*Zara*
Ti ant nothing now. There was no ti since my baby was wrenched away from .
Nothing even made sense anymore after Briella was kidnapped while I watched helplessly. There was a lot of crying and wailing. I vaguely rember Mom tugging to bed and having lie down. Noah’s aunts had been in to see and Lorelei a few tis as well, but I didn’t speak to any of them.
The sun rose and fell at least a few tis, but I couldn’t be sure how many tis exactly. I questioned how ti could go on as if nothing was wrong. How could the sun go up when mine had been taken away from ?
“Zara, sweetheart, please. You need to eat sothing.”
I raised my hollow eyes up to my mother’s beautiful face, which was pinched with concern. If she had been in my place, she wouldn’t have let that monster take her precious daughter. The thought brought a fresh torrent of tears to my eyes.
A half-decent mother would have been able to protect her child in the safety of a protected pack house.
“Oh, Zara...”
Mother wrapped her arms around my shoulders and tugged against her chest, stroking my hair as I sobbed brokenly against her bosom.
I didn’t speak, although there was so much I wanted to say, most of it hateful comnts toward myself. I had no one to bla but myself for what happened. Perhaps I couldn’t have done anything once Serena had bound by her dark magic, but there were several instances when I could have acted.
It had been glaringly obvious that Luna Estella had been acting strangely since the beginning. I should have been more cautious around her. I should have been paying more attention to Briella. I shouldn’t have left her alone.
The other won begged not to beat myself up over what happened, but I truly deserved so much worse. I couldn’t accept that I had been deceived by the likes of Serena.
“I know it’s hard, but you mustn’t bla yourself,” Lorelei told gently, gripping my hands firmly in hers.
“She’s right, dear,” Harriet murmured, putting an arm around my shoulders. “You did all that you could. And you weren’t the only one fooled by that evil woman’s flawless impersonation and mystical glamour.”
“Harriet is right, darling,” Genevieve added, dropping down on my other side. “You couldn’t have known what was happening.”
I tried to thank them for their comfort, but the words just wouldn’t co out of my mouth. My throat ached from all the crying I had been doing, and my eyes burned. I found myself wishing that it hurt worse. There was no telling what my poor little Briella was going through right now because of my carelessness.
Noah’s aunts, Lorelei, and my mother stayed with in my room for hours. I was left alone only at night. They seed to be taking shifts to ensure that I always had soone nearby when I was awake. It didn’t matter. I hardly noticed their presence. I was too preoccupied by the terrifying visions of what had happened when Briella was ripped away from .
They only grew worse at night, the visions of being helpless on the floor while Serena walked out of the room with Briella morphing into terrible nightmares of my baby being hard by the evil woman’s hands.
The dreams were the sa, but each ti, I was unable to convince myself that it wasn’t real. Briella’s cries sounded far too accurate. Her little whimpers broke my heart even while I slept. Serena’s sinister laugh as she shifted back into her true form left awful shivers dancing down my spine.
It had only been a couple of days, I learned from my mother, since Briella was kidnapped. It felt much longer yet like it had just happened since my nightmares insisted on replaying the incident with a sick, twisted lens.
“We’ve sent for your husband,” my mother told finally. “But we don’t know if word reached him with the war going on. I’m so sorry, Zara. I wish we could do more.”
Mother had dragged out to the garden, insisting that I needed to get so fresh air. I rember protesting. The next thing I knew, I was seated on a small wooden bench in front of a lush flower garden.
Mother sat beside . A plate of small cucumber sandwiches was on the little table in front of us.
I didn’t answer her, only half hearing her as I stared into the distance. I thought briefly about correcting her and telling her that Noah and I weren’t married yet, but she didn’t need to know that.
I thought about Noah and how he would likely react when he learned that our daughter was missing. I wondered if he would be just as disgusted with as I was with myself. New, fresh tears burned my eyes when I realized that there was a possibility that he could be even more so.
I sucked in a gasp as my body shook with new sobs. I didn’t think I could live a second longer when I saw Noah again and had to face the disgust and disappointnt in his eyes. My heart was already splintering when I imagined the way his face would darken, and his jaw would clench when he learned of my neglect.
“I’m sure Noah got our ssage and is on his way,” my mother tried to console , her voice going up an octave with panic at my new tears. She gingerly lifted the small plate of sandwiches and held them out to . “Please, Zara, eat sothing. For ?”
I just shook my head hard, causing tears to fly around my head. I knew that I should, but I just couldn’t force myself to when my stomach was still twisted into knots.
My mother sighed and set the plate back down. She then took in her arms again, letting cry on her shoulder.
I again had no idea how I got where I currently was. One minute, I was on the park bench with my mom, crying into her shoulder, and the next minute, I was tucked into bed.
I swallowed hard, which was painful since my throat was still raw from all the crying. I looked toward the window and saw that it was nightti. I listened to find that the house was quiet, which likely ant it was the middle of the night.
Unwillingly, my eyes shifted to the far side of the room, toward Briella’s cradle. My breath hitched as grief slamd into as my brain again played the horrific mory of her kidnapping.
My stomach twisted painfully as I squeezed my eyes shut only to be ambushed by the mory of Briella’s terrified squeals and Serena’s evil cackling. I rembered the way my body froze, unable to move as if it were no longer my own.
I tried to move, flexing my muscles and trying to reach for Briella before she could be taken from . Each ti, the mory beca more and more frightening. Briella’s cries grew louder, and my fear heightened.
I sobbed into my pillow, willing myself to fall asleep so I could stop reliving the awful mont my baby was taken. I stuffed my face against the fabric of the bed, hoping to drown everything out, but it was my mind that was plaguing .
That only intensified when I finally fell asleep that night hours later.
It was a pleasant dream for the first few minutes. Noah and I were ho with Briella. There was no war, and we were just holding each other in a warm, familial embrace.
In the dream, I looked up into Noah’s handso face, except it wasn’t my strong, loving mate anymore.
This man, if you could even call him that, had skin the color of blood and large pointed horns on top of his head. Our clean, comfortable room fell away, leaving a dark cave in its place. Flas licked the rocky walls. I nearly fell back in horror as I scread for Noah.
The scary man had Briella cradled in his arms. I stepped forward, reaching out for my daughter so I could take her back, but the crimson-skinned man just stepped back and grinned wickedly at .
“You’d best be a good little girl and leave your tiny daughter to ,” he said in a low, sinister voice.
“No,” I whimpered pathetically, reaching out for Briella again. “Please. Give her back.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” he said, grinning at . “I’m afraid she is far too perfect to serve as the sacrifice to atone for your sins against .”
“No!” I cried out, my sobs bursting out as Briella began to whimper and cry. “Please, I haven’t done anything! I don’t even know who you are!”
I reached once more for my frightened daughter, but the man just growled at and then grabbed my face in his large, rough hand. “You better not have forgotten , my dear,” he seethed. “But I’ll be so kind as to remind you. I am Sorcerer Malphas. You betrayed long ago in a forgotten lifeti. Perhaps it isn’t shocking for you not to recall that long ago ti, but that doesn’t an paynt isn’t due for your betrayal.”
My heart thudded painfully in my chest as Briella continued to wail, her tiny face turning red as she cried out to . Malphas just cradled her close, one finger tracing her soft, innocent cheek.
He turned his attention to again, smirking. “She belongs to now. Briella will serve as a pawn for your betrayal long ago.”
I shook my head hard. I knew that tears were shining in my eyes.
Malphas smirked at my tortured look, and then his hand found my face again. This ti, his fingers grazed my cheek in a twisted caress. “Return to , my lost bride,” he cooed in a creepy tone. His cold fingers found my chin and squeezed. “Resu your rightful place by my side.”
I attempted to pull away, but he just held more firmly by the face and hissed in my ear. “Return to , or you will live to regret it.”
His hand slid down, off my chin, and toward the rest of my body.
I scread at his words and his sinister, disgusting touch.
I woke up in the dim guest room. Strong arms were around . I started to thrash wildly, trying to free myself. The arms tightened around my shoulders, and I felt panic start to close my throat.
“Zara, love, it’s .”
Noah.
It took far too long for to snap out of my initial fear and pull away slightly to look up into his face.
“N-Noah?” His na was probably the first word I spoke in days.
It looked like it was still dark outside. The dark blue sky was just starting to give way to the hints of sunrise. Still, I could make out the bright blue hues of Noah’s eyes. They were gazing down at with so much concern. He rested his palm against my cheek. “Yes, it’s , Zara.”
“Noah!” I sobbed, throwing myself against his chest as I broke down for what had to be the hundredth ti in the past forty-eight hours. I couldn’t help it. I was relieved to see him, but I also feared his onslaught. Since he was there, he knew about Briella. He should have been furious, yet he was holding like I was still precious to him.
“Shh,” he hushed gently, but I could feel his strong arms were stiff with tension. “We’re going to get Briella back, Zara. I promise.”
That caused to look up in shock. I peered up at him through my tears. “D-Do you know where she is?”
“No,” he admitted, causing my stomach to drop. His lips thinned as he gazed down at , his eyes darkening. “But I do know that a powerful sorcerer nad Malphas took her right before he killed Serena.”
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