Chapter 73. War Part-1

**Chapter 73. War Part-1**

***Astrid's POV:***

I woke up with a gasp. I had a really bad nightmare that Rafael was going to risk his life for me and our baby. I had a dream that he had hidden things for me and snapped my neck, leaving me here alone.
My head ached, and I was sweating profusely. I tightened my fists, screaming in pain and swatting my sticky hair away from my face.
The room was shrouded in darkness, the drawn curtains suggesting an early hour. When I checked my watch, I was astounded to discover that it was already beyond seven o'clock in the morning.
It's odd how I ended up sleeping as much as I do. I stood at the window, staring out the window, waiting for Rafael. I tried to broaden my mind by imagining what happened next, but it was futile.
"Did Rafael leave early? " I questioned myself.
My eyes widened to the size of saucers. What if what I was thinking wasn't a dream? What if Rafael is in danger? I dashed outside, peering into the halls, but the lights had been switched off.
I would have shaken my thoughts for a moment, believing everyone was sleeping, but all of the doors were open and no one was inside.
I dashed inside Bryan's room, where Cindy was missing. My fears were confirmed; they have all left, and they refused to take us along.
I was ready to turn around and go when Cindy emerged from Bryan's restroom.
She was taken aback to see me, perhaps awake. "Did you wake up, Astrid?" Cindy asked.
"Where are they?" I asked. "Where has everyone gone, Cindy?" I asked.
"Astrid listened to me. Going there with the baby is not safe. Try to understand that Rafael went to great lengths to protect you." Cindy stepped in front of me.
"Really? Is he jeopardizing his own and everyone else's lives to protect us?" I cocked my brow. "Then tell me, Cindy, what you're doing here."
I knew it was impolite of me to raise my voice in front of her, but my body wanted the company of my mate. I didn't wait for her response. I turned back and dashed to the main door. I was going to walk away. I felt an invisible wall in front of me block me from moving even a single step ahead as soon as I took a stride forward.
"I'm sorry, Astrid, but I can't let you go. answering your earlier question, Rafael will contact me if he needs my help." Cindy shook her head.
"Do you really believe that?" We both turned to find Eva waiting at the door. "Remove this stupid veil and let me in," Eva told Cindy.
Eva entered the house quickly after Cindy closed her eyes and whispered an incoherent spell.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Cindy was perplexed.
"signifies that our respective partners abandoned us. Tell me, Cindy, did Rafael even notify you if something was amiss, or, better yet, what was going on there and whether or not he required your help?" Eva inquired, her hands folded.
Cindy shook her head and closed her eyes. "Perhaps they don't require my services? yet," Cindy pondered.
"Are you the great witch that everyone talks about?" Eva cynically chuckled. "Use your magic to see what they are doing and how the scenario is." she commanded.
Yes, Eva was right, and I, too, encouraged Cindy to use her magic. She closed her eyes and reached Rafael, who said there was no issue, and then she closed her eyes again and concentrated for a while.
She blinked open her eyes, panting for oxygen. "You were right; they are in big trouble." Cindy took her time calming down. Cindy's head trembled. "Bryan, I'm sure, he might have asked Rafael to leave me here. I can't believe these two duped me." Cindy's head trembled.
"Yes, our partners did not want us to be present. They are idiots, I tell you." Eva sighed and rolled her eyes.
"So, what are we going to do now?" Cindy exhaled a sigh.
"We have to leave." "We, in the sense of me and Cindy," Eva answered.
I locked my gaze on both of them. I laughed. "You can't both be serious. You cannot leave me here."
"Astrid, you're not alone in this. You are carrying a child, and everything that harms you will also hurt the baby." Cindy argued, but I was too obstinate to listen.
"Cindy, do you hear what I'm saying? You merely said that if anybody can stop the negative impacts of this conflict, it's me, so I'm supposed to be there, and please don't attempt to stop me. I assure you that preserving my child will be my top priority, but if I lose Rafael today, I will be devastated for the rest of my life. There will be no purpose for me, and I will be sorry, thinking that perhaps I might have rescued Rafael," I begged. "Put yourself in my shoes for a moment. Would you both sit here honestly even if you knew your family's lives were in danger?" I asked.
They both sighed and glanced at me at the same time. "I think we don't have a choice," Eva responded.
"You may come, but remember that you are not going to change your mind no matter what happens, and safeguarding the baby will be your first concern, alright?" Cindy said.
I promised, and we all began heading outdoors as planned. Rafael's guards tried to stop us, but I had to assert my authority, and we had to snap a few necks to get away. We had to agree that Rafael had been extremely cautious in every stage of his planning, and I guess he had warned these guards not to let me go even if I ordered them to.
We were halfway there when I felt a sharp pain run through my entire body.
"Astrid, are you okay?" Cindy and Eva came to a halt and immediately attended to me.
It took me a few moments to realize that Rafael was in trouble.
"I-I can see Rafael is in difficulty," I said.
They both came to my aid, and we all rushed to the ground.
We were astonished to see the spectacle in front of us. There were corpses all over the place, but fortunately, they were from the opposing clan, as I could tell by the pattern. Of course, I didn't know who was there, but these few victims resting here are not ours.
I surveyed the enormous throng for Rafael and saw him confined by someone with his back to me.
As I began to approach him, a group of men surrounded me.
Thankfully, Cindy had taught me how to make the most of my abilities and even how to utilize them correctly.
I simply ended up staring at each of them as they rolled onto the ground, and I felt an enormous burst of energy flow through me. They were correct that bringing someone back to life would need a significant amount of my energy and would result in the loss of something very dear to my heart, but taking life by starring at the person and draining the life force out of them feels so much more refreshing that I couldn't stop myself. They were also correct that sucking their life force would feel addictive because sucking their life force would make me stronger, and soon I felt myself getting into a frenzy, but I stopped when I saw Elliot holding some knife in his hand, which I immediately assumed was a weapon they had built to kill Rafael.
I trembled as he was ready to sink the dagger into Rafael's chest, but I forced myself to calm down and glared at Elliot, who immediately tossed the blade to the ground and fell on his knees, clutching his head.
One thing I noticed was that once my necromancer side was in charge, the entire environment around me appeared to dissolve as if I and my target were the only ones present there, and there was this weird deadbeat that enveloped me whenever I did so, deafening the sound in the surroundings.
I willed myself to shift my focus to the other people who had also been holding Rafael, and one by one, they all began to fall to the ground.
I stood there, watching Rafael straighten up. He clenched his hand without even turning around, and I knew he had sensed me there.
He slowly turned around; his jaw clenched even tighter when he noticed me. I know he's angry and probably won't speak to me, but I'm sticking to my guns. I don't think I did anything wrong, and I stand by that.
He began approaching me, and I wished he would not say anything to me because once I am out of this problem, I am ready to endure all of his sessions of reprimands and scoldings.
"Rafael, watch out!" I said as a man wielding a heavy rod approached from behind him, attempting to attack him. Rafael was already alert, so he whirled around and stopped the rod with his hand, yanking it from the guy's grip and slamming it against his skull.
He turned back to me, and the intensity of his stare made me shudder. If appearances could kill, I'd be six feet below by now.
"We'll speak about it," I responded before Rafael could chastise me. "When we go home," I may be overconfident, but I believe we will safely return home. I don't know if this is simply my intuition.
"You better be safe or..." He was now directly in front of me. "Nothing can stop me from wreaking havoc that no one could have predicted."
He didn't leave me any room to protest. He kissed my forehead and began to move away from me.
I looked about again and saw Charles and Bryan doing the same thing as Rafael, scolding their respective partners, but we were at war and there was no time for discussions.
Eva and Cindy arrived and stood by my side.
"Let's get some action going, girls," I smirked.
"Yupp... I can't wait to show these cretins what true magic is," Cindy said.
We three punched our fists and began attacking everybody who was in our way. I was forbidden from using my physical movements, but my power of sucking the life energy from individuals works just as well as magic. I kept staring at our opponents who tried to attack me until they died on the ground.
I kept going until I had cleaned one entire side. I went back to see if Rafael needed my assistance, but he was too busy breaking necks and tearing hearts out while Cindy was battling someone I didn't recognize.
I couldn't tell because only half of his face was visible from the angle, but I could tell he was a warlock because he was emitting some weird waves of energy, which Cindy quickly diffused and counteracted. They gradually turned, and I recognized the man as Vincent. While he was fighting with Cindy, I knew him by his voice. I knew since I'd always heard so much about him and his hatred for Rafael.
I couldn't tell by his face because I was blindfolded that day at the auction. It was unexpected to see Vincent by Elliot's side, but what happened next was even more unexpected.
"Mom, Sky," I called out as I saw my mother and Skylar emerge from Vincent's back, coming for his help.

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