Chapter 190: Damn it
Cayden’s POV
"Where the hell is Hazel?" Lilith snapped, pacing the room like a caged animal, her fingers twisting together in panic.
"Calm down," Alice said gently, but firmly.
"She’s right," I added, turning to both of them. "I’ve already sent someone to track her. She should be back any minute now."
"But we need her right now," Lilith hissed. "We need her to find Dahlia. Once we locate Dahlia, we can strip her of control over the Crescents. She becomes powerless, and we take her down. Everything ends."
Lilith was practically out of breath, her voice tight with fear. "What if something happened to her? What if Dahlia already got to her? Oh my daughter—!"
She made to rush for the door, but Alice grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back.
"Lilith," she said calmly, "Hazel is strong. You know that."
"She is," I added. "She’s not weak."
"But neither is Dahlia," Lilith bit out. "And she’s not alone. There are hundreds of Crescents. I don’t care how powerful Hazel is—they’ll overpower her eventually!"
Aurora stepped forward, her eyes glowing faintly. "Maybe... maybe we can track her."
"Yes, yes!" Lilith said quickly, grabbing onto the idea like a lifeline. "Can we do that? What do we need?"
"Your hand," Aurora replied.
Lilith stretched out her hand, and Aurora pricked her finger with a small pin. A drop of blood welled up, glowing faintly as it hovered in the air. Aurora closed her eyes, trying to focus.
But then—her body jerked backward, as if something had slammed into her mind.
She gasped, staggering.
"I can’t reach her," she whispered. "Something’s blocking me."
"Oh no," Lilith breathed. "Dahlia. Dahlia must’ve cut her off."
Aurora nodded slowly. "It’s her. I know Dahlia. She’s smart. Too smart. And dangerous. She must’ve sealed the location—completely severed the bond."
Lilith turned to me sharply, her voice cracking.
"We need to find my daughter. We need to find your mate!"
"If there was anything I could do," I said, trying to stay calm, "I would have done it already."
"Then why are you just standing there?!"
"Lilith!" Alice snapped, louder this time. "Calm down!"
The room fell into silence.
Lilith exhaled shakily. "I’m sorry... I’m just... I’m tense."
Then Aurora froze. Her head tilted slightly, her body alert.
"Wait."
"What?" I asked. She didn’t answer immediately.
"Listen to me," she whispered. "Something’s coming. Something is... here."
Lilith blinked. "What?"
"Oh God," I muttered. "She’s losing it."
"I’m not losing it," Aurora said, spinning around. "Something is here. In this room."
She started rummaging—pushing pillows, tossing blankets, searching the corners of the room like she’d lost her mind.
Aurora hit the pillow hard and instantly pounced back, eyes wide. "Oh my God!"
Lilith and Alice rushed forward while I peeked from behind—and all our jaws dropped. My twins were there, lying quietly on the bed. Heather had her legs in her mouth, as usual, while Christian stared at her with that same intense gaze he always wore.
I bolted forward, poking Lilith’s foot and brushing Christian’s cheek, trying to see if they were real. My breath caught. "Oh my God... they’re real."
Lilith immediately shoved me aside and scooped them into her arms. "Oh my grandbabies! You’re here! They’re really here!"
"But what about Hazel?" she gasped. "What if she sent them here because she’s in danger? She wouldn’t just teleport them alone unless—"
"No," Aurora cut in. "Hazel went to look for them. It must’ve been Cyrius. He must’ve sent them here instead."
"Still," Alice breathed, "they’re safe now. Thank God."
"There’s no reason for Hazel to still be missing," Lilith said. "She should be back by now."
But then I started coughing—violently. My knees buckled beneath me, and I dropped. "Cayden?!" Alice cried, rushing toward me. "Are you okay?"
Heather started crying, her little hands waving as Alice crouched beside me, checking my temperature. "You’re not feverish," she said. "What happened?"
"I—I don’t know. I just felt weak all of a sudden."
I pushed myself up and staggered over to Aurora, who was now inspecting the twins, trying to draw any traces of Hazel’s memories from their minds.
"No... there’s nothing," she muttered. "Nothing about Hazel."
Lilith stepped forward. "Please," she whispered to the babies. "If you remember anything about your mother—anything at all—please show us. She needs your help. Don’t you want to see Mama?"
At the word Mama, Heather’s eyes lit up. She smiled and reached out her tiny hand toward Lilith, who gently took it and closed her eyes. A hush fell over the room as some form of communication passed between them—none of us could explain it, but we all felt it.
Moments later, Heather pulled her hand back, and Lilith slowly opened her eyes. Her expression was haunted.
"Hazel is in danger. She’s really in danger."
She turned to me again. "Cayden... are you sure you’re okay?"
"I’m fine," I said, though my voice was already trembling.
"Are you?" she asked again, stepping toward me. "Because your brothers—"
She didn’t finish her sentence before I collapsed again. I clutched my chest as black blood began pouring from my mouth.
Alice screamed. "Oh my God... Dahlia."
"What do you mean, Dahlia?" Aurora cried, instantly panicking as she rushed over to me. "Cayden! Cayden, no! What’s wrong with you? This can’t be happening right now—Hazel needs you, we need you!"
Lilith’s voice was grave. "His brothers are already down. I saw this exact same thing happen to them. They’re triplets—all born together. The same thing could be happening to him."
"What?" Aurora gasped. "Cyrius? Caspian? What happened to them?"
I struggled to breathe as my vision began to blur. The last thing I saw was Aurora’s tear-streaked face, Lilith’s expression collapsing, Heather crying purposefully, and Alice still holding on to me tightly.
I tried standing up again but I was too weak.
"Ragnar... Ragnar..." I said calling out to my wolf for help but it was silent, as if it could not hear me.
Damn it.