Chapter Twenty

Pearl

Seeing the once-arrogant alpha-apparent slumped in the corner of the cellar, completely vacant, was disconcerting to say the least. Ledger’s usually bright green eyes were now glazed over like he wasn’t seeing anything. He looked lost. He didn’t even acknowledge that we had entered.

“Has he been like this the whole time?” I asked, alarmed at the state of him. Something was not right here.

“Yes, he hasn’t moved even a little bit.” Deacon stood between Estella and Ledger, like he thought the latter would suddenly wake up and attack.

Nothing like that happened. Estella was watching her nephew with curiosity and a little horror. I couldn’t imagine what she was thinking. This was her sister’s child. He’d obviously been abused his whole life, made to comply with his mother’s influence. There’s no telling how much he suffered over the years.

Taking all of that into account, I doubted that any of us knew the real Ledger. If there was anything left of him.

My arm started to tingle with a slight burning sensation. I sucked in a quick breath, not expecting the sudden feeling.

Rylan whirled around, his steely green eyes searching for danger while I lifted my arm and stared at it. The filigree-like markings pulsed slightly with silvery-white light. I touched my wrist, expecting to feel something, but it didn’t feel any different.

“What’s going on?” He caressed my skin, which increased the burning sensation.

Hissing at the pain, I jerked away. The intense burning stopped when he was no longer in contact.

This is weird.

I’d always associated tingles with Rylan or people I could trust. The burning now at my mate’s touch was terrifying. What did it mean? There was no way that he had done something to make me question my trust in him. So, the tingling and burning must mean something else.

But what?

Estella watched my markings pulsate; her blue eyes full of wonder.

“Your arm reminds me of something,” she said, biting her lip as she considered.

“It does?”

“Yeah.” She reached out to brush her fingers along my skin. The markings rippled up and down at the point of contact. I didn’t feel anything unusual, but the more I looked at it, the more I got the same feeling.

I’ve seen this before.

Like a lightbulb turning on, Estella and I gasped at the same time, our eyes meeting as we both remembered what my markings reminded us of.

“The pool,” we said at the same time.

I gripped my wrist, but the markings didn’t move like they had for Estella. I held it out, nodding my encouragement for her to try once more. Again, the markings rippled and pulsed with light. The same sort of light that had blinded me when I was in the Between.

“What pool?” Deacon and Rylan asked at the same time, their voices equally growly.

“There was a pool in the Between,” I explained, looking from my arm to Estella, an idea forming. “We met in the pool.”

“It always reminded me of liquid moonlight,” Estella said softly, appearing dazed.

“I think I know what’s wrong with Ledger.” I turned back to the corner, where he was slumped. “He’s trapped and needs help finding his way out.”

“He’s trapped in the Between?” Rylan ran a hand through his hair. “Can I guide him back like I did for you?”

It was a valid question, but we didn’t even know for sure if he was in the Between to begin with. Was there a way to access that place since I’d already been there? The thought of returning made my heart skip a beat and my stomach twist. The Between wasn’t a place I ever thought I would revisit, but if Ledger was there, he’d need someone to guide him back like Rylan had done with me.

“I need to go back,” I murmured, the words sending a shiver down my spine.

“What? How?”

“All good questions.” I wracked my brain for answers.

Was it possible to go back to the place where I was neither dead nor alive? Did I have to die again in order to go there? That thought made my stomach churn. Dying the first time was bad enough; I wasn’t eager to repeat the experience.

“I was willing to do just about anything to save my cousin, but now I’m not so sure,” Rylan said honestly.

“I don’t think I have to die again.” I was going for reassurance, but my words just seemed to anger him more. Grey eyes turned green in an instant, and I could feel that he was moments away from grabbing me and dragging me out of here. His cousin be damned.

That wasn’t right though. I knew that Rylan would choose me over his cousin in a heartbeat, but this wasn’t just his cousin anymore. Ledger was part of the pack that we had created.

“Don’t touch me,” I warned him, taking a step away. I wasn’t in any hurry to feel the intense burning again.

“We can try touching him,” Estella suggested, wringing her hands together.

I’d bet money that she was feeling the exact same way I was about the Between. Probably stronger since she’d been there longer than I had. It wasn’t a bad place. It was the thought that, while we were there, we were neither dead nor living that made me wary.

Now would have been a good time for the Moon Spirit to show up and tell us exactly what we needed to do.

I waited for a beat, crossing my fingers and praying that the Moon Spirit would hear my pleas and take pity on me. Instead, the sound of a wolf chuckling resounded in my thoughts. ‘You have everything you need. Trust yourself.

Did I? All I had was a malfunctioning arm, my mate who was seconds away from locking me away, a second in command who seemed to be thinking the same thing as my mate, and Estella.

My arm ramped up in the tingling sensation, making the rest of me vibrate.

There’s my sign.

Estella’s suggestion about touching Ledger was as good of an idea as any to try when we didn’t know what the hell we were doing. Winging it sounded good in theory, but not knowing anything else was just icing on the cake.

I took a breath in through my nose then exhaled out of my mouth. If there was a chance to save Ledger, I had to try at the very least. He didn’t deserve any of this. I’d never been his biggest fan, but he was pack and part of my mate’s family. I had to do this.

I stepped toward him, convinced that he would come to his senses at any moment and greet me with a sneer. He didn’t react, but from the corner of my eye, I caught movement.

“Rylan,” I said, warning clear in my tone.

He literally had access to my thoughts. He knew everything that I’d been thinking, and I could feel his reluctant agreement. His instincts were yelling at him to protect me, even from a pack member. This wasn’t ideal, but it needed to be done. So, he could either get on board or keep quiet.

Lifting my left hand, I readied myself to place my palm on Ledger’s head. Estella grabbed my other hand, her touch making my markings ripple, just like the pool had done when we shifted positions.

The closer I got to Ledger, the more intense the vibrating became. I closed my eyes, then with deliberate slowness, placed my hand on his head.

Nothing happened.

I closed my eyes tighter, expecting to feel some sort of zing or spark. Something to let me know that this craziness had worked. I waited a full minute, getting more frustrated with every second that passed. I huffed, annoyed that it wasn’t working and ready to try something else.

But when I opened my eyes, I was met with darkness. I blinked, which told me that my eyes were indeed open. Everything was utter blackness.

Did it work?

It must have. I couldn’t feel anything here. Even my bonds were quiet, like I’d flipped a switch and made everything pause. I wasn’t in a pool, so I knew this wasn’t the Between, but what else could it be?

A sinister chuckle echoed around the space, causing goosebumps to erupt on my skin. My wolf pushed forward, lending me her sight and strength. I stood frozen in place for what felt like an eternity while my heartbeat thundered in my ears. I exhaled slowly, trying to calm myself before I tried to find Estella.

Suddenly, light pulsed from my arm, giving me a quick glimpse at where I was. It appeared to be a tunnel made out of stone. The light receded, turning everything black once more.

I shook my arm, hoping that it would somehow get the light to come back on. Nothing happened. My frustration grew by the second.

My wolf scented the air. ‘This doesn’t smell like a cave.’

I fought the urge to slap my forehead. We were in Ledger’s head, so naturally the tunnel wouldn’t smell like a normal one. I couldn’t explore this place without light, so I lifted my arm and turned my thoughts to the Moon Spirit. We had a connection, and I was ninety-five percent sure that if I reached for it my arm would respond.

The markings flickered. I concentrated, filling my mind with thoughts of the Moon Spirit. I imagined it lending me its light so I could see the space around me. Slowly, my arm began to glow. After several minutes of concentration, it held a solid silvery-white light. I could see the tunnel again but there was no sign of Estella.

With deliberate steps, I walked closer to the tunnel wall. I studied its surface, confirming that it was made of stone. I looked around, finding a dead end behind me while the passage continued forward for several feet. The light from my arm could only reach a certain distance before darkness started again.

There was one way for me to continue. I took a step forward, sucking in a breath when my arm tingled pleasantly. Taking a step back, it stopped.

All right, so my markings were like a compass.

I walked forward, letting the light illuminate the space before continuing. Progress was slow, but after a few minutes of walking and nothing jumping out, my confidence grew.

I picked up my pace to a fast walk, my left arm lit up and out in front of me so I could see. The farther I walked, the cooler it became. It was subtle at first, but the temperature gradually decreased until it was definitely noticeable. That concerned me, but I wasn’t entirely sure why. My wolf twitched inside of me, anxious about this place and what we could be walking into.

The tunnel made a sharp turn to the right. So far, it had been one long continuous tunnel without any curves or deviations. Pushing past my trepidation, I strolled purposely through the curved part and then stepped out of the tunnel into a massive room.

My arm didn’t have enough umph to light up the room, but the lack of walls surrounding the space told me that it was definitely an open area.

My heart pounded in my chest as I hesitated, not knowing if I should continue into the room, where I’d be vulnerable to attack, or explore the edges before moving forward.

My wolf still didn’t smell anything concerning, so I took a chance and stepped out into the room. When nothing happened, I took another, then another.

Five steps later, I stopped. The edge of something reflected my light. It appeared to be made of metal, which was disconcerting since everything else had been rough stone. I drew closer, using every ounce of caution I possessed while my wolf readied herself for a fight.

The metal edges morphed into something bigger, with thick metal bars. Curious, I walked around it, finding that my suspicion was correct. It was a cage. Made to imprison a gigantic creature.

A whimpering sound reached my ears. I held my arm aloft so that I could see more of the space inside the cage. In the middle sat a boy, curled up in a ball, lying on the cold hard floor. I heard a sniffle and realized that he was crying.

My heart clenched as I took in the massive enclosure that imprisoned a small boy around the age of eight or nine, if I had to guess. I circled it again, looking for a door that would let me in, but there was nothing.

“Hey,” I said quietly, not wanting to startle him. “Are you okay?”

He looked fine, dressed in clothes that appeared to be thick and warm. The boys sniffling paused when I spoke. Resting on his knees, his head moved like he was trying to get a glimpse of me.

Green irises met my gaze, and the recognition hit me like a punch to the stomach, stealing my breath away.

“Rylan?” I asked, knowing a split second later that the boy was not my mate but someone who looked like him. “Ledger?”

The boy lifted his head, both eyes now fixed on me, a look of surprise on his face.

“Ledger, it’s me, Pearl.” I smiled.

“I don’t know you,” the boy Ledger said as the ground trembled under my feet, making my heart lurch.

“That’s okay,” I reassured him, keeping my voice calm and even so I didn’t upset him more. “I’m a friend, and I’m here to help you.”

“Help me?” he repeated, his face blank and full of confusion.

“Yes.” I reached through the bars, my arm growing brighter as my heart overflowed with empathy for the small, scared boy. “I can help get you out of here.”

“Can you help my friend?” He wiped his nose on the sleeve of his shirt.

“Of course,” I agreed without thinking.

“Can you get him out first?”

“Uh, yeah. Where is he?” I looked around for another cage.

“He’s through that doorway there.” The boy pointed into the darkness behind him.

I walked around the cage until I was facing the direction the boy had indicated. I lifted my arm, sending the light from my markings into the dark space. On the very edge of where my light could reach, I saw a doorway made of stone.

Squinting, I tried to see what was in there, but the darkness was too thick for my eyes to penetrate.

Something small touched my other arm, startling me.

“You have to help him,” the boy implored, his hand squeezing my arm.

“I… I’ll do my best,” I promised, patting his hand.

“He needs me,” Ledger whispered, tears gathering in his eyes as he stared up at me.

“Don’t worry. I’ll find him.”