Chapter 385: The Journey Begins

He stood carefully, still holding Lilith’s body, and carried her out of the destroyed ritual room.

Carried her to her bedroom where she had slept peacefully just yesterday.

Laid her gently on the bed and stepped back.

Sebastian and Lucian followed.

All three of them standing around Lilith’s body.

All three of them feeling the empty spaces where the bonds used to be.

All three of them broken.

"What do we do?" Sebastian asked quietly.

Nicholas looked at his mate’s dead body and felt something crack inside his chest.

Something that would not heal unless she came back.

Something that might never heal even if she did.

"We wait," Nicholas said. "We preserve her body. We hope Victoria succeeds. And we pray to the Moon Goddess who cursed us that she has mercy enough to let Lilith come back."

He reached out and took Lilith’s cold hand.

And felt absolutely nothing through the severed bond.

She was gone.

And Nicholas did not know if any amount of forbidden magic could bring her back.

But he would wait.

Would hope.

Would give Victoria the seven days she asked for.

Because the alternative, accepting that Lilith was permanently dead....was impossible.

Unthinkable.

Unbearable.

So Nicholas held his mate’s cold hand.

And screamed silently into the void where their bond used to be.

"NO!"

***

Victoria’s POV

The portal closed behind Victoria with a sound like tearing fabric.

She stumbled forward onto solid ground and immediately dropped to her knees, pressing her hands against cold stone as her stomach rebelled against the violent dimensional shift.

Portal travel was never pleasant. But creating one while emotionally devastated and magically exhausted made it exponentially worse.

Victoria retched twice before her stomach settled enough for her to breathe.

She looked up.

The portal had deposited her exactly where she had intended...the abandoned quarry in the eastern territories where her scrying had located Thalia three days ago.

It was late afternoon here. The sun was low on the horizon, painting the quarry walls in shades of orange and red that looked disturbingly like blood.

The quarry itself was massive, a crater carved into the earth by mining operations that had been abandoned decades ago. The walls were sheer stone marked with the scars of excavation. The floor was littered with broken equipment, rusted metal, and the skeletal remains of buildings that had once housed workers.

Perfect place to hide.

Isolated. Defenseless. No pack protection. No witnesses.

Victoria pushed herself to her feet and pulled out the tracking spell she had prepared.

It was simple, a compass made of silver wire wrapped around one of Lilith’s hairs. The hair would resonate with Thalia’s magical signature because they shared Morvaine blood.

Victoria held the compass flat on her palm and whispered the activation words.

The silver wire began to glow.

The hair twisted.

Pointed.

North-northeast. Toward the far side of the quarry where a cluster of deteriorating buildings huddled against the stone wall.

Victoria started walking.

Her boots crunched on gravel and broken glass. The sound echoed off the quarry walls, making her presence impossible to hide.

Not that it mattered. If Thalia was here, she already knew Victoria had arrived. The portal magic would have been impossible to miss.

She reached the first building.....a collapsed structure that might have been an office once. The roof had caved in. The walls were crumbling. Vines and weeds had reclaimed most of it.

Empty.

She moved to the second building. Larger. More intact. Windows broken but walls still standing.

The tracking compass pulled harder. The hair pointing directly at the entrance.

Victoria approached carefully.

The door hung crooked on rusted hinges. Beyond it, darkness.

Victoria called up a ball of green witch-light and sent it floating ahead of her into the building.

The interior was a mess. Overturned furniture. Broken equipment. Signs of habitation but old....dust coating everything, cobwebs in the corners.

And in the center of the main room.....

A ritual circle.

Victoria’s breath caught.

She moved closer and examined the circle carefully. It was drawn in what looked like dried blood mixed with ash. The symbols were Morvaine family sigils, the same ones Victoria herself used. The same ones Thalia would know.

But the circle was cold. Dead. No active magic.

It had been used recently, within the past week maybe....but it was not active now.

Victoria knelt and touched the edge of the circle with one finger.

Residual magic sparked against her skin. Dark. Corrupted. Absolutely Thalia’s signature.

"She was here," Victoria breathed.

But she was not here now.

Victoria stood and searched the rest of the building methodically. Looking for any sign of where Thalia might have gone. Any clue about her current location.

She found disturbing things.

Jars containing ingredients for dark magic. Bones carved with binding runes. A journal written in code Victoria could not immediately decipher.

But no Thalia.

Victoria felt frustration building in her chest.

She had been so certain. The scrying had pointed here. The blood resonance had been clear. Thalia should be here.

Unless...

Victoria’s stomach dropped.

Unless Thalia had known someone would come looking. Had known Victoria might try to track her. Had set up this location as a decoy to waste time.

"No," Victoria whispered. "No no no..."

She pulled out the tracking compass again and activated it.

The hair twisted on the silver wire. Pointed at the ritual circle.

Not north. Not toward another location. Just here. At this circle. At Thalia’s residual magic.

The scrying had not been wrong. Thalia HAD been here.

She just was not here anymore.

Victoria felt panic spike through her chest.

She had seven days to resurrect Lilith. Had already lost hours creating the portal and searching this location. Could not afford to waste more time chasing false leads.

Victoria pressed her hands to her face and forced herself to think.

What would Thalia do?

She would know Victoria might come looking. Would know the Morvaine blood connection made her trackable. Would set up multiple locations to confuse pursuit.

How many locations?

Victoria had no idea. Could be two. Could be ten. Could be dozens scattered across territories.

I need help, Victoria realized.