Chapter 13

"We need to rest," Callan shouted over the air, voicing what we were all not willing to say. To take a break and rest was to let more time go by with Lily trapped. We"d been flying for twenty hours, just under halfway into our journey, and the fatigue was starting to show. We tried to nap as best we could, but slumping forward with your head on your chest was never a comfortable position.

"I"m fine!" Nia called back, her hands glowing blue as she reached out toward Varus, energizing the tired beast as we hovered in the air. Her voice had been steady, but her hands betrayed her, a slight tremor beginning to surface. I frowned, a thought flitting around my mind, just on the edges of my grasp, but I couldn"t quite catch it. I strained, mentally reaching out for it, but it always danced just out of reach. Coolness trickled through me, Callan"s power flowing through our bond, making me gasp quietly. Luckily the group couldn"t hear me, and if Varus did, he gave no indication. And then suddenly, I knew what to do.

Frowning, I reached a hand out toward Nia. With Varus on the receiving end of her healing, we were so close that I was able to easily touch her wrist, ignoring her shocked wince as I startled her.

"Trust me," I told her. Closing my eyes, I coaxed my power forward, more docile and calm than I"d ever seen it. My power flowed with my mood, and in this moment, I was grateful for it, only needing a small amount to accomplish what I wanted. I urged the energy down my arm and out my hand, willing it to go not at Nia, but through Nia. My power obeyed like an old friend, coursing into my friend who gave me a surprised look, her hands glowing brighter as they healed Varus. I took my hand away when the color returned to her face, warming through the chill that riding induced.

"How did you do that?" Callan asked from behind me, dumbfounded.

"I remembered," I told him truthfully. I"d come to the sudden clarity and understanding that with a small touch, I could give Nia the energy she needed to refill her powers. I didn"t know the limits of it, but it seemed to work very well.

"I thought you couldn"t get your memories back," Nia said with a frown, motioning Verdan to take her place next to Aura so she could be healed as well. Exhaustion was set into the pagu"s body language as she chugged her way up to position. I looked to Oliver, who only frowned.

"Me too."

The piercing screamjolted me out of my sleep, and I would have fallen out of the saddle if I wasn"t strapped in, Callan"s protective hands only inches from my hips at all times in case something happened. To conserve on magic, Varus wasn"t holding us in, and sleeping was a precarious activity.

"Nia, wake up!" Oliver shouted, and I looked around, helpless, only able to watch as he shook her awake. She resisted, taking so long to awaken that I worried she was dead, somehow attacked even though we were high in the air.

"Lily!" she choked out, her chest heaving as she fought to catch her breath. Sweat beaded on her brow, a strange sight given how cold it was up on the pagu. I"d dressed smart, layering three long-sleeved thermal shirts Nia had tossed my way, the downy material magically reinforced to retain warmth, but my teeth still chattered, my lips chapped and numb. "They"re torturing her," Nia blurted, her eyes frantic and wild.

"It was just a dream," Oliver said soothingly, his hand gently patting her back with a tired hand.

"She looked right at me," her voice wavered, looking the most rattled I had ever seen her. Nia was usually all calm composure and occasional rage. Fear was rare for her. "They were burning her, shocking her in an iron cell. Your family was all there," Nia snarled, a little too harshly, and it made me flinch. I swallowed the retort that climbed up my throat. "It felt so real, like I was right in the room with them. She recognized me." A tear leaked from Nia"s eye, rolling down her cheek in a wide streak.

Oliver and I traded a look, our thoughts clear on our faces. Callan and I had once had a dream that went very similarly, and it was a product of our mate bond.

"I believe you," I told her finally. If they were true mates, we may be able to use their bond to our advantage, if we could figure out how to get it to trigger. There was no thread connecting them that I"d seen like the one between Callan and me. "If you dream of her again, let us know. And try to stay in it. If it"s really her, maybe she"ll give you some information that would be helpful."

Nia stared at me for a moment, calming when she realized I did, in fact, believe her. More at ease, she shifted straight into her saddle as we continued on our journey. We"d almost made it, only a few hours left according to Finn. I was grateful; constantly boosting Nia had begun to drain my energy, and I was craving the feel of bed sheets beneath me. Or a cold cave floor, I"d take whatever I could get.

The time passed quickly and smoothly. We"d considered the pagu"s energy, but we hadn"t realized what sitting clenched against a large animal for two days straight would feel like. The only times we"d gone to ground were for bathroom breaks.

My shifter healing kept me intact, but my entire body ached from head to toe. I wasn"t sure when we landed if I"d ever be able to walk again with how stiff and cold my limbs were. Under the cloak of night, we finally reached the tunnel entrance, the rhythmic beat of the pagu"s wings the only sound as we coasted, landing with a heavy thud on the ground. Varus"s legs trembled slightly, his wings hanging weakly by his sides. The moons cast their glow across the expanse of forest we now stood in, illuminating the high peaks ominously.

Eldrin dismounted first, his feet planting confidently on the soil below. Finn slid down right behind him, his legs stuttering a bit before they steadied, flashing me a clumsy grin. Callan dismounted behind me, his hands encircling my hips as he helped me off. The urge to complain was strong, but for once, I just let him help me, grateful for his support on my unsteady legs. Connecting with the ground again sent pinpricks of pain radiating up my body, my teeth clanking together as I grimaced.

"You good?" Callan"s concerned voice wrapped around me. It was nice not having to shout at each other anymore, heat slowly returning to my tired limbs. I shrugged him off, stubbornness making me stand tall on my own two feet. "I"ll be fine."

Finn surveyed the area with sharp eyes, his gaze landing on a particularly dense section of forest trees, their trunks strong, thick, and impossibly wide. "It"s here. We can make camp for the night once we get inside." His eyes darted to Oliver, who was helping support Nia with his arm as she begrudgingly leaned on him for support.

We followed Finn deeper into the forest, the pagu moving carefully so as not to bump into the trees with their larger forms. After a few minutes, we came to a stop in front of a tree that was much larger than the rest. Its wide, sweeping branches stretched far and wide, entangling with other trees to the point that I couldn"t tell which branches belonged to which tree. The trunk of this tree was as wide as several car lengths, towering over us ominously.

Finn nodded to Eldrin, who stepped forward, his arms coming up confidently in front of him, his angular fingers shaping into a clawed position as they shook slightly with the effort. Nothing happened for a moment, but then the bark of the tree began to warp and shift, slowly peeling off and out, like a door carved from the wood itself. It opened wide, the entrance just barely tall enough for Callan to fit through.

We turned to the pagu, saying our goodbyes. They would make camp here, staying in the general vicinity, close enough that Nia and Eldrin would be able to keep contact with them most of the way through, in case we needed them. The range a pagu could stay in contact with their rider was pretty far, but being underground complicated things a little bit, especially if the prison had wards that prohibited them from speaking through their minds.

Once we got Lily, the goal was to just portal out, but just in case, we stationed the pagu by the entrance as our backup plan. "Stay close," Finn instructed, his voice low but clear. "These tunnels haven"t been used for a very long time."

"I thought you were familiar with all the tunnels?" Callan demanded.

"I"m very familiar with the tunnels, panther," Finn moved into the space, beckoning us to follow suit as he moved. Oliver held a hand up, lighting a small fireball in his hand and sending it to trail ahead of us, illuminating as much of the space as he could. "That doesn"t mean that every tunnel is patrolled. Being so close to Primoris means I rarely station people in these tunnels unless absolutely necessary. It"s been many long years since someone has been through here. A little alertness couldn"t hurt."

That shut Callan up, his emerald gaze darting around as we spread into the space. The tunnel looked much like what we"d seen the last time we"d ventured down, a sloping hill that branched off into two separate directions. Finn strode confidently to the right, and we followed, the high ceilings giving us enough clearance as we moved through. "I hate being in these tunnels," Callan told me.

"It"s only temporary," I reminded him, rolling my eyes at his grumpiness after being in the tunnel for only a few minutes. I hoped the journey didn"t stretch on too long. Firstly because I wanted to get Lily back as soon as possible, but also because I may have to kill him if he was going to complain the whole time and irritate the shit out of me.

One by one, we followed Finn deeper into the tunnel, down a steep hill that told me we were officially under the earth now. The air grew cooler as we moved deeper, the silence of the tunnel only broken by the soft echoes of our footsteps. The walls were rough, not nearly as molded as the previous tunnels we took.

It wasn"t long before our pace slowed, our muscles aching and our breathing coming in shorter puffs as exhaustion set in. Nia was moving at barely more than a shuffle, Oliver and Eldrin helping to keep her going. Finally, Finn halted, raising a hand to stop our progress as he peered into a wider section of the tunnel. The natural stone formed a sort of alcove, creating a semblance of an open space in the confines of the underground, enough space for us to make camp and rest before we continued on.

"We"ll stay here for the night," he announced, his voice echoing slightly off the rough walls. Oliver pulled some abandoned torches off the walls of the alcove, lighting them with his magic and placing them back in their holders. Someone had clearly made camp here before, even if it had been a long time since.

Callan immediately patrolled the perimeter, hands lightly touching the stone and checking around corners before he finally settled. Oliver seemed to be on the same train of thought, and he removed two small black orbs from his bag, placing them at the outside edges of the alcove.

"What is that?" I questioned.

"Portable wards," he said quietly, not needing to speak loud in the silence of the tunnel. "Much easier to put in place than spelling them. They won"t stop the Queen if she wanted to barge through them, but they will hide us from sight if anyone happens to pass by."

"Only a very select few people know about these tunnels," Finn scoffed.

"Including the Queen. You"d do well to remember that she intercepted us last time, in Primoris," Oliver"s eyes were sharp, calculating.

"We closed that network," Finn added, running a hand through his silver hair. "Even if they tried to explore those tunnels, we collapsed them. It will never get them to where we are now." Relief flooded through me. I didn"t want to have to sleep with one eye open to make sure she wasn"t trying to sneak up on us while we were passed out.

"Get some sleep," Callan said to the group, taking up a post at the entrance to the tunnel. "We should still keep watch just in case. I"ll take first watch," he declared, his protective instincts in full force despite the visible weariness that betrayed him.

"I"ll join you." Oliver moved with Callan, both men making as comfortable a perch as could be managed as they devolved into hushed conversation, speaking low enough that even with my shifter hearing, I couldn"t make it out. The rest of us piled around, using our clothes and small blankets we had been able to fit in our packs to make the best semblance of a bed we could muster. Nia fell asleep almost instantly, the steady rise and fall of her chest only punctuated by a random snore here and there.

"A half-day"s journey and we should be close enough to breach the prison walls," Finn said, and I turned my head, craning to look at him where we lay in the semi-darkness. A mini-tornado swirled above him as he traced his finger in the air, miming the movements absentmindedly as his magic obeyed.

His eyes darted toward mine, giving me a small smile as he did, a dimple appearing in his cheek that I"d never noticed before. "When we were kids, you used to chase me all over the royal castle. You said you wanted to catch the wind." A soft laugh burst from him at the memory, and sadness seeped through me. I"d never be able to remember those memories that he seemed so fond of.

"Did I catch it?"

"Not even close," he grinned. "Even when you"d cheat and throw little bolts of lightning at me."

"I cheated?"

"It was rarer for you to not cheat," he remembered. "You were quite the troublemaker."

"That . . . sounds about right."

It was always jarring to me every time someone mentioned Olette, and I could identify with her, see the ways in which we were similar. It was strange, tearing at a hole in my heart that I"d never be able to fill.

"Do you ever miss me? Er, miss Olette, I mean?"

He contemplated my question, seriousness brimming under the surface. "In a sense," he replied finally. "Olette was my best friend and understood me in a way that not many did. But that went both ways. I am not so blind that I didn"t also recognize that she was a deeply broken and unhappy individual." I sucked in a breath through my teeth at his honesty but didn"t interrupt. I needed to hear whatever he was willing to share. Deeply broken and unhappy was something I would have used to describe myself as Rowan too, before I"d stumbled upon the pack. Well, before Lexi had run me off the road and tried to kill me, thrusting me into the pack.

"I understand why she did what she did," he continued. "And even though it sucks not having your memories intact and her with me, I think this was for the best." He shifted, the tornado disappearing into nothing as he rolled onto his side to meet my eyes. "I will always be on your side, Rowan. You may go by a different name, but you are still Olette, whether you remember it or not. You"re pretty cool too," he added, his eyes crinkling in the corners as he smiled.

Tears pricked my eyes at his support, and I blinked them back. I couldn"t admit I was soft on the inside; my reputation would be ruined.

Finn"s expression turned thoughtful, his eyes reflecting the torch"s glow as he looked off into the distance. "Sometimes, I think about those days before everything changed. It wasn"t a great life, but it was a life. And I had hope, so much hope. You hated our engagement," he said with a rueful smile, pillowing his head on top of his folded arm as he spoke. "But for me, it was something to hold onto. Cas was always set to rule after the Queen, but in the back of my mind, I"d always hoped we"d find a way and band together to rule instead. A future where maybe, just maybe, we could make a change."

"I don"t want to rule," I said honestly, knowing in my heart that I meant it. Rulers should be mature and wise, and I was neither of those things. I made impulsive decisions and spoke my mind when I shouldn"t. Plus, the idea of an entire race"s fate being in my hands made me want to hurl. How ironic.

"That"s exactly what Olette always said."

"You don"t resent her for the choice she made?"

"No," Finn said firmly. "Life has a way of leading us to where we are supposed to be. And I"ve seen the way you and Callan are together. If Olette hadn"t made the choices she did, I don"t know that you two would have ever gotten to meet. You could have gone your entire lifetime never finding a mate."

"I wouldn"t have known any different," I told him. "We would have gone through with our betrothal, popped out some genetically weird babies, and probably never taken a stand."

"I don"t believe that. You were always a fighter. Normal would have been too complacent for you." He shifted again, lying on his back as he stared at the rocky ceiling. "What you have with Callan is beautiful. I hope someday I find a mate for myself too."

"You will," I told him softly. "I want the portals reopened," I confided in him. It was an idea I"d been playing with in the back of my mind. I hadn"t yet voiced it out loud until now, but if we managed to take Queen Tantaii down, I wanted to fix the bridge between realms. The thought of how many mate pairs might just be found from that alone made me giddy. "Maybe there"s a sassy lion shifter out there waiting for you on the other side." I grinned at the thought, imagining a beautiful redhead yelling at him every time he made a corny joke, little air-wielding fae children laughing as they played with their father on a sandy beach. I could picture it so clearly that I could almost taste the salty air.

Finn smiled slightly. "I hope so. It"s funny, you know? Despite everything, I still believe in fairy tales and happy endings. The idea that there is someone out there for me, even after so many years lived. Seeing you with Callan helps me believe in that."

We drifted into a comfortable silence after that, lost in our own thoughts until sleep finally came to claim him, his soft breaths slowing until I was sure he was fast asleep.

My eyes landed on Callan"s broad back, warmth blooming in my chest at the thought of him. We"d had such a journey to get to where we are now, and I"d never thought in a million years he would end up as my mate. I"d spent so much time with thoughts of him and Lexi in my head, wondering who my mate would be when he"d been right there in front of me the entire time.

My thoughts drifted back to what we would do when this was all over. I wanted him to take the pack; I wanted to live with the Clover pack. Even though there were only a small handful of shifters remaining, that didn"t matter. If anything, that would be better. We"d be able to rebuild from the ground up, build a pack and a life that we could really be proud of. A place where anyone could feel like they belonged and a place where they could be safe to be who they are without worry. And Lily would be right by my side.

Lily. I would not let them take another friend from me. My thoughts drifted to Evie, the sweet eagle shifter who had been Lexi"s last victim in their demented quest to free the Queen from her magical prison. Her body splayed out for the world to see, heart ripped brutally from her chest. A tear slid down my cheek as I remembered her sweet face and gentle soul.

I would never let that happen again.