Ruins of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #3) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,6

her granddaughter? No, that was a design in play, a well thought out plan to throw me off.

Brander and I paused as downed trees came into view. I noted the exposed roots pulled from the ground as if the wind or something else had knocked the trees over. Exhaling, I slid my attention around the forest before nodding to the other trail.

“That’s strange,” Brander stated, pointing to the trees behind the fallen ones that were still standing and undamaged.

“Be vigilant. Spread out into fighting formation and be silent.” I looked back at the trail, frowning as it occurred to me that we might have been called away so Aria could escape.

Anger rushed to the forefront of my mind at the thought her family would be so evil as to murder thousands of people to free her. If anyone could have accomplished that spell to bring down an army of warriors, it would have been Hecate witches, an entire coven of them to be exact. Aurora had ulterior motives. That much I’d discovered in Haven Falls. She’d planned on bringing the girls back into the Nine Realms, but why?

She’d spoken about it openly to the alphas. Aurora had asked them to return with her, yet she hadn’t mentioned it to Freya’s daughters, who she’d raised as her own. What were her motives? It was unheard of for Hecate witches to sacrifice for their sisters or offspring. I didn’t trust them, not one fucking bit. Aurora fed Aria’s mind with knowledge, while Aria fed her mind folklore, legends, and fantasy books.

Aurora had hidden Aria’s scent, knowing she wasn’t meant to be among those in the mortal realm. Aria had been a ticking time bomb set to go off, but Aurora had allowed Aria to remain where she could have slaughtered an entire race of innocent people. That didn’t speak sweet mother figure to me, and I didn’t assume she wasn’t aware of Aria’s father’s identity.

We moved back onto the road, and I stopped dead in my tracks, staring at the sight before my eyes. Blood turned to ice in my veins as Killian lifted his gaze, his hands covered in blood. He lowered his eyes and bowed his head where bodies lay ready for burial. I remained frozen in place, unwilling to see who we’d lost.

“Who fucking did this?” I demanded.

“Witches,” he swallowed.

“I’ll fucking kill Aria myself,” I growled.

“I wouldn’t be too quick to kill Aria. I don’t think they intended her to live for long,” Killian stated. “She was fighting with us against them, but we got overpowered, and something prevented us from calling our creatures to the surface. My guess is magic. They dragged Aria into the forest as I stayed to defend Lore and Greer. She didn’t go willingly.”

“Lore and Greer?” I asked, frozen in place.

“Alive. They’re wounded but alive.”

“How bad?” Brander asked, dismounting to walk toward the dead soldiers.

I dismounted to join him until a noise started, stopping me in my tracks. The hair on my neck rose as I turned in the sound’s direction. My heart pounded against my ribs, painfully mirroring the need to rush blindly toward the noise.

“What the fuck is that?” Brander groaned, his teeth pushing through his gums as his claws did the same.

A quick glance toward Killian showed he’d fared no better. Everything within me demanded I go to it, that I follow the sorrowful howling coming from off in the distance. It was a broken wail, one that begged to be answered. My soul cried to go, and before I’d given the order, we all rushed toward our waiting mounts.

“You feel that?” Killian asked as he turned his horse, facing the forest that loomed endlessly before us.

“To my fucking soul,” I whispered. “It’s Aria. I know it is. I can feel her fear.”

“It could be a trap,” Brander pointed out, and we all turned toward him.

“It could be, but we’re ready for whatever they try to use against us,” I snarled, unable to fight the beast within me, demanding I rush to her.

“Then why the fuck are we on horses?” Killian asked, and we dismounted, pulling magic to us as we became one with the jetstream.

“Let’s go witch hunting, brothers.”

Chapter Three

Aria

Someone dragged me into the forest and tossed me onto something hard and unforgiving. The dark bag over my head prevented me from seeing what was happening around me. My body lay prone, unmoving as I pretended to be beneath the witch’s spell. Grunting sounded, and the whinnying of horses filled