Chapter 355: Spell

Rebecca’s POV

​He didn’t hesitate. The moment his eyes landed on me slumping on the floor, Kaden was across the room in a second. He dropped to his knees beside me, his hands hovering over my shaking shoulders for barely a moment before he pulled me against him.

​"Rebecca! What’s wrong?" he asked, his voice rough with panic.

​"Kaden..." I gasped, weakly gripping the fabric of his dark shirt. "I don’t know, but I feel like I’m being pulled by a force."

​Kaden’s eyes widened. His arm tightened around my waist, almost as though he thought holding me tightly enough could stop me from disappearing again. "Pulled?"

​I nodded quickly. "Every time I feel it, my magic reacts. I can’t control where I’m going."

​"Stay calm," he ordered, his chest rising and falling quickly beneath my cheek. "The healers and the witches are almost here. Just stay with me."

​I couldn’t even give him a proper response. I nodded weakly and rested my throbbing head against his chest, trying to catch my breath. His heart was beating almost as fast as mine. Kaden wrapped his arms around me even tighter and held me there while my entire body continued to shake.

​"I’ve got you," he said quietly. "Just stay with me."

​A few seconds later, the doors burst open again. Through my hazy vision, I saw Rola, Melvin, Logan, and a group of palace healers and elder witches rush into the room. Relief immediately crossed Rola’s face when she saw me, but there was no time for questions.

​Kaden didn’t wait for anyone to tell him what to do. He slipped one arm beneath my knees and the other around my back before lifting me from the floor. He carried me to the bed and gently placed me in the middle of it. The healers immediately surrounded me, one placing glowing hands over my stomach while another pressed a warm palm against my forehead. The two elder witches moved to either side of the bed and placed their hands over my wrists.

​I closed my eyes and released a weak breath as their magic moved through my body. The healers’ power felt warm and calming, but the burning beneath my skin didn’t stop. Neither did that horrible pulling feeling inside me.

​The witches began chanting quietly in words I couldn’t understand. At first, nothing changed, but as their magic became stronger around me, the force inside me suddenly pulled harder. My entire body jerked against the mattress, and a frightened gasp escaped me.

​"Kaden!" I blurted out in panic.

​"Keep going," one of the witches ordered.

​I grabbed the sheets beneath me as another wave of pain moved through my body. Whatever was pulling me seemed to be fighting against the witches’ magic. For several terrible seconds, the burning became even worse, and I squeezed my eyes shut as I tried not to scream.

​Then, little by little, the heat beneath my skin began to fade. The witches continued chanting while the healers kept their hands on me, and after several minutes, something inside me suddenly changed. The force that had been pulling me weakened until I couldn’t feel it anymore.

​It was gone.

​I lay there breathing heavily, too exhausted to even feel relieved at first. My arms and legs felt heavy, and it seemed as though every bit of energy had been taken from my body. Even opening my eyes took more effort than it should have.

​When I finally managed it, Kaden was standing beside the bed with his arms crossed over his chest. His face was tense, and the worry in his eyes hadn’t disappeared. Melvin stood a short distance behind him, while Rola remained on the other side of the bed.

​One of the elder witches stepped back and wiped the sweat from her forehead before turning toward Kaden. "It’s the tiger shifters," she announced. "They were performing a dark spell to force Rebecca’s magic to teleport her directly to them. Thank the Goddess she was strong enough to resist it, or she would be with them right now."

​My stomach dropped as I stared at her.

​So my magic hadn’t simply gone out of control. Every time that force tried to pull me toward the tiger shifters, my own power had reacted by sending me somewhere else. All those wild jumps through the palace had actually kept me from reaching wherever they had been trying to take me.

​Melvin stepped closer, his face serious. "But how were they able to perform that kind of magic from so far away?"

​"They must have gotten hold of something that belongs to her," the witch explained. "Something carrying enough of her personal energy for them to connect the spell to her. It could be an item of clothing, some of her hair, blood, or another personal item."

​How?

​That was the first question that entered my mind. How could the tiger shifters have gotten something belonging to me? I had spent the last three years at Stone Pack and had only been back at the palace for a few days. The thought that someone might have gotten close enough to steal something from me made a cold feeling settle inside my stomach.

​Kaden released an angry grunt, and when I looked at him, his hands had tightened into fists. "So what do we do now?"

​"For now, we’ll place a protection spell around Rebecca," the witch answered. "It should make it much harder for their magic to reach her again."

​"Harder?" Kaden repeated, his expression darkening. "Not impossible?"

​The witch hesitated, and that hesitation was enough to make the room tense again. "They may try to perform the spell again once they recover their strength, especially if they still have whatever they’re using to connect their magic to Rebecca."

​Kaden was silent for a few seconds. Then something changed in his expression.

​"This is too risky," he said. "We are no longer waiting a week. We attack in three days."

​My eyes widened. Three days? That was much sooner than we had planned.

​Kaden immediately turned toward Logan. "Tell only the recruiters and commanders to prepare the troops. Keep it quiet. I don’t want anyone knowing about the change unless they need to know."

​"On it," Logan replied with a nod.

​"And Logan," Kaden called before he could leave. "Find out how they got something belonging to Rebecca. Check everything."

​Logan’s expression became serious. "I’ll handle it."

​He turned and hurried out of the room while I continued staring at Kaden. Moving the attack forward by several days was a huge decision, but after what had just happened, I understood why. The tiger shifters already had Stephanie and the other prisoners trapped behind Dark Fire. Now they had somehow found a way to reach me from wherever they were hiding. Waiting another week suddenly didn’t seem like the safer choice.

​Rola stepped closer to the bed and looked down at me, worry still clear on her face. "Rebecca, are you okay?"

​I gave her a tired nod. "I’m okay."

​Kaden looked toward her. "Rola, go back to your room and rest. You’ve been running around searching for her all afternoon."

​Rola hesitated and looked at me again before finally nodding. "Alright. Please get some rest, Rebecca."

​"I will."

​She gave me one last worried look before turning and leaving the room.

​Once Rola left, only Kaden, Melvin, the witches, and the healers remained. The lead healer checked me again, running her glowing hand slowly over my body before turning toward Kaden.

​"Rebecca needs to be put into a deep magical sleep for a few hours," she explained. "Her body needs time to recover. Her magic used a great amount of energy fighting the spell and teleporting her repeatedly."

​Kaden nodded before moving closer to the bed. He stopped beside me and looked down at my face. "Everything will be fine," he said softly, his voice much gentler than it had been only moments earlier. "Don’t be scared."

​I almost told him I wasn’t scared, but even I knew that would have been a ridiculous lie. Someone had just tried to drag me into enemy territory using magic, and if my own power hadn’t fought back, I could have woken up surrounded by tiger shifters instead of lying in Kaden’s bed.

​So I simply nodded. "Okay."

​The healer moved closer and placed her palm gently over my eyes. A moment later, warmth spread through my head and slowly moved down the rest of my body. My eyelids became heavier, the voices around me started to fade, and before I knew it, everything disappeared.

​When I finally opened my eyes again, Kaden’s bedroom was dimly lit. The bright afternoon sunlight was gone, replaced by the darkness of early evening, while soft candlelight from the walls filled the room with a warm glow.

​For a few seconds, I simply stared at the ceiling, trying to remember why I was there. Then everything came rushing back. The training field. The burning in my blood. Teleporting uncontrollably through the palace. The force pulling at me. The witches.

​The tiger shifters had tried to take me.

​I remained still as I listened to my own breathing. My body was still heavy and tired, but the terrible burning in my blood was gone. More importantly, I couldn’t feel the strange force pulling at me anymore. I waited several seconds just to make sure before finally releasing the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

​"How do you feel?"

​The deep voice startled me.

​I turned my head toward the other side of the room and found Kaden sitting on the leather couch a few feet away from the bed.