bChapter /bb197 /b

    bEryx /bPOV

    It had to be done, until this is solved, she’s no longer safe here. I know I could have told her that she’s in danger, that she needs to bleave /bfor her own safety, but she wouldn’t agree to leaving me. Even if I told her it was me that was the threat to her, she would refuse to go.

    If there’s one thing I know about April, it’s that she’s stubborn when ites to me. That first time I found her, and found out she was my mate, I told her we couldn’t see each other often. The more we did, the more risk there is that someone else’s would notice and find bout /bthe truth.

    But, she’s stubborn and it began to be a daily thing where I would go and see her.

    Standing at the window upstairs, I watch as she walks to the car, my chest is burning, my neck as well, and I hate that I rejected her. I didn’t want to but something told me if I didn’t, she would cling on, she would question what is wrong and why I’m not giving up on her entirelyb. /b

    So, I rejected her, and I said my goodbyes. I’ll get her back, I’ll fix this and find her again, I’ll go get her and exin everything but for nowb, /bbf /bwon’t.

    “You can still change your mind, Eryx,” my father says, and I hear him walking further into the room.

    “Not until I solve this,” I say. “I couldn’t even be in the same room as her, it’s like every time I felt a small bit of love for her, it twisted, bturned /bdark and bitter, and made me hate her. Even when she didn’t speak.” Sighing, I rub my face. “I’m ashamed, because at the moment she cried, when she broke, when she was in pain, I felt good. I had to fight back the smile.”

    “That isn’t you,” he snaps. “Let your mother try a cleansing spell,” he says.

    “We have to do something,” he argues.

    “I have to,” I say before turning to face him. “I have to face the Hollowed Queen, but before that, we have to find out who caused this.”

    He sits down and looks at me. “No one is going to openly admit to summoning the Hollowed Queen, if they do, they know the sentence.”

    “What I don’t get is why someone would summon it? They must have realised it would be a dead sentence if not by us then the Hollowed Queen herself!”

    It makes ino /isense, none at all. Why would someone want her back, she fed off everyone, made everyone weak. It’s because of her that the witches have little to no power, It’s because of her that everyone is at war with each other, unwilling to work together.

    “When someone wants to gain something personal, they don’t consider the consequences.” My father sits and looks at me. “Look at it this way, you would do anything for April, right? If you for a single moment thought raising the Hollowed Queen would guarantee her safety, you would ido /iit without thinking of the consequences,”

    My head shakes. “I wouldn’tb./bb” /b

    “You would if it came to it. People get desperate and do foolish things. It’s only when the bades that they begin to realise how bwrong /bbit /bwas and consider what they did.”

    Maybe he’s right? I just can’t see myself ever summoning anything like the Hollowed Queen to save April.

    “Then there’s those who don’t know her, and don’t know the legends and the stories. Some believe she’s ba /bbmyth/bb. /bbRemember /bbthat/bb?/bb” /b

    b1/2 /b

    21:23 Sat, 9 bAug /b

    Yes, I do. “The only way for me to battle and win this is to go for the Hollowed Queen and face her myself, I saybi. /i/b

    “No, because iI /ithink it’s you, me, and your mother that the Hollowed Queen wants. We’ve all unlocked a unique magicb, /bbEry/bb, /band that is something she craves. Wolves, witches, fae, all of them, they aren’t even in her range right now, we are?

    Maybe he’s right, maybe he’s not but all I can think is how I need to do this.

    “Eryx, let’s make a n together, do not do this alone. If she gets you, gains your magic, then what?” He looks at me, and I close my beyes/bb. /bb“/bbIt’s /bthe end, your magic is stronger than your mothers, don’t do something foolish and make her win this war because you couldn’t bwait/b.”

    “Waiting means longer without April,” I snap.

    “Longer means she lives! Rushed means she dies anyway, only then it may be your own magic that kills her. You rejected her and told bher /bbto /bleave for a reason. Don’t waste that pain on a foolish move that ends this and makes the Hollowed Queen win.”

    I know that he’s right, but giving in to it, letting it happen, and continuing on for longer feels wrong. “I got this, I was told to use it against bthe /bHollowed Queen, but the issue is, you’re right. Even if we do this, even if we shield her again, whoever brought her out, can do it again.b” /b

    “Then that’s the first step. Find who did this, find out what they did, and maybe there’s an easier way to solve it?”

    I want to believe that, I want to believe it so much but how can I? The person won’t juste forward and admit they summoned the Hollowed Queen. Which means it can be weeks if not months before we figure out who it was.

    “How are you feeling?” My mothers voicees from the doorway and I turn to see her entering with Helena.

    I shrug and look back outside.

    “Can you still feel it?” my mother pushes.

    “I can still feel the Hollowed Queen, for now it’s silent. Now that April has gone, it’s settled,” I exin.

    “You need to make us aware if iyou /ihave that feeling any other time when ites to usb, /bor anyone else in the pack, is that understood?”

    I nod. “iAnd /iif it does?” Then what? They can’t leave the pack like April, they have to stay here.

    “Thenwe will figure it out when it happensi, /iif it happens. For now, we focus on solving this.” My mother looks at me.

    “We’re going to pull the logs up from the days just before that area changed, anyone who left the pack, even for a short walk, or on duty bwill /bbe questioned,” my father says. “We will find out who it was that summoned the Hollowed Queen.”

    I hope we get answers, I hope that it’s quick and inot /iweeks or months, I actually hope it’s not even days. Hours would be bbetter/bb, /bbbut /bbthat /bwon’t be the oue, even I know that.