A Crown Of Fire And Wrath (The Shadow Walkers Saga #5) - Sloane Murphy Page 0,56

in search of a witch.

I heard of a powerful one living in a town not far from our camp, and I’m convinced she is the only one that can help me, before I ruin the lives of everyone around me.

It doesn’t take me long to track her down, witches are a rare commodity, but even humans need healers, especially now with this chaos in their world. They may not believe it is magic, but they sure as hell don’t question the results.

I knock on the door to the wooden house, and wait a moment. The door opens and a young woman with long dark hair and dark skin opens the door. “I have been waiting for you, Shadow Walker. I am not sure I can do what you need.”

“Will you at least try?” I plead. She hesitates but she nods, and steps back from the door, ushering me inside.

“You understand that it may be impossible to undo this once it is done?”

“I cannot live with this guilt. Please. I need to forget,” I practically beg, as tears run down my face.

“The mind is a maze. I cannot guarantee it will work, but I will try to take the pain from you. I cannot erase the memories, but I can lock them away, and the emotions you feel will go with them. I can replace the holes with something else, but are you sure you wish to forget the life that was lost?”

I shake my head, but I know that this is the only way.

“Please. Please make me forget. I cannot go on knowing what I did.” She frowns at me, but nods her head.

“I will try. Lay down over there, and we shall begin.”

I wake up in a cold sweat, panting, my hair stuck to my face. What on earth did I do? How could I have done that? My stomach rolls and I run from the sitting room to the closest bathroom and lose the contents of my stomach.

I was pregnant, and I lost the baby.

Levi’s baby.

And he has no idea.

Guilt creeps up my extremities until it reaches every depth of me and sobs wrack my body.

What have I done?

I scramble from the bathroom, and throw on the first clothes I put my hands on. Anything, just something. I grab a pen and paper and scribble a note to the guys, begging them not to come looking for me. That I’m safe and I’ll be back in a few days. I just need to get the hell away, and there’s only one person I can think of that will understand. I know she will.

I grab the bottle of Morgan’s blood, and the extra vials of mine, just in case they don’t listen and head outside, I try not to wake Fallon as I rush out of the doors. The minute my bare feet touch the grass, I spill my blood with Morgan’s, and say the words I need to open the portal.

It takes three tries to get the words out between the sobs I can’t seem to control, but the minute it opens, I jump through the portal, leaving the shattered remnants of my heart behind me.

Chapter Thirteen

I can barely catch my breath as I stumble into the throne room.

“What the fuck?” Caleb’s cursing reaches me seconds before I’m wrapped in his arms. “What did they do, Mara? I swear to god, I was just starting to like them, but I’ll tear them apart. Every one of them.”

I try to speak, but every emotion I’ve stuffed down for eternity is hammering me all at once. All I can do is cry. We sink to the floor, his arms still around me, and he holds me while I cry.

“Go find Morgan,” Caleb hisses, but I can’t see anyone else, with my head buried in his chest.

“What happened?” Bryce’s voice filters through my sobs but I can’t move from the hold Caleb has on me as I fall apart.

“I have no fucking clue, but you bet your ass I’m cracking skulls. Now go fucking get Morgan. I have a feeling that she’s the reason Mara is here.”

“I’m right there with you, brother. I won’t be long.” The air ripples after Bryce finishes speaking, but I barely feel the tingle on my skin while Caleb rocks me and strokes my hair. The tears won’t stop. I have no idea how to make them stop. No idea how to stop just feeling everything.

The world outside of us disappears as I lose the battle