44!

BRIANNA

“Why exactly are we running?” I asked Liam as he seems to increase our pace. I’m getting tired and my knees are feeling weak.

“We have to hurry, Brianna,” he says. His voice is different now, mixed with worry and a hint of danger close.

“Ahh,” I gasped at the feeling of someone close to me like a shadow.

“They're here!” I heard Trish yell. Her voice too was filled with worry. “Behind you, Brianna!” she yelled. I turned instantly with my hands laced with fire. I looked down at the person underneath me. It was a shadow.

“What’s going on?” I asked as soon as we got to the barricade that wasn’t there an hour ago.

“We think, Castillo knows that we know our Mother is alive,” Layla said to Liam.

“You think, Layla?” Liam asked, moving a bit close to her. It was making her nervous. It was also making me nervous.

“I need to talk to Akire,” he said and I looked at Commander Blackburn and nodded my head.

“Yes, your highness,” he bowed and walked away.

“What are those things?” I asked, referring to what I killed and the noises I keep hearing.

“They are called black death,” Trish answered, “right now our theory is Castillo released them,” she said and I nodded.

“How did I kill one of them?” I asked. She and Layla gave each other a look. I know that look. “What is it?” I asked.

“We think you should stop using your powers for now,” Layla said and I scoffed, walking away.

“Make sure you keep your eyes open,” Liam said to the men at the barricade as we walked.

“I don’t need anyone telling me what to do with my Magic,” I said to Layla and Trish.

“You are perfectly right and that’s what we want to prevent,” Trish said, pointing to herself and Layla. I looked at both of them, not just with my eyes but with my mind.

“What’s going on?” Liam asked as he got close to us.

“What aren’t you telling me?” I asked both of them. Trish starmmed, Layla rolled her eyes and walked towards me.

“We think Castillo might try to abduct you,” she said and Liam chuckled. “Is something funny, your highness?” she asked him.

“Not really but I’m just worried how Castillo intends to abduct her when she is the most powerful among us and also well protected,” he said with a bit of smugness.

“That’s exactly what we are afraid of. We don’t know how but what we do know is magic can be traced directly from where it originated from,” Trish said. “If Castillo has someone to track a werewitch magic, he can find her.”

“Fine, I won’t use my magic,” I said to them and they both exhaled, “but I will need to learn how to defend myself.”

We walked back to the castle and I could see the med bay being dismantled and people being loaded on trunks, “what is going on, Trish?” I asked.

“I asked that the people be moved to shelters to protect them in case the black death breaches the barricade,” I turned my hands into a fist, preventing my magic from flowing through me.

“Mason decided to help?” I asked, looking at Layla.

“He is not as bad as he portrays himself to be,” she said and I scoffed.

“You are right. He is not. He just hates us, plainly,” I said, sarcastically. I looked at Liam, “I’m sorry, I know he is your friend and Beta,” I said to him.

“That’s alright. You are entitled to your own opinion,” he looked up towards the castle, walked towards me and kissed me on my cheeks.

“Commander Blackburn,” he said and walked up the stairs.

“What exactly happened in the woods Brianna?” Trish asked as we walked behind Liam.

“I don’t know why you need to ask, you know what happened,” Layla said, smirking.

“Is it just me or has she become a little bit bitchy?” Trish asked, glaring at her.

“Were all the people on the trunk tagged?” I asked Trish, trying to change the subject.

“Yes, they all were, including the vehicles which I am tracking,” she said and I nodded. We walked into the castle. I inhaled taking in the lavender smell in the huge living room.

“Over here, your highness,” I heard Commander Blackburn's voice and followed. He is not taking us to the command center but a hidden room close to the dining room.

I don’t think I will know the secrets of this house in a short period of time. As soon as Akire saw Liam, her eyes lit up and she began to smile like a girl who has just been given her favorite candy.

“Sit down, Akire,” he ordered her and she sat down immediately. “What happened?” he asked her.

“Is it just me or is he being a little bit gentle?” Layla asked the question that was on my mind.

“He is just trying to establish rapport. That’s investigation 101,” Trish answered Layla but I don’t think that’s it.

I walked towards the glass that divided the interrogation room from the one we were in. “Something doesn’t feel right,” I said, tilting my head.

“No magic, Brianna,” Trish said, standing beside me. I sighed and glared at her. I looked at Akire, she doesn’t look like someone who is being interrogated, and she looks.

“Aroused by him,” Layla said, reading my mind. I looked at her immediately. “You are slacking in your wolf powers,” she said, smirking. “What have you been teaching her, Trisha?”

“Stop,” I said before Trish could respond to her. “I don’t know what exactly has come over you but the next time you read my mind will be the last,” I said. Ethan and Mason looked at us strangely as they both walked in.

“Girl’s talk,” I said, walking away from her.

“Is Liam interrogating Akire?” Ethan asked and I nodded, “you can’t be in here then,” he said and I scoffed.

“The hell I can’t. This is my castle and it’s my people that were attacked,” I said, looking at the interrogation room.

I watched as Liam took her hands in his and caressed it. She smiled and blushed, just the way I would if he did the exact thing to me. “What is going on, Ethan?” I asked in anger.

“He told you to leave,” Mason said with smugness in his voice.

“Don’t get smug with me. How is this going to lead us to Castillo?!” I yelled.

“Bri!” Trish yelled my name and I turned around. Akire was on the ground, looking like a zombie. She is a strong woman who is able to take anything that is thrown at her but right now, she looks defendless.

What the hell?