even if I should, for security’s sake, I don’t slow down. I can’t, not until I know they’re safe.
But even as I move, the same words repeat in my head over and over again.
Too late, too late…
I refuse to believe it.
They might’ve taken them, but that doesn’t mean this is over. Far from it.
As we breach the northern border and push into Wraith Peak, taking down any wolves we come across, something strikes through me, both blinding and so strong that I nearly falter. The scent of blood and magic hits my senses through the bond, but I don’t have the time to dwell on it.
I can’t care what that means, even if I should.
All I care about is finding them breathing. Safe.
The further we go, the stronger Lila’s scent becomes, and that’s enough hope to make me surge forward.
Eventually, an old barn comes into view, but the state of it makes me slow my pace until I’m gradually striding closer.
Just up ahead, several bodies litter the dirt and torn-up grass as one side of the building is blown out. Rock and wood beams are cracked everywhere, as if a tornado had ripped through the area, but everything else is untouched.
Maybe it wasn’t a storm at all, but a force to be reckoned with nonetheless.
And that’s when I see them. Two figures emerge from the devastation, hand in hand, as they navigate around the building’s fragments.
As they come out, I see Lila carrying Astrid, face tucked against her neck. Both are breathing, and from what I can tell, neither of them is harmed.
My heart nearly stops altogether.
Then I’m moving, shifting back just before I reach them. Arms out, I grab Lila’s shoulders, half afraid she’s a fragment of my imagination.
“Lila,” I rasp, voice raw and completely wrecked. I don’t even care about the gravel digging into the soles of my feet. Not when they’re right here, right in front of me. I glance between their pale faces, taking them in. “What happened? Did they—”
“We’re okay,” Lila manages, voice trembling despite how she fights to steady it. “We… handled it.”
Despite pulling in a deep breath, it doesn’t feel like there’s any oxygen in my lungs yet.
Cupping her face, I look her over like it’s the first time, heart squeezing with everything left to say. Everything I should’ve said before.
“Tell me.”
She swallows hard, leaning into my touch just enough to let me know she needs this just as much. “We woke up in the cellar. The room was surrounded, and we were bound, but nobody did or said anything. They were just waiting, but I don’t know what for.”
My jaw tightens, as it only leaves me with more questions.
“What about the bodies?”
