Shadows (Book Two of the Royals Trilogy)

Chapter Nine

SKYLAR

32 hours had almost passed, and I hoped the camp had received our message without it being interfered by Dalia. It was supposedly encrypted and unmanipulable. Meanwhile, Blair and I had been setting a trap for Dalia. It turns out bobby pins had more uses it than just holding hair in place.

Huntresses back at camp recommended using bobby pins when we went out on missions. The reason was simple, they contained a tracker and a microphone that recorded everything. Not only that but when they were extended in a certain way, they turned into a small dagger. Considering Blair and I had four bobby pins in total, that left us with two daggers for each.

The plan was to ambush Dalia when she opened the door. We had been careful to not say anything about the plan or expose our weapons since the witch was probably keeping a close eye on us. We communicated through sings and key words only Blair and I understood, it was something we learnt while we were still trainees back at camp.

We had agreed to wait until the 32 hours were up. Considering we were locked in a room with no windows and we had no equipment with us, it was hard to calculate how much time had passed since we had entered the manor. I was siting on a bed with my eyes shut, I was tired and sore. On the other hand, Blair was lively passing the room waiting to hear the sound of chaos coming from outside.

Suddenly, a tray with two plates appeared in front of the door. I scoffed, the witch was smart, and it was a good choice deciding to use her magic to feed us, not that I was going to touch any of that food, she could always try to poison us.

After a couples of minutes, the food was still on the ground, neither Blair nor I dared to touch it. We heard the click of a lock before the door burst open and in walked Dalia, holding Melissa in a threatening position as she pressed a knife to Melissa’s throat. Melissa looked shocked and terrified, she probably realized the with had no intention of holding her part of the bargain. “Stay right where you are,” Dalia warned, and Melissa looked at us pleadingly. I stood still and tense as I watched Dalia closely.

“You promised to let her go,” I said coldly and the with rolled her eyes.

“I did, didn’t I? Oh well, plans change, and I have no intention of releasing her or her family. Instead, I had decided to keep them here in the manor as my personal… assistants. After all, a witch needs her mice to experiment on,” she finished with a cold laugh and a tear dropped from Melissa’s eye.

Blair moved closer to Dalia and instantly stopped when the blade sliced through Melissa’s flesh. “Easy there, Blair. We wouldn’t want a human to be harmed.” Blair inly glared at her and Dalia growled menacingly. “I said, sit!” Blair instantly dropped to the floor and sat on the ground, when she tried to get up she found an invisible force pushing her down to the floor.

“What do you want, Dalia?” I asked finally. “Why are you really here?”

The witch looked pleased to see someone had decided to play along. She motioned for me to sit with her head. I did as she asked and sat down on the bed. “Even though I am the most powerful being on this planet, I cannot leave the mansion for very long and my powers out in the open are limited, the curse that you Hunters placed on me does affect me. So, I’ll make you a deal, I’ll tell you where the Royale Brothers are hiding in exchange for my freedom.”

“No way,” Blair quickly said as she glared at the witch. “Hunters, my ancestors, fought with you for years until they finally trapped you here, you are never to leave this region for the safety of other living creatures.”

Dalia rolled her eyes and threw Melissa to the ground. Melissa yelped and landed on her side, I reached for her and she cringed. “Very well, Huntresses, that means there will be no freedom for you and I will keep you locked in here until I see fit and until I decide I want to end you,” Dalia responded venomously before heading towards the exit and shutting the door behind her with a loud bang.

Melissa was sobbing in my arms as I tried to soothe her, but it was kind of hard and tense considering I hadn’t had much contact with other humans in a long time. “Blair, how many hours have passed?” I whispered into the dark room.

Blair sighed and turned to me before getting up from the ground. “29 hours, the cavalry must already be listing themselves.” I nodded and let go of Melissa who was now staring at nothing.

“Are you alright, Melissa?” I asked cautiously and she jumped at the sound of my voice. She looked at me neutrally and nodded slowly.

“She did not hurt me, not physically at least. But my parents are dead,” she said and tightened her hands into fists.

I was saddened to hear that, her parents had been innocent, but Dalia did not care. She was a monster.

I got up and along with Blair, we walked over to the door. While Blair worked with the bobby pins that had now transformed into a key, I covered her side. “What do you know about Dalia, Melissa?” I asked, I wanted to get an idea of our surroundings and the situation to calculate the best plan to escape.

“She normally spends her time pacing her bedroom which is on the other side of the mansion and she only comes out to eat but considering she has brought you food, I think it’s safe to say that she won’t be coming out of her room any time soon. She’s very lonely,” commented Melissa in a whisper and I nodded. I didn’t know what else to say.

“Come with us, Melissa,” Blair said once the lock on the door had been tampered with. I was still doubting what would come next, it couldn’t be that easy to escape the eldest supernatural’s house. The door creaked open as we pushed it slowly. I popped my head outside to see if there was anyone guarding the cell.

“It’s all clear,” I whispered before silently stepping outside. Blair handed me my bobby pins that had now turned into daggers. Melissa walked between Blair and I because that was the safest spot for her. “This can’t be this easy, can it?” I asked once we reached the stairwell that led to the first floor and directly in front of us, was the door that led outside.

Neither one responded and we were walking practically blind since we didn’t have any of our tools to detect any dark magic. “I think we should stop,” Melissa suggested after we stopped close the stairwell. I looked at her with confusion even though she couldn’t see me clearly in the dark.

“Why?” asked Blair and I heard her fidget and guessed she was probably looking around for any sign of a threat.

“Because, this is a trap. A labyrinth,” she responded, and I squeezed my eyes to see between the haze. Columns and rows appeared in front of us and they all curled and moved around the first floor, making it look impossible to reach the exit considering the maze was very well elaborated.

“Am I the only one that feels as if we were trying to escape a life-size dollhouse?” Blair said uncomfortably and I agreed. I thought I had seen something like this in a series I watched back when my life was much simpler.

“This is creepy,” I said before beginning my descent to the first floor. The others followed after me and we moved slowly into the maze.

I could hear Melissa’s ragged breathing as she moved nervously, it was kind of distracting, so I shut her out. With every minute that passed, I became more frustrated because I was feeling as if we were walking on circles. “Blair, any more ideas?” I asked trying to remain calm.

My partner sighed and pressed her dagger into a wall next to her, to see if it was some kind of hologram or laser and because of that move, the force field of the wall threw us back and we fell to the ground, painfully. I rubbed my arm and grabbed my daggers as I got up. We couldn’t go through the maze, we had to find the path that lead to the exit.

All was quiet, maybe too quiet and I was beginning to doubt whether the maze actually ended. That was, until we finally saw the exit standing in front of us only a few meters away. “Well, well, well… it looks as if my dolls have been up to no good now,” I heard her cold voice say over us and we tensed. I looked up and Dalia stood over us on the second floor looking down at us with an amused expression. “Did you think I wouldn’t count on you escaping? Did you actually think this was going to be that easy?” she asked, laughter and mock filled her voice.

“I won’t let you keep us locked in here, witch,” I spat out without thinking twice and the witch let out a growl.

“You dare talk to me like that, child? You have only just become a Huntress and not one of the brightest I have encountered. No biggie, I need you for something else,” she said as she began to float down towards us. Melissa yelped and stepped back behind Blair and I who were still holding the daggers. “Melissa and Blair are just here to entertain me while I realize what I must,” she continued coldly, and I glared at her without fidgeting.

“Is that supposed to mean anything to me?” I demanded and she smiled mockingly.

“Dear child, I wouldn’t expect you to understand. You see, I need you for a greater purpose, call it bargain or what you wish but I plan on selling you to the highest bidder in exchange for my freedom and dominion over all.” I let out a huff and rolled my eyes, evil supernaturals sure had a thing for controlling everything and everyone.

“I really doubt you’ll obtain what you want,” I said curtly, and she flinched. “Devion wants just what you want, Dalia, and I am pretty sure he doesn’t care for sharing.”

The Queen of Shadows’ eyes gleamed and she snorted, “he cannot get in my way, no one can. After all, I’m the mother, the creator of every supernatural out there.” I let out a laugh and shook my head, she was too full of herself.

“Whatever, we’re leaving,” I finally said, and Blair began to lead us towards the door.

“Not so fast,” the words came out of Dalia like venom and instantly, Blair and Melissa were writhing on the ground, screaming in pain. My eyes widened and I charged at the witch, hoping to at least distract her so that Blair and Melissa could get away. But it seemed as if that was what Dalia had wanted.

A few inches from her, I was pulled off the ground and I floated in front of Dalia, I couldn’t move but I could sure hear my friends still yelling for help. It drove me to push harder through the spell and the witch only smiled. “Now I will only need this from you…” she trailed off as she walked closer to me and placed her finger to my forehead.

My eyes went back into their sockets and I gasped as I saw all of my memories go through me and I felt as if I, my soul, my essence, were leaving my body. “Unfortunately, for my plan to work, I will need your body, but don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe in another dimension where I store all of the things I will need once again.” I couldn’t reply, I wasn’t sure I was myself still. It was all beginning to feel hazy.

In my mind I saw a wolf, just like the one I had seen back in the cave at camp. She only looked at me with her dark eyes and seconds later, she was howling loudly. It was a beautiful howl, filled with strength and hope and for some reason I felt safe and at peace when I heard it.

“No! Damn you, guardian. I didn’t think your Guardian Spirit would be this strong,” I heard Dalia say and for the first time, I thought I heard some doubt and wariness in her voice.

Strength and power filled my body, sensation I had never felt, not that intense, and I saw Dalia’s power begin to fade from my body. Her eyes were wide as she stared at my gleaming body, radiating white streaks of light. All of that happened in a matter of seconds, and then she flew across the room and landed roughly on her back.

I slowly reached the ground and ran over to my friends who were still on the ground but now they weren’t in pain. I sighed, thankful, and I pulled Blair into a hug. She tensed because we rarely showed any sort of affection. She hugged me back after a few seconds and just when we pulled away, a piercing sound echoed in the mansion.

I got back into fighting position with Blair by my side as we looked around for the source of the strange noise, it could always be a threat. Instead, I heard Dalia scream in pain, a very high-pitched and awful sound. Confused, I walked over to her and just as I reached her, a group of people barged into the building wearing black clothing and holding weapons I could recognize. The Calvary had arrived.

At the front of the group was Elda, she analyzed her daughter quickly before walking over to Dalia and me. “Dalia, Queen of Shadows, you are going to come with us and don’t even think about cursing us or hurting us, we came prepared,” the camp leader said confidently as she tied the witch’s hands behind her back with purple-glowing cuffs and other two Hunters pulled her up and dragged her outside.

She turned to look at me and Blair joined us, “we got your message and prepared for the worst-case scenario, I think we showed up right on time.” I smiled and Blair scoffed but nodded.

“Thank you, Elda,” I said since Blair wasn’t about to thank her mother.

Elda nodded and began to lead us to the door, outside to where the other hunters were waiting. “Now, I’d like to hear more about how you ended up here,” she said with a raised eyebrow and Blair didn’t protest as we walked out into the dark night.