RYKER''S POV


    There was no way to exin what we had seen except for the fact that it was pure magic. It sounded absurd to me


    even when I thought about it. She walked into the middle of the raging stream but it didn’t sway her, we tried to go


    after her but it was like there was an invisible barrier at the shore that prevented us from doing so. Then the water


    had epassed her and I nearly lost my mind because I thought she was going to drown and just as quickly as


    everything started, it stopped. It was a whirlwind of emotions but one thing I knew was that I never wanted to feel


    that way again- at least not in my lifetime.


    When she passed out, I cursed. I wasn’t sure how it was possible to move as fast as I did but I managed to catch her


    before she hit the water. The water was surprisingly calm despite the fact that it had been a raging storm just a few


    minutes ago and it seemed like it almost parted ways for us to get out quickly because it wasn''t as stressful as it


    should have been.


    Christine and Juan were standing anxiously at the edge of the river and I had to mp down on my annoyance


    before I spoke. “Can you get the f*****g carriage ready or something?”


    My words seemed to snap them into action because they rushed to do just as I had asked. By the time we managed


    to get into the carriage, Cami still hadnt woken up and I was starting to worry. She was breathing properly and she


    seemed fine through our mate bond. It felt like she was just sleeping but that didn’t stop me from worrying. I pulled


    her across myp and stroked her hair softly to keep it out of her face. The ride was terse and the air was pregnant


    with questions but no one said a thing. The only person who could answer them was knocked out cold.


    She started to rouse a few minutes out from the pce. It was a soft groan at first and then her eyes slowly fluttered


    open. Relief poured through me and I quickly looked her over for any signs of injury. Once I was sure that she was


    fine, I ced a kiss to the center of her head.


    “Are we on our way back?” she asked and I hummed in response. She could have pulled herself off my legs but for


    some reason, she only nestled closer to me. I wasn''t about to push her away so I simply wrapped my arms tighter


    around her. “I have a pounding headache.”


    “You walked into the middle of a raging river,” I couldn''t keep the bite out of my voice. “That will not exactly leave


    you feeling like you just woke up on a bed of feathers now will it?”


    She rolled her eyes at me and despite the fact that I was only half joking, I was still slightly annoyed so I switched to


    our mind link. “You don’t do stupid things like that, Cami. How many times have we spoken about this? You have


    to let me know your ns. I tried to go after you but I couldn''t. There was a f*****g barrier around the river. I couldn’


    reach out to you."


    “I''m sorry for scaring you, that was never my intention,” I could tell she was being genuine. “The thing is, I didn’t evel


    realize I was going to get into the river until I got into the river. It was almost like something was controlling me,


    something was telling me what to do.”


    It sounded insane but then again, everything that happened was insane, I could believe her being led by the river. I


    kissed her again just to remind myself that she was here, she was next to me and she was fine. If you are not reading


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    She hadn''t drowned, she hadn''t fallen, she was with me. I wanted to ask what she had learned but I couldn''t even


    bring myself to say the words. The only thing that mattered to me in that moment was her and until she offered, I


    wasn''t going to ask.


    Cami looked around at the others before speaking. “What happened on the outside? Did anything weird happen?”


    It was Christine who exined everything that we saw and her face held contemtion the entire time. “It checks


    out with what I saw.”


    “What did you see?” Christine asked slowly and Cami sighed.


    “The goddess helped us survive basically. Right before I fell, when I was healing Aurora, she had appeared to me. She


    had warned that if I brought her back, I was going to die because it was going to take too much from me. When we


    both fell, she must have feltpassion because she asked the river to let us go. We had to leave something behind


    though, I presume I had to leave my powers.”


    I knew there was more to the story but she didn’t want to go into it here. I chose not to press and instead focused or


    what she had said. “What did Reina leave?”


    “I don''t know,” she admitted running her hands through her hair. “I still don’t even know how to kill her. I just know


    why we survived. We are no closer to finding out how to kill her”


    I could sense her getting frustrated. “We have something, Cami, and we will figure out the rest. At least we know


    that she had to leave something behind, even if we don’t know what.”


    That wasn’t enough topletely calm her raging thoughts but it was enough to put a momentary end to it. She was


    quiet the rest of the way to the pce and once we arrived, she rushed out as if someone lit a fire behind her. She


    was still unsteady on her feet but she didn’t want any help. Christine started to go after her but I stopped her.


    “She needs space,” I exined. “Give it to her. She wille to us when she is ready.”


    “What do we do now? Reina is set to attack tomorrow and we have no idea what she has nned or what she is


    going to do,” Christine whisper yelled. “Cami was right, we have nothing”


    “Do you think I don’t know that?” I growled. “Reina is not stupid, she will not walk into the pce knowing she


    doesn’t have her full powers. She has something big nned and we have no idea what it is. I am as worried about


    this as you and repeating it will not change it.”


    “Why not control where she goes?” Juan asked. “If she will note to the pce then maybe we can make her go


    where we want. She is bound to follow you if she truly has ns of attacking tomorrow.”


    “That could work if she nned to attack us. Reina is resourceful and she isn’t against killing a few innocent people


    just to make us go where she wants.”


    “She is after the dagger isn''t she? I am convinced she is at least watching us. If you take the dagger with you, she will


    go after it. It does pose some risks because if she gets her hands on the dagger, then it is game over.”


    “It is still the best n we have,” I mumbled. “We will talk more about that. We have to find a ce close enough to


    the pce so as not to raise suspicion but far enough that no one will be hurt if she decides to use whatever powers


    she has left. Can you find somewhere?”


    He nodded and immediately rushed out of the car with Christine following close behind leaving just me. I could have


    retreated to my office but for some reason, I found myself taking a walk around the halls. There was still so much


    wrong with our ns and there was a lot that was missing. I didn’t know how but I found myself walking over to Rile}


    and Damien''s rooms. I stood outside not quite wanting to go in but also not quite wanting to leave.


    Having them around was a gross inconvenience at a time like this. If I had my way, neither of them would be here.


    They hade right in the middle of a conflict and they posed a risk because now, we had more people to worry


    about. I raised my fist to knock on the door but as if on cue, it was pulled open.


    Damien stood there and he had a small smile on his face. “Don’t worry, we are watching your girls. They are both


    sleeping. I could smell you outside the door. Do you want to see them?”


    I look through the open door at my daughters. Riley was seated with them and she had a smile on her face. I waved


    at my sister before turning back to Damien. “Whose idea was it toe here?”


    His brows furrowed. “It was mine. Is this your way of saying that we have overstayed our wee?”


    I shook my head and gestured for him toe with me. I could feel his confusion but he said nothing and walked in


    line with me. I waited until we were a considerable distance away from the room before I finally turned to him.


    “When did you meet Peggy- or Reina, whatever her name is?” I asked and his brows furrowed.


    “I don''t know what you are talking about.”


    “I can''t kill you, you''re my friend, but I need to know. I don’t know how those stupid dolls work so I don’t know if she


    is in your head one hundred percent of the time but if I am right, you own the second doll upstairs. You hid the cut


    on your arm, you are an adult so it would have healed within minutes.”


    “Ryker-" he began but I cut him off with a warning growl.


    “I may not want to kill you but when you jeopardize the lives of everyone in this pce, there is a lot I would be


    willing to do. I will ask one time and one time only, when did you meet Reina and why didn’t you tell us?”


    He stared at me for a full minute before sighing. “I was out hunting”


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