C7 Chapter 7

CARSON CITY, NEVADA

(The Wiscon Palace)

Davina's point of view

I was seated next to Cyrene's delicate figure, watching her as she slept peacefully, while I gently stroked her gray-white hair with her head firmly resting on my lap. She looked so calm, and at peace. There was a special kind of tranquility that fell on her. I brushed back the gray locks of hair that fell on her face. It was unbelievable how time flew so fast, how fast the years had changed everyone. It affected everyone so badly, and Cyrene was not left aside. Being a witch who was gifted with the ability to foretell the future, she had it as worse as any of us.

My fingers brushed the freckles on her cheeks, she didn't even stir as much, the spell I had cast on her drifted her to deep slumber. She needed it badly. The tender skin around her eyes as usual had dark circles, one formed over time from stress and the constant use of her powers.

But Cyrene still looked the same exactly as she did when I first met her eighteen-odd years ago as a member of the Council for the Supernaturals. The only difference was her now grayish white hair which wasn't from aging. It accompanied the exhaustion behind her eyes due to her gift. Her gift was something many witches would not wish for, it was a blessing and at the same time a curse for her. It was taking a toll on her and stealing her life force. And the visions she had been having were worsening her condition. She was slowly losing her sanity if I may say.

Slowly I placed her head gently on the soft pillow. I stalked across the room, collecting the scattered pieces of paper that had adorned the cold marble floors. Cyrene barely made any conversation with anyone, every waking second of hers was spent scribbling strange markings, or drawing foreign runic symbols and writing in cryptic and unknown languages. I was damn sure all these meant something, but we haven't been able to figure it out. I missed the days she was sane. The days she had answers to everything. The days I could count on her and we could both figure things out together.

My eyes drifted briefly from the runic symbols etched on the papers to Cyrene's sleeping figure. She saw something, something that had to do with whatever was happening to the magical world. Whatever she saw disrupted her mind and left her broken. What on earth was it that made her so terrified and left her in such a state?

She has been like this for eighteen long years now since the night I lost my child. My precious daughter. Something in my bones, something I liked to call my gut feeling told me Cyrene's present condition was somehow connected to my child who was stolen from me by the witch Emily and she-wolf, Jasmine. But I couldn't figure it out.

My thoughts were interrupted by Agatha's soft call at me. I was so consumed by my thoughts that I didn't hear her come in. I tilted my head and she was at the door. Her eyes fell swiftly on Cyrene before finding my crystal blue eyes once again.

"Most of the members have arrived, they've gathered at the palace court" She informed me that almost all the members of the Council had arrived at the Wiscon palace. I nodded and sent her off. I finished collecting the papers and headed to my office right opposite Cyrene's room to keep them safely. I stashed them in a drawer.

Suddenly, the hairs on my skin stood alert, and I felt the air around me stirred in excitement. There was a prickling anticipation in the air and my heart jammed momentarily, almost exploding from the euphoria that had begun to ignite in my chest. Then the drumming of his heart echoed in my ears. I could hear the blood pumping in his veins. I could never forget the soothing rhythm of his beating heart. But It couldn't be. Before I could swerve, his husky voice traveled into my ears and my lips stole a smile.

"Oh love, I can hear your racing heart all over the place" His deep manly voice was still causing havoc on my skin. My crystalline blue orbs slowly fell on his perfect amber pair and he was indeed there, wearing a huge smile.

"Cameron!!" Instantly, I closed the distance between us, using my vampire speed. I raced into his large arms that were pulled wide open to receive me. My hands clamped around his neck and I felt his hands move gently on my back, pulling me closer to him. "Cam." I kissed the skin of his neck where the mark I had placed on him stood, it was inked in red and had the shape of a small carnation flower. It was a rare and special kind of flower that symbolized our bond and reminded us of our lost daughter.

A tingling sensation erupted from our body contact. He didn't break away from me. He kissed his mark on my neck as well. I held him tightly as well, refusing to let him go. I cocked my head back, taking a look at his face which I missed for two awful weeks, but felt like a lifetime apart. He brought his fingers to my face, pulling back stranded locks of my shoulder-cut blonde hair behind my ears.

And without a quarter-second hesitation, I pulled his lips to mine. His soft and full lips covered mine in a kiss. He pulled his hand to the back of my head and the other hand grabbed my waist possessively, crashing me deeper into his large manly body. I could feel the vibrations emanating from him, and the rhythm from my heart resonated with his and aligned as one as it should be.

'You have no idea how much I missed you these last weeks' His voice was dark and huskier, as it echoed through the mindlink. I could feel his wolf, Vittorio, presence through the mind-link.

'I missed you more' I kissed him back. He pulled apart to allow me some air, but his body was not breaking an inch from mine. His bright amber had darkened, and from the corner of his irises, I noted golden flecks which indicated his wolf was sharing control with him. His gaze was completely blinded with lust and desire. Similar desires infected my gaze, and I wanted to feel him on me. I wanted him to take me right here and now.

The silly Alpha used his gift and read my thoughts and his naughty smirk appeared. I could never get tired of it. His lips were about to take control of mine again and I swear we would have made classic love to each other right here on my glass table, to make up for the times we had been apart.

The thought alone was beautiful, even though I wanted it badly, there were important matters we must attend to. Like the Council members waiting for us in the palace court. And there was Cyrene and the important matter I wanted to speak only to him about, it had to do with our missing child.

"Wait, Cam. This is not the time or place for this." I pulled apart, reluctantly. My eyes now scanned him meticulously. He was the same but looked strained and recklessly exhausted. It broke my heart. I hated to see him this way.

"I heard what happened to the Elder witch Elona," He said and I nodded. No one was expecting the next death to come from our kind. But Cyrene knew it. She knew it but couldn't warn us. I remember the sardonic, helpless look she gave me before we were informed of the Elder witch's death.

"Yes. Her death was unexpected, and we still don't know who will be next." That scared me, whatever darkness was doing this, it was after high-ranking officials from different supernatural kinds. It terrified me. Cameron could be next being the Alpha of all Alphas to the wolves and a ranking vampire, and there was nothing I could do to protect him.

"There's something I must tell you. About Cyrene and our…." We were interrupted by one of the witches.

She bowed her head to us in respect. “Everyone has arrived, they are requesting your presence"

"Okay, Rina. We'll be there" I dismissed her, turning to Cameron.

"What about Cyrene? Do you have any leads on our daughter?"

I rubbed his chest, "Let's talk after the meeting."

He agreed. Cameron held me and transported us to the palace court with his gift of teleportation.

Everyone has gathered already. The palace court was filled with every member of the Council. The Council was formed many centuries ago, the founding members were from different supernatural kinds, each magical kind having their representative in the Council.

The Council was formed to instill peace and foster an amicable relationship between magical kinds. My mate, Cameron had a seat within the Council, being the Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack and part vampire as well. He was turned many years ago to a vampire using magic to save his Pack, well that was all behind us. The ritual performed that made him a part vampire was anchored by an Amnell witch, my mother precisely. Cameron was the wolves’ representative in the Council.

I joined the Council eighteen years ago being the last living descendant from the nine ancient French quarter witches in New Orleans, and my family, the Amnell clan of witches, had a seat within the Council too.

From afar I sighted Rhona and beside her was my guardian and my best friend, Benjamin. I walked to them, embracing Rhona.

"I didn't think you both would make it" I pulled apart, pulling Benjamin in for a hug.

"I didn't think so too, but with the death of an Elder witch, we all had to be here"

Everyone took their respective seats around the giant circular mound inside the palace court.

I nodded smilingly at Elder Noah and the remaining Elders who were Elder wolves. It was nice to see everyone, but I wished it was under different circumstances.

All the Council members were present. Each represented their kind. The Vampires were included, Phoenixes were present which were once thought to be extinct, but they just like to live their lives in secret, the shape-shifters who were partly human but could take the shape of anyone were present, the Faes, the goblins, the Mer-King and his queen, and many more were present, including the demon overlord.

"I'm glad everyone could make it" Mirabel shuffled on her seat. She was an Elder witch, and she and I have been with Cyrene trying to decipher Cyrene's visions. Everyone looked like they had a lot to say but none uttered a word, listening attentively to Mirabel. "Some days ago, this darkness found one of our own. Elona, an Elder witch, and her life was taken" She drawled on, her voice filling the void and grim silence in the air. If anyone was terrified, they didn't show it, but their heartbeats pounded in an irregular rhythm, exercising different emotions.

"Like the others, there was no inkling that someone had done that to her."

"So we are up against something we do not know" Then Daemon, the Demon lord, sounded slightly cold and frenzied.

"Regretfully, yes," I said, having my arms folded against my chest.

"And Cyrene? Any update from her? What about her last vision" An Elder wolf, Walter spoke. Everyone's focus was on Mirabel and me. I spotted the flicker of despair on their faces. At the mention of the last vision Cyrene could scribe out to the Council before her mind collapsed, Mirabel pulled out a black crystal ball from her cloak. It belonged to Cyrene, she usually used it to channel her magic to take a peek into her visions. Mirabel placed it on the table.

"Cyrene saw something in her vision, something that terrified her and broke her. Something that has to do with the recent happenings in our world, I tried to break through the crystal, maybe I could access the last thing she saw that plummeted her mind, but I couldn't break through her magic that was keeping the black crystal away from the hands of others.

"I know that this shouldn't be a suggestion, but we are running out of time. Something out there that we do not know is after every one of us. Something we cannot seem to identify or fight back at. That's why I'm suggesting we improvise" Falix, the leader of the Faes, muttered calmly from the spot he was seated. Everyone's eyes noted on him.

"Improvise? What do you mean?" Cameron sounded from his corner.

"The witches have tried everything possible to break through that ball so we could access Cyrene's cryptic visions but they failed. I suggest we hand it over to the Faes, or the dark overlord, Daemon, hopefully one of us can break through it and—"

Before he could complete his sentence I cut him off. "That crystal ball is the very lifeline that's keeping Cyrene alive. If it's carelessly tampered with, she may die"

"We are at a war, we have no idea who our enemy is, if that ball can access her visions, I say we do it. We've lost our queen already, any of us may be next, I suggest we start thinking about ourselves" Frederick, a Were-coyote mumbled nonsensically.

Anger prickled under the surface of my skin and I was about to lose my cool at his selfish remark.

"Enough!!" An Elder wolf, Philip, chimed. "Please. We need to be united now more than ever and not at each other throats"

"He's right. We shouldn't fight amongst ourselves. It's bad enough that we have an unknown force against us" Xanax said, the leader of the Phoenixes. They were known to emerge from an ancestry line of Protectors. They are destined to the fate of another, to protect whoever their chosen destiny is. Their duty is quite similar to Benjamin's as my guardian, only that Benjamin is not a Phoenix but a witch. "I think the witches should still keep the crystal….."

He was forced to make a pause on his words when the black crystal stone on the table was zapped away. I swiveled my head to the direction it flew to and our eyes fell on Cyrene. She was awake, the sleeping spell I had placed on her so she could get some sleep was supposed to be effective for a few more hours but she was up already.

Her eyes were glowing white and so was the black crystal stone in her hand. It glowed brightly from the inside, shimmering a brilliant white.

"It's too late now. The darkness has found its source already. She is its source and its end, its strength and its weakness. From the void, the darkness emerged. As long as his source remains we are all doomed…." Only Cyrene's voice echoed within the palace court. I felt my knees weaken on the chair I was seated on. My heart picked up a fast pace, racing frantically against my chest.

Her eyes kept glowing like a bright torch, and I kept praying to heaven she stopped talking. Her words were familiar to me. She had prattled about this vision in my presence. But I didn't have the strength to tell another soul without talking to Cameron first. Her cryptic visions were somehow connected to my daughter.

Cyrene had once told me something similar eighteen years ago about my daughter. The night Emily performed the ritual and stole her from me, I sought after Cyrene but her mind had broken by then. Everything she said then and now was coming through. The end of our kind.

I glanced at Benjamin. His expressionless demeanor had broken into worry, just like mine. But as usual, he did well to hide the panic in those hazel orbs of his. We both knew that Cyrene's vision eighteen years ago about my unborn child was somehow connected to her last vision and the recent happenings in our world.

Together with Rhona, we concluded that my missing daughter was the source Cyrene spoke about. The very source of the darkness against us. I felt it myself seven years ago when I had a dream about my child and realized that she was a girl. Jasmine had birthed a daughter, my daughter, that was stolen from me. Through that dream, I saw her and recognized the carnation flower that formed her magic. I felt the magic within her. It was like no other, and somehow her magic restored my ancestral witch powers I lost when I became a vampire.

"It's a pattern. It's coming. Something we can never imagine. We must end its very source to end the darkness. Or we all die…" I became still as a shiver ghosted through me. This part of her vision was new to me. I felt a heavy stare at me. My blue gaze fell on Cameron's worrisome ones. He could feel my intense emotions through our bond.

Cyrene repeated her vision and when she was done she collapsed, but the coven members managed to catch her before she crashed on the floor and took her back to her room.

As soon as she was gone, another round of mutterings erupted within the Council. I could barely pay attention to what they were speaking about. My thoughts had traveled far away.

Once again, I felt the emotion of guilt strangle my entire being. Time was slowly running out. It's been eighteen long years already, and Jasmine and Emily have managed to keep my child hidden. I failed her. I failed my little angel. The night she was taken away from me still haunted my dreams.

Emily had murdered me during our fight. I had died, only to be brought back by my mate. He had turned me into a vampire and I lost access to my witch's powers. Not until seven years ago, when I had that dream about my daughter. For the briefest seconds I could connect with her, but that was about it. I couldn't find out where she was or where Jasmine had her.

Only the mention of her name made my blood boil. The thought of my child growing up with that vile bitch infuriated me. It's a wonder how Emily managed to have Jasmine and my daughter hidden. I tried every spell in existence to find them but nothing. Cameron had gone rampage, literally turning the world upside down to find them but nothing. It was frustrating. But it killed me now more than ever, she was in danger and no longer safe.

I couldn't trust the information about Cyrene's vision with the others, if they knew my daughter was the source they'd hunt her and want her dead. No matter what the vision said, she was still my daughter, and my first obligation was to her. To protect her.

I fought the tears that stung my sockets. I was jarred back to reality by Mirabel's words. "We must not waste further time. The source Cyrene had spoken about, we must find her. And just as the vision said, we must end her to put an end to the looming darkness over us."

I couldn't hide my horror as everyone slowly nodded in agreement.

" We should all start to put teams together from our species to track down the source," The Mer-King leader said.

"I believe we all are forgetting something crucial," Elder Alex said, "How do we track her down?"

"About that, I think I may have a way around it," Mirabel said confidently. I felt a knot tightening in my chest.

We were running out of time. If Cameron and I did not find her before one of the Council armies did, things would get pretty ugly. We had wolves from different packs and vampires from our Pack searching for my daughter. Even the witches were on it. But we needed more.

'Davi. Tell me exactly what's wrong,' Cameron's voice said through the mind-link. My blue crystals bored hard into his, forming the right words.

'It's about her' Cameron's perfectly long brows creased in confusion, and suddenly his eyes shot up, knowingly. 'She's in danger, Cam. We must find her now more than ever before anyone does. We must protect our angel at all costs.

She may be the very source of darkness that will ruin us, but regardless, she was still our daughter. And we will do everything we can to protect her from her very own destiny.