Chapter 107
Kael’s POV_
I didn’t stop to breathe until we reached Morana’s cabin.
The tires skidded over the gravel as Jared pulled to a sharp halt. The forest around us was quiet, but something about the air felt heavy. Like the trees were holding their breath,
listening.
I clutched Lisa’s brush in my hand. It still smelled faintly of her–lavender and a hint of wildflowers. It wasn’t just an object. It was her. It was a part of her. I held it like it was the most precious thing in the world.
Valric stirred inside me. You think this will work?
“It has to,” I whispered.
I jumped out of the car and rushed up the porch. I didn’t bother knocking this time. I pushed the door open.
Morana was already there. She was standing by her long wooden table filled with candles, herbs, and strange powders. The room smelled like sage and something deeper and older.
She turned to face me. “Did you get it?”
I held up the brush. “Yes. And this.”
I handed her Lisa’s hoodie. She took both gently. Her expression was unreadable.
“Good,” she said. “This will help. But you need to stay silent. This is delicate magic. If I lose my focus, we may never find her.”
I nodded. My throat was dry. My heart was pounding. I stepped back and leaned against the wall.
She lit six candles and placed them around a large silver bowl. Inside it, she poured herbs, dark soil, crushed leaves, and ash. She placed the hairbrush and hoodie in the center.
Then she pulled a silver dagger from the shelf.
I stiffened. “Again?”
“Just a drop of your blood,” she said calmly. “You’re bonded to her, even if you won’t admit it yet. Your blood will help the spell connect.”
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Valric growled. I don’t like this.
“We don’t have a choice,” I muttered.
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I walked forward, rolled up my sleeve, and let her prick my skin. Blood dripped into the bowl.
Morana closed her eyes. Her lips moved, whispering ancient words. I couldn’t understand them, but they made the hairs on my arms stand up.
“By moonlight and earth, by fire and bone, By blood that calls and dreams unknown, Reveal the one we seek to find, Where she is, in place and mind.”
The candles flickered wildly.
Smoke rose from the bowl. They were curling up into the air like fingers.
Morana’s eyes turned white.
I didn’t move. I barely breathed.
Valric spoke inside me. Something’s happening. I feel it.
I nodded slowly. The room was growing colder.
Morana sat cross–legged in front of the bowl. The smoke wrapped around her. It was thick and alive. She whispered more incantations, faster now. Her voice was deep. It was not her
own.
“Bound by root and blood and tree. Reveal the place where she may be. Through veil and ward, through spell and stone. Let her not remain alone.”
Suddenly, she gasped.
Her body jerked like she had been struck.
I stepped forward. “Morana?”
She didn’t answer. Her head was tilted up. Her hands were glowing.
The smoke thickened, swirling violently.
Then…
She fell backward,
“Morana!” I ran to her side and caught her before her head hit the floor.
Her eyes snapped open.
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“No,” she whispered. Her voice shook. “No… it can’t be.”
My stomach dropped. “What? What did you see?”
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She sat up slowly. Her hands were trembling. Her face was pale. She looked at me like she was seeing something that didn’t make sense.
“There is… a forest,” she said. “Deep. Older than this land. It is hidden and thick with mist. That’s where he is keeping her. Not in Shadowrune. No… he is smarter than that. It is off the maps. A place where time stands still.”
I leaned closer. “Can you lead us there?”
“I will try,” she said. “But that’s not… the strangest part.”
Valric stirred. What does she mean?
“What do you mean?” I asked.
She stared at the bowl. Smoke still drifted from it. “I saw… a woman. A memory. She had brown hair. Green eyes. A kind smile. She held a baby in her arms. She was singing.”
frowned. “Lisa?”
Morana shook her head. “No. It was someone else. Lisa was the baby. The woman… her
name was Althea.”
The name meant nothing to me. “Who is Althea?”
Morana looked up slowly. “She was my friend. A long time ago. We were… close. She had a daughter, but… I had always thought the baby had died. The pack had burned. We never found the child. We assumed the worst.”
I blinked. My brain was trying to catch up. “You think Lisa is that baby?”
“I don’t think. I know. The blood spell showed me. Lisa is Althea’s daughter.”
I staggered back a step. My legs felt weak.
Valric was silent.
“The name of Lisa’s mother is Althea?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Morana nodded. “She never told anyone. I doubt Lisa even knows who her real mother is. But the magic doesn’t lie.”
I felt like the ground had shifted beneath my feet. Everything I thought I knew… changed.
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“So then… why would Fenric take her? Why go through all this trouble?”
Morana looked at me. Her expression was grim. “Because… Fenric is her father.”
The air left my lungs.
“No,” I whispered.
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She nodded. “Yes. That is why he wanted her. That is why he used magic. He doesn’t just want her. He needs her. For something dark. For something that has to do with her blood.”
I sat down hard. My hands were shaking.
Valric finally spoke. He has her. And he has a plan. We’re running out of time.
“We have to go,” I said. “Now.”
Morana stood. “Not yet. I need to prepare. This kind of forest… it will be warded. You can’t just walk in with claws and teeth. You need something more. You need magic and
protection.”
I stood too. “How long?”
“A few hours. But you need rest. You look like death.”
I didn’t care about rest. Lisa was alive. But she was in the hands of something…someone
dark.
“We leave at first light,” I said. “No matter what.”
Morana nodded. “Then may the Moon Goddess watch over us all.”
I looked at the silver bowl again. Smoke still curled from it.
And all I could think was: Lisa, hold on. I’m coming.
Even if your father is a monster.
Even if the world burns to stop me.
I am coming.
<Chapter 108
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Chapter 108
