CHAPTER 613: STRANGE SKY

Elijah was here for her.

"It’s me he wants," Violet said out loud.

"I know that," Griffin replied. "Someone apparently recorded you rending the warehouse into nothing, and the extra drama of you floating in the air with Alaric." He added quickly, "Although, for the record, the scene of you falling to the ground is breaking the internet right now."

"Floating in the air is not dramatic," Violet pouted. "And I just don’t have control over it." That was her excuse for both the floating and the falling.

Violet wished she could see the video herself, but of course, her phone was gone. Again. Not that it was her fault — they’d been neck-deep in one crisis after another lately, and her poor devices had paid the price.

She’d lost count of how many phones had met their tragic end by now. On the bright side, her mates were always there to replace them over and over again.

Griffin went on, "The point is, Elijah’s here. And no doubt, his men are already searching for us."

"He won’t harm her," Alaric said. "The world already knows about her now, which means he’ll have to answer questions if anything happens to Violet. But that doesn’t make her safe either. This is Elijah we’re talking about."

Violet scratched her scalp. "And I don’t know if telling him I’m his brother’s daughter is a good idea, even if he already suspects it."

"Elijah definitely knows his brother’s alive," Griffin was convinced. "That’s a given. There are too many signs. The way he hoards his throne alone is suspicious enough."

"And to keep it," Violet said, a small smirk tugging at her lips, "he’ll need my help."

Griffin looked at her. "There’s nothing to keep. You’re its heir now."

Violet said nothing to that.

Alaric tilted his head back toward the night sky and sighed. "I suddenly wish we could just elope somewhere and wait out this chaos, even if it’s for a single day."

No sooner had those words left Alaric’s mouth than a crack suddenly formed in the very fabric of space itself, followed by a burst of blinding light. Then, just as quickly, it dimmed enough for them to make out the portal swirling before them.

"What the—?" Alaric cursed, eyes widening to the size of saucers.

As a man of science, watching a portal materialize right in front of him was both shocking and exhilarating.

Violet’s eyes narrowed at the uncanny sight, shadows instinctively gathering in her palms as a defense mechanism. When she saw a figure begin to emerge from the light, her first thought was that it was one of her sisters. Her muscles tensed, ready to obliterate them before they could lay a hand on her mate.

Hence one could imagine her shock when a face she knew all too well stepped out of the portal.

"Lila?" Violet whispered, her feet frozen to the floor.

The last time she’d seen Lila, she’d been bound to that carnivorous tree, and Violet had assumed she was dead.

She took a good look at Lila. Her pixie-cut hair now flowed longer, brushing past her shoulders, and her skin was milky smooth, almost glowing like a newborn’s. The unhealthy pallor she’d carried in that dreaming world was completely gone. But what truly caught Violet’s attention were her pointed ears, that was unmistakably Fae. Lila was no longer afraid to show who she really was.

"Lila!" Violet shouted and ran straight into her, hugging her. She pulled back just enough to ask, her voice filled with relief, "How are you here? Did my mother rescue you?"

But Lila said urgently. "This isn’t the time or place for questions, Princess. You’re needed back home."

"What?" Violet was confused.

Before she could ask another word, Lila pushed her hard, and she fell straight into the portal. Violet screamed as the light swallowed her whole.

"Violet?!" Griffin and Alaric yelled in unison. It happened so fast, neither could react in time.

"Come get your mate," Lila told them, and without hesitation, jumped into the portal after her.

Griffin and Alaric didn’t even think twice, and followed after her, diving in at the same moment. Almost immediately, the portal sealed shut behind them.

Unknown to them, Ace had seen everything.

He’d been on his way to beg his brother one last time—even if it meant dropping to his knees— only to stumble into the portal. And in a blink, everyone was gone.

Ace stood there in stunned silence, his heart hammering. "What the fuck just happened?" he whispered to the empty space.

Meanwhile...

A fissure ripped open in the air, and Violet came screaming through it like a banshee,

before landing flat on a bed of flowers.

The impact was surprisingly soft, the petals cradling her like silk, and for a wild second, she thought she had fallen into a bed made of cotton. If that even made sense.

Violet groaned and coughed; the flowers released a thick, honey-sweet scent that clung to her lungs until she nearly choked.

Rolling onto her back, she blinked hard because above her stretched a sky she’d never seen before.

There was two crescent moons in the sky.

"What the hell...?" she whispered.

At the same time, the portal pulsed and promptly spat Lila out.

Unlike Violet, she landed gracefully on her feet, barely disturbing a single petal. Of course she did. Lila looked like someone who’d done this a thousand times.

Moments later, Griffin and Alaric came crashing through the portal with identical screams, tumbling like rag dolls. Griffin hit the ground first, and Alaric landed squarely on top of him with a solid thud.

"Great," Griffin groaned, his voice muffled in the dirt. "I’m a damn mattress again."

Alaric’s face was buried against Griffin’s stomach. Without lifting his head, he muttered, "Nice body, though."

The portal sealed behind them with a snap, and silence fell upon them for a second before they both jerked to their feet.

"Violet!" Griffin and Alaric shouted in unison.

But Alaric’s gaze locked on Lila first, and before anyone could stop him, he hurled a bolt of lightning straight at her.