CHAPTER TWENTY
Still feeling weak, Willow piled into a van with Lex, Chase, Michael, Dex, and Gabe. Since Michael was blood-connected to Samuel, they could keep watch on where he was, to be sure he didn't know personally what they were up to. They couldn't know if he had more help spying on them, but it was the best they had. Lex insisted that Dex and Gabe come, and to be honest, Willow agreed.
What they were doing wasn't the safest thing. They didn't have a clue what the hell they were walking into, and having a bit more backup, was always a good idea. Especially with Willow not at her best.
She wasn't about to admit that she wasn't quite ready to be out there. The ritual prep took more out of her than she anticipated. Newborn blood was always the strongest with magic. It was the reason dark covens used it in sacrifice. She couldn't help but wonder if that was what these babies were wanted for. Though she wasn't about to share that in this crowd. She was sure Michael had already considered the same.
What could be stronger than the blood of twin newborns, spawned from a blood vampire and part nephilim? Willow shuddered at the thought that some sickos would carve up those babies for magic. She's seen their little faces, all chubby and cute. They were little angels. Even Willow had to admit that much.
She glanced over at Chase, lost in his own worry, and wondered what he thought of having children. She'd never considered being a mother. Not once. Ever. Until she saw those little faces with Chase by her side. Everything was different now. She only hoped he felt the same.
Willow stuck her head out the open window and let the cool air chill her face. She needed to focus, not think about feelings and babies. What she needed was to pick up on the scent, hone in on that faint hum that connected the baby's blood to her own.
It was there.
Distant, but she could still feel it. That was a good thing. It meant that at least one of the babies were alive. She couldn't be sure how Ari and the other baby were, but she knew that at least the one who's blood she'd used for the ritual, was still breathing. At least for now.
"Head toward the forest." Willow waved her hand in the direction they needed to go.
Gabe was driving and she and Chase sat in the front seat beside him. Lex sat in back huddled between Michael and Dex. He hadn't said a word since they'd left. She couldn't even imagine what the poor guy was going through.
If Willow had lost Michael, she wasn't sure how she'd handle it. They'd been separated so much already. Just the thought, brought up panic from her dark recesses. For a moment, the idea of losing Chase flashed through her mind. She immediately pushed it back, not wanting to even consider what she would do if that were to become reality.
Willow nudged Chase off. She couldn't think clearly with him touching her. She needed a sharp mind to find Ari and the babies. If she didn't, if she failed, it would destroy Chase. She couldn't let that happen.
The hum grew as they headed closer. There was no more road and the van bounced around over rocks and tree branches. Soon they would have to walk because the terrain would force them to. Willow was still tired. She wasn't looking forward to walking. It took all her energy just to stay focused on the connection, to find the babies. She wasn't sure how she would manage walking as well.
Once she closed her eyes and breathed in the outside air, she felt the baby. Not just the hum of the connection, but the actual baby whose blood burned in her veins. Because really, that was how it felt.
"I can feel him. Stop the van."
"Him?" Alexander sat forward. "Who?"
"Your son."
The van came to a slow stop and Willow jumped out. The males followed behind her, but it was irrelevant to her task. She followed the way the baby led her. He was crying. She could feel it, though not yet hear him. He wasn't close. They would need to search.
Cold.
Pain.
Hunger.
Willow shivered from the signals she got from the poor thing. She didn't share any of it with the others. Lex didn't need to know his mate and babies were suffering. It wouldn't help him, or her. She needed him focused, too. While she searched for the baby she was connected to, she had to count on the males to keep her safe.
There was no way to know how many were guarding Ari and the babies. No way to know what magic might be in place. She couldn't worry about any of that. If she let her attention slip, they may not make it to them in time, and that would be on her.
It would be better if they could use their full speed, but Willow couldn't keep track of the connection that way. She had to take her time, go slow, even though it was killing her. She just hoped it wouldn't kill the helpless baby she was now connected to. He was weak, barely able to cry anymore.
They walked into the night, illuminated by the light of the moon, enhanced by their natural senses. Though Willow and Michael didn't have the same visual acuity as the vampires, they managed just fine in the low light.
The closer they came to the baby, the louder the hum in Willow's ears became. The baby was no longer crying, but she could feel his sorrow from within. He needed comfort. The fact that he wasn't currently able to obtain any from his twin or mother, concerned Willow, almost enough to mention it out loud.
Almost.
After what seemed like forever, Willow stopped. They were close, but there was nothing around them. No cabin, no shelter, no vehicle. There didn't seem to be any place someone could be hiding Ari and the babies. Willow was starting to think she'd been wrong.
Maybe the magic used on them had been stronger than she realized. Willow didn't know any spell to override the ritual she'd done, but that didn't mean it wasn't possible. There were older, more experienced witches out there, who knew things she and Michael did not.
This ritual though, it should have been untouchable. She'd learned it from a very old, very wise witch, who assured her that it would always work. Of course, it didn't mean the old hag wasn't wrong. She just hadn't thought she was.
They continued, following Willow, in the direction that the hum brought her. If she was wrong, if all this was for nothing, she'd find out soon enough. Then she'd have to tell Lex and Chase that they'd wasted all that time wandering around the woods, while who knew what was happening to Ari and those defenseless babies.
The hum had become a scream in her ears and Willow wanted to stab out her eardrums to make it stop. They were close, so close that they had to be practically on top of them.
"Is it possible there's something underground?" Willow turned to Gabe, who tended to know everything about everything.
"Underground? Why?"
Willow shook her head and scanned their immediate area. "I just… he's here, but he's not."
"What the hell does that mean?" Lex grabbed her shoulders and shook her. Chase growled, but made no move to step between them. She was grateful for it. She needed to handle this herself.
"Alexander." Dex put his hand on Lex's shoulder and he immediately eased off.
"The hum is strongest here. It means the baby is here, but I don't see them. Maybe there is something underground?"
Lex released her and looked around. He squatted down and felt the Earth beneath them, listening for several moments.
"I don't sense anyone down there."
"You might not if they're using magic," Michael said. "If they're cloaked, which I'm guessing they are, it might be that only Willow will get any sort of a feel for them, and only for the baby who's blood was used for the ritual."
"I can definitely feel him. He's so close." Willow took a few steps and spun around. There was nothing but trees, weeds, and the chirping of crickets. Well, besides the deafening screech of the connection with the baby.
She took a few more steps and the sound grew. She hadn't thought it was possible to get louder, but she'd been wrong. A few more steps, and it was enough to drop her to her knees into the dirt. She clamped her hands over her ears and groaned.
"Look around. He's close."
The vampires scattered the immediate area, searching for something, anything, including hidden ways into the ground. Michael stayed with Willow, rubbing his hand over her back for comfort. It provided none, but it was nice that he tried.
After a few moments, Willow had Michael help her to her feet and she stumbled around to join the search. She wasn't much help. She tripped, catching herself on a thick tree. She scraped her hand on the rough bark. Her blood dripped down her wrist. It was the last thing she noticed before everything went black.
***
Chase wasn't sure exactly why Willow had passed out, but he knew the ritual had taken a lot from her. Too much. He also knew she'd done it more for him than for any other reason. Now there they were, stumbling around the woods in the dark, while she put herself at risk further, and he couldn't even stay by her side when she'd needed it most.
Ari and the babies lives were at risk. She would understand, but it didn't make Chase feel any less shitty for not keeping her safe.
He cradled her head in his hands watching as her eyes fluttered open.
"Did you find them?" Her voice was soft, weak, and she grabbed her head as if she got a sudden awful headache.
"Not yet. We will. If you say they're here, then I'm sure—"
She held one finger up to his lips and closed her eyes.
"What if I was wrong?" She opened her eyes and looked up at him. "What if some other magic led us here instead and they aren't here?"
Chase shifted her head so it rested in his lap. "You weren't wrong. We'll find them."
"But what if…"
She was cut off by Gabe's yelling. It made no sense to make so much noise out there, when they could be faced with unknown enemies, but there the idiot was, calling everyone over.
Willow pushed up to her feet, despite Chase trying to insist that she rest longer, and made her way over to the circle of vampires. Beneath a tree, in a small hollow, was a bundle of blankets. No one had the nerve to check it. It wasn't moving, or making noise. It was still. Far too still.
"It's him." Willow came forward, on unsteady feet. "Pick him up, for Christ's sake."
Lex looked at Chase with wide eyes and Chase was sure he could feel exactly what was inside him. Chase nodded, trying to pass him whatever strength he had, to step forward and pick up the bundle.
With a slow breath, Lex bent down and snatched up the bundle of blankets. There wasn't a sound to be heard, not even a breath, or the sound of the forest. It was complete silence. Time seemed to slow as Lex unwrapped the blankets and uncovered a tiny baby. His baby. His son.
The baby wasn't moving and Chase wasn't even sure if he was alive. Lex bit into his finger with one sharp fang and dripped the blood into the baby's mouth. After a few seconds, the baby started sucking, and the group let out a breath.
After Lex pulled his finger from the baby's mouth, he started crying. It wasn't until Chase turned around to tell Willow that she'd been right, that she found the baby, that he realized she was on the ground.
"Michael," Chase called out as he fell to the ground to check her.
She was breathing, but just barely. Michael's face told him this wasn't good, that it wasn't just weakness from the ritual. Something was wrong.
"We have to get her back to the house," Michael said, lifting his sister into his arms and heading off back in the direction they'd come.
"Wait," Lex called after him. "What about Ari and the other baby?"
"They aren't here. I'm sorry. You can look more if you want, but they aren't here. I need to get her back to the house. She can't help you anyway. The ritual was for the blood that was on the bandage. That was the baby boy's obviously. You have him, but I can't help you with the other two.
Chase stood there letting what he was saying sink in. They'd found one baby, but Ari and the other were gone. And now Willow was unconscious. He couldn't help feel like he'd just traded Willow's life for his nephew's. And still his sister was gone.
And they had no way to find her.