106 - Ben
Well, if that isn''t ominous, I don''t know what is. "So, we have to go back to this... Rift?" I test out the name that is very apt for the massive wound in the ground full of intricately ced stones, and yet so ambiguous, no one outside the magicalmunity would have any idea what is being discussed if they heard it.
"We will need to protect it. That is the only thing I can think of that Eliza would put this much effort in for. It is our Holy Grail, if you will. That mythical, magical, all powerful thing that makes the person who controls it all of those things." Brianna says softly. She seems more rxed now than when I saw herst. Even in the aftermath of the magical fire that disced her coven...again.
"Do we have everyone? Has anyone been through to check the parts of the house we can get to?" I don''t want to say their names, and I''m hoping the Goddess just took care of it for us, but we need to see if Jeff and Drake are still breathing or if we have two less problems. Copyright ? 2025 Miss L Writes and Ember Mantel Productions
“No. We haven''t been past this room.” ra says, pocketing the stone. I''m surprised Brianna and Marietta don''t hold onto it, but that is a question for another time.
We carefully trek across the tilted room, avoiding debris shaken from the burnt shelves. When ra reaches the door, she can''t seem to push or pull it open. The hinges appear to be fine, but who knows what''s on the other side. She looks over her shoulder at me, silently asking for help. I grip the handle and feel a wash of warmth flow over me. ra has her hand on my shoulder, and the warmth is flowing from my hold on the handle to where her palm is ced. "What the hell?" I whisper.
"Something that was mentioned before that I thought I would test. You are a conduit for magic. And if this thing is what we think it is," She pats her pocket, "I seem to have some ability to use magic when it''s in my possession. Let''s get this door open." She winks at me. My mate is full of surprises.
I''m not sure what to think about this new development. I can only nod and focus on the handle in my grasp, along with the magic flowing through us. One twist and pull and the door lets out a squeal as the wood slides against its frame and ps the wall as I release my hold on it.
My jaw goes ck at the sight before me. Everything that I can see beyond this doorway is charred. There''s nothing salvageable beyond this room. There is no way anyone left in here during that fire is still alive, but we still have to check. I don''t trust sight alone anymore. We have experienced too much to not have several types of irrefutable proof.
"Brianna, Marietta. Do either of you sense anything that can harm us?" I ask over my shoulder. Neither scoff at the question, they both close their eyes and do whatever it is they do when they reach out with their magic.
"I sense nothing living here, if that helps." Marietta says calmly. She might have caught onto what we are looking for.
"I also feel no other magic or lifeforce." I nod at Brianna, and step careful out the door. I know that the packhouse Omegas got everyone out. They would have let us know by now if someone was unounted for. It''s our prisoners I need to have a visual confirmation of.
"Will the two of you stay here, while we take a quick look? The more we can focus the faster we can get out of here and to the Rift. I''m sure that is where Eliza will be, or more likely a group of her cronies."
"Yes, but please talk us through what you see. Remember, magic leaves its own signatures. We may be able to pinpoint who is helping her." Brianna says, taking a kneeling position on the floor simr to the way we found her when we reached the house fire.nod, not really sure what I can tell her about feeling magic. I''m better at recognizing it when it''s being used on me, but describing it is a whole other level.
I grab ra''s hand and we walk together through the twisted and charred remains of her childhood home. Everything here settled when the house copsed sideways, but for all the big d*ck energy the design gave off, the structure must have been sound because we are able to get through without too much
trouble. We walk through the, away from the
hallway leadinggh the
library and offices towards the main living space where just beyond is the hidden door to the cells.
It''s wide open when we reach it, but that could be a result of the fire. My wolf isn''t taking any chances though and pulls closer to the surface. Based on the lengthened nails now gripping my palm, ra''s wolf has the same idea. Taking each step Slowly, carefully, and avoiding the
paper.
“I have to see for sure.” ra whispers over the mindlink. “I know they aren''t here, but I need to see it with my own eyes." I nod. All we need to do is look and feel for lingering magic, then we can get the hell out of here and go back to the Rift. I have a feeling that is where we''ll find Eliza or whoever is running this sh*tshow.
She doesn''t let go of my hand as we examine the length of cells in the hallway. When we find exactly what we are looking for...nothing...we turn to head back up the rickety stairs.
Getting back to Marietta and Brianna takes longer as we focus on feeling for anything thates close to the kind of magic we feel from the Shadow Markers or even the flowing warmth we felt inside the barrier at the Rift. Copyright Miss L Writes and Ember Mantel Productions
2025
"Anything?" Marietta asks, over Brianna''s shoulder. They are standing next to the unharmed bookshelf and pulling everything off, cing the items carefully in a bag.
"What are you doing?" I ask
"All of these pieces were left alone. We have to assume they have a significance of some kind. But, now is not the time to be curious." Brianna smiles at us. "How about you?" She nods to the door.
“Nothing,” ra sighs. “I was hoping to find at least one of them in a state of dying so I could add a few more fatal wounds and let them bleed out."
"Always so graphic with your violence, Alpha." Marietta teases. "Call your warriors, we need to examine the Rift."