The world as she knew it was over.
She was at war again.
Only this time, Molly didn’t want to survive it with the knowledge Hayden was gone.
Chapter Twelve
“It’s time.” Hayden looked up from the book he was reading as Ethern strode purposefully into his cave. Jessica followed behind him, her face as white as a crisp, new sheet of paper.
“What’s happened?” Hayden questioned and shut his book, placing it down on the floor.
“The humans have declared war. It’s all over the television. They’re calling all supernaturals to present themselves for cataloging. I’ve heard rumors we’ll be sent to live on a continent away from humans. They’re just working out where.”
Hayden had known this day would come, but it didn’t stop the icy cold shiver that ran over his body. It was finally here. The day of judgement—the reason he’d touched the bones in the first place.
His first thought went to Molly and how she was feeling if she was watching the television and seeing what was happening. He just had to hope she was still hidden away in her cave for safety. The rest of her pack wouldn’t be. He’d discovered a lot about them from talking to Jessica, and he knew the witch was caring for the lady she affectionately called Miss Molly.
“Does the girl know?” Hayden questioned.
“Selene?” Jessica replied and shook her head. “No, we need to go and get her. I feel sick.”
Ethern wrapped his arms around the woman he’d fallen in love with. Hayden felt a pang of jealousy.
“I want you to come with us, Hayden.” Ethern informed him.
Hayden’s initial thought was one of reluctance. He’d spent far too long in dark caves and dungeons—going outside was foreign to him, but his greatest worry was the risk of bumping into Molly.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“It’s time, Hayden. You don’t have to fear anything. This is why you were created,” Ethern offered solemnly.
“It would be better if you brought the girl here,” Hayden suggested.
“Destiny, Hayden, tells me you have to go to the mansion. You’ll be needed there,” Ethern added reluctantly.
Jessica looked up at him with her eyes wide open.
“What do you know?” the witch queried immediately.
“Another vision?” Hayden asked.
Ethern shut his eyes, and Hayden knew he was becoming lost in a memory of something from his past. Ethern was no longer a multi-shifter, so he wouldn’t have visions from the original seer.
“Please, Hayden,” Ethern opened his eyes and pleaded with him again.
Hayden knew he couldn’t refuse. He held out his arm, and Jessica took hold of his shirt sleeve, worry etched all over her face.
“Is she in her cave?” Hayden needed to know before he did this. “Is she safe?”
“As far as I know, she is. I haven’t been home for a few days. I’ve been helping Ethern with various things.”
“Double the protection around her, please.”
“I will.” Jessica smiled up at him, and the next thing he knew, they’d disappeared into the ether.
Hayden shut his eyes, and when he opened them again, he stood in a lounge filled to the brim with people. He could tell just by the scent in the air they were a mixture of humans and shifters. The room was just as he’d imagined it from the stories he’d made up in his mind to get through the long hours of loneliness in the dungeons of the Reichstag. Old in style but with modern conveniences—it felt loved with lots of chairs for all the people who belonged to the Glacial Blood Pack. It felt instantly like home, Molly’s home.
In front of Hayden stood a man that he suspected from the scent was a polar bear shifter. His stance was superior to the others in the room, and Hayden knew instantly this was the great alpha Kas Lincoln that he’d heard so much about.
“Ethern? Jessica?” Kas spoke. “What’s going on?”
“It’s time,” Ethern replied.
Kas’ head instantly went to where a heavily pregnant woman stood within the arms of a large looking man with gray flecks in his hair—a snow leopard shifter, Hayden sensed. He checked his memory for the man’s name…Brayden, and the woman with him must be Selene. Hayden had learned to trust the power of the dragon to guide him down the right path. It had only taken him fifty-two years. Selene wouldn’t have that time. But, if the first seer’s visions were correct, she wouldn’t need it.
“What’s going on?” Brayden questioned.
“Selene was reborn for a reason, and now is the time for her to fulfill her destiny. She is the one chosen to save our way of life,” Jessica explained as she walked over to her friends.
Hayden watched intently, the hairs on the back of his neck pricking up. He felt something…confusion shot through him. He couldn’t afford to get flustered. Especially not inside a building he would demolish if the dragon within him surfaced. He took a few deep breaths and calmed his senses, tempering down the wild beast inside him.
“Multi-shifters speak in destinies. Your birth was foretold to Ethern through visions from a seer,” Jessica explained to her friend. “You are the only one who can save us now Selene. Please, you have to come with us.”
Jessica reached her hand out to the pregnant woman who held her fist close to her chest. She clearly had no intention of going anywhere. Hayden watched as Selene’s body changed from that of a human to the form of a supernatural with magical abilities. The child inside her was protecting her.
Brayden pushed Selene behind him.
“Kas? Mum?” Brayden questioned. The polar bear shifter and a human woman next to him looked on worriedly. “What’s happening?”
“It’s all right,” the woman reassured Brayden.
Hayden searched his memory for her name…Jane. She was human, or was she? There was something different about her. He couldn’t figure out what it was. It was of no consequence now. He needed to persuade Selene to come with him.
That feeling had returned again—the confusion in his head. He placed his hand to his temple.
“Are you all right?” Ethern questioned.
Hayden felt his eyes flicker between human and lizard.
“What is he?” one of the other women in the room questioned.
All eyes turned on him. Hayden felt his chest tighten. He was starting to lose it. He had to return to the cave—he was safer there. Something wasn’t right. He felt it.
He felt…
Eyes.
All of them were on him now, but there was one pair.
They belonged to someone who knew him.
Molly.
He spun around. There on the couch with her eyes wide open and focused intently on him was the woman he hadn’t stopped loving for all these years. She was here, not in her cave.
The room fell silent as she used the stick at her side to get up from her seat. He winced at the loss of her leg. Hayden had heard about her devastating injury, and he’d caused considerable damage to the Reichstag as he’d fought the urge to go to her.
She cocked her head to the side as she took him in.
“I…I…” Molly stammered.
Hayden tried to say something, but he couldn’t. He wanted to swoop her up into his arms, but his vision blurred between dragon and then human again.