The Blood Moon Twins
Chapter 149

CAULDER

"Harper," I tried to link again when she didn't respond. I was trying not to panic, but I needed to know she was okay.

I shifted into my wolf form and inhaled deeply. Thousands of scents filled my nose, and it drowned out Harper's scent. I begged Muddy to focus on our mate, and after a moment, the other smells faded away. As I looked around, I saw the small trail of blood from where Harper had been. I followed the trail, and it disappeared a few feet away. There was a fading tang of magic in the air, and I knew that Harper didn't leave here on her own. She was shifted away. "We can follow the magic trail," Coal said.

"Are you sure?" I had never followed someone's magic trail before, so I wasn't even sure how to do it.

"Trust me," Coal insisted.

"Okay." I knew I had to trust my familiar. I had asked him to work with me to make sure we could win this war, and so far neither Coal nor Muddy had let me down.

I let go of my control of my magic for a moment and let Coal fully take over. He shifted us through the battlefield, and I became just a wisp of energy, floating through the air. I could see the battle raging by us as if time had completely stopped. It felt like what I imagined an out-of-body experience would feel like. I could see everything going on around me without having control.

Blood and anger tainted the air, and there were more bodies on the ground than I ever wanted to see. It reminded me how essential stopping this war was. Winslow was dead, and that would work to our advantage, but I knew Draven was the true mastermind behind all of this. Winslow had been emotional and irrational. He thought he could get what he wanted by threatening the lives of people I cared about, and that was his downfall.

Draven, on the other hand, didn't waste his time relying on threats. He made promises, and he went after what he wanted. He wouldn't be as easy to take down, and that thought worried me.

As soon as I knew Harper was safe and okay, I planned on finding Remy and making sure she was okay in all of this. I knew I should have gone to her side sooner, but not knowing whether my mate was dead or alive drew too much of my focus away.

My body rematerialized, and my focus instantly shifted to Harper lying down on one of the medical tables, clutching her side. Davina was struggling to push Harper's hands to the side to get a better look at the wound.

My face paled as Harper twisted in pain, but I quickly reminded myself that she was alive. That was the most important thing.

"What happened?" I asked, swooping to Harper's side. I stroked my hand over her hair, and her body relaxed a little.

"She was badly injured by a sorcerer. I don't know what happened exactly. I found her like this and brought her here immediately, so no one could attack her. She won't let me heal her though," Davina explained. Her voice was calculated and focused. She had been given the role of runner during the battle, meaning she would search for the wounded that could be healed and bring them to get medical attention.

"I'm fine," Harper said through gritted teeth.

I put my hand on top of Harper's and said, "You're not fine. Let Davina heal you."

"I need to fight. People are dying." Her voice cracked, and I wasn't sure if it was from the death surrounding us or the pain radiating through her body.

"You've done enough. You took out Winslow. Let Davina heal you, and then stay here." I didn't want Harper back out on the field in that condition.

"What about Remy?" Harper asked. "I haven't seen or heard from her since all of this started. What if Draven got to her?"

"She's okay." I didn't know if this was the truth, but I needed Harper to believe it for now, so she would let herself relax and heal. "I'll join her as soon as I know you're okay."

Davina pulled out a syringe and injected it into Harper's arm. Harper had an instant reaction, and her eyes started fluttering shut.

"What was that?" I demanded, a little on edge.

Davina raised her eyebrows at me, as if to say, "Watch your tone." What she actually said was, "It's a mild sedative. Your mate wasn't letting me heal her, and while the injury isn't the worst I've seen, it's a large and deep burn. If she doesn't let anyone help her or relax enough to let her wolf abilities take over, it could become fatal."

I nodded, understanding. I trusted Davina, even though there were times it felt like we barely knew each other. She saved my life and healed me when I was at my lowest point. Now, she had saved my mate. I owed her a lot.

"Thank you," I said, not able to put all of my feelings into words. "After all of this, if we survive-"

Davina grabbed my arm. "I will make sure Harper gets healed. Go do what you need to do, and we will talk more after."

Before I could respond, the ground started shaking. Murmurs and cries spread throughout the tent, and it felt like an earthquake was erupting. A pending sense of doom filled my chest, and I knew that feeling too well. This wasn't an earthquake.

I looked out onto the field and knew Remy was in danger. The creature had been brought here, and it would stop at nothing to get her. I had to help her.

-

REMY

I tried to cling to Blade's arm so we stayed together, but the ground beneath us split open. We were thrown back to opposite sides of the growing opening in the earth. I could feel the darkness growing and getting stronger the closer it came to me. It made the other encounters with the dark creature feel like nothing.

The air filled with hatred, pain, and every other negative emotion in existence. It made the air thick and unbreathable. My heart raced, and my head fogged, only able to think about the darkness that was heading straight for me.

"This is your last chance to give in to me," Draven said. His voice echoed and sounded far away, but I knew he was only a few yards in front of me. "Either come with me willingly, or I will unleash this creature onto the battlefield, and there will be no survivors." "Remy!" Blade shouted. He sounded even farther away than Draven, but I couldn't see where he was. My eyes were glued to the gaping hole in the ground.

"Remoria, I've been waiting for you," the voice of the dark creature said, filling my head with its voice. It felt like talons scraping against my head, and it made my body shake with fear.

I knew that no matter what Draven said or did, he didn't have control over this creature like he thought he did. Nothing could control a beast of this magnitude. Its dark powers filled every crevice in my body, and I knew it was drawn to me.

"Stay away!" I screamed. I felt a pure form of fear that I never had before, and my body was frozen. I couldn't understand why the creature kept coming after me. Why was I so special? I knew I had the potential to create this "intense" reaction as Rina had described, but that was only with Blade. He should have been as desired as I was, but everyone seemed focused on me. I had to be missing something.

"Remy!" Blade shouted again, his voice cracking.

"It's too late now," Draven mused. "Her mind is being pulled into that creature, and there's no stopping it now."

I felt the truth in Draven's words. The creature was enticing me to go to it. It wasn't here yet, since it was still simmering under the gaping hole in the ground, but I could hear it calling out to me from just below the surface. "Join me, Remoria. Together, we will be able to destroy everything." The creature was the epitome of destruction and desire. It was an ancient creature, but it continued calling out to me, saying it needed me. It had the power to destroy the world, but I suddenly realized it couldn't do it on its own. It needed a vessel to channel and control its power.

I was destined to be powerful, and the creature sensed it. Since Blade and I hadn't mated yet, I was still an empty vessel, ripe for the taking. I suddenly realized how all of this could end, but I couldn't do anything as my body lay frozen on the ground, unable to move, unable to run.

"Leave her alone!" Blade screamed. The pain and fear in his voice was enough to allow me to tear my eyes away from the c***k in the ground where the creature waited for me.

Blade started running towards me, moving around the hole separating us. My body reacted to his desperation, and I slowly pulled myself to my feet. I needed to join him. I needed him to ground me and stop me from being pulled toward the darkness I felt it in my own heart. He was the light that could drown out the shadows.

Draven seemed to appear out of nowhere, punching Blade in the stomach, stopping him in his tracks and making him double over.

"Did you think I was going to stand by while you ruined my plans?" Draven sneered, punching Blade again.

Blade stumbled backwards, steadying himself. He locked eyes with me and mouthed, "I'm sorry," before attacking Draven.

I couldn't breathe as I watched the scene unfold before me. It felt too familiar, and everything seemed to slow around me. Every movement was a movement I had seen before as Blade fought Draven. He was fighting to get to me, and I had already seen how this would end.

My body moved faster, desperate to get to Blade, but I was afraid that I wouldn't make it in time. This was the beginning of my vision, and I had to do everything in my power to stop it from coming true.