"I thought they did something", Damon spoke into Talia's hair, the cracking voice reflected his unstable emotions. "Your body was here, but you weren't. I couldn't reach you. I couldn't reach you."
Talia hugged him with all her might. "I'm here. I'm back.", she assured him.
Talia was holding onto Damon, so she could feel his whole body shaking. Talia was not sure how to calm him down, so she stayed like that and patted his back.
'Liseli?', Talia called.
'I'm here.'
'What happened?'
'The necklace's power got activated when you put it on. It enveloped your consciousness, making you feel like you were somewhere else.'
'Can we make it happen again?', Talia asked. She wanted to replay what she heard and confirm she didn't miss anything. And there was also the point of a recorded message. What if there was more?
'I'm not sure.', Liseli responded. She could hear Talia's thoughts, so she had a good idea of what happened while Talia was in the white void. 'It reminds me of how we share mental images, but I never heard of such a thing being done with an object.'
Talia thought of asking witches about it. She wanted to ask Yasmin, but the poor girl looked petrified, so Talia decided to keep it for later.
Talia's eyes moved to see Sophia glaring at her. 'What's her problem?'
Liseli snorted. 'She probably guessed that the necklace was not ordinary, but she couldn't make it work. She is probably wondering what happened while you were unconscious, and she is jealous that she didn't get to experience it.'
"Where were you?"
Damon's voice pulled Talia from her conversation with Liseli.
Seeing that Sophia's attention was on her, Talia responded to Damon through their private mind-link.
'I'm not sure. I thought that only a few seconds passed, no more than a minute. Everything was white, and I heard voices. I believe I heard my parents talking.'
Damon inched away to see Talia's expression. 'What did they say?'
Talia was pleased that he didn't question what she believed was true. She touched the necklace. 'My mother recorded a message here. I didn't hear the message, but I heard her say how the message will play when I'm of age.'
'You are of age.', Damon stated the fact. But maybe that meant something else for Talia's parents.
'There must be some condition I am yet to fulfill. I need to figure out how to activate it.', Talia said. There was a chance that her mother mixed up the recording, and what Talia experienced WAS the message, but Talia hoped there will be more. If there could be clues where the message was recorded, Talia would definitely go there with the hope to find out what happened to her parents. Her mother was there, and her father said that he will go back to her.
Damon frowned at the necklace. The thought of this happening to Talia again was extremely unsettling. He couldn't reach her through the mind-link, and only faint traces of their mate bond were there. It was like he lost her all over again, knowing that she was somewhere, out of his reach, and he had no idea if she was safe or how to get to her.
"Take that off.", Damon said sternly while looking at the necklace.
"No. It's fine.", Talia said and continued through the mind-link. 'My mother left me a message. It must be important.' Even if it was just her mother telling her that she loves her, it was important.
'It's all I have, Damon. I can't let it go.'
Damon's fighting spirit dwindled in front of Talia's pleading expression, and he gave up on asking her to remove the necklace.
His face was back in her hair as he tightened his hold on her and took deep breaths. He needed her proximity to calm down.
Talia patted his back gently and she remembered an important detail. "Are we late for the feast?"
"Officially, you are a few minutes late. But people are waiting for much longer.", Axel responded. At the scene of Damon rampaging and threatening to kill them all, Axel completely forgot about the feast. He gestured toward Sophia and Isaac who were on the floor. "I will stay here until healers are done with treatment."
"Alpha Isaac needs to go to medical quarters.", one of the healers said.
Damon whipped his head toward the guy who paled when he saw Damon's murderous glare. What did he do?
"It's ex-Alpha Isaac or just Isaac.", Damon said in an ominously low voice. He looked at Axel. "I want you to announce that they lost their positions a long time ago and if anyone addresses Isaac or Sophia as Alphas, it will be considered treason against the new order. Be strict because people will see these small things as a sign of weakness. Even if you don't care about it, do it for Talia."
Axel didn't dare to object. He saw Damon serious, joking, relaxed, focused, and this was the first time to see Damon furious. Axel had no doubts that if Talia didn't wake up in time, he would be next in line to get a beating… or worse.
Sophia was rubbing her aching neck that had Damon's palmprint on it, and she pushed the healer away from her.
"Look at my mate! He is barely holding! You hurt us for no reason!" Sophia's voice was hoarse as she glared daggers at Damon.
"That makes us almost even.", Damon responded icily.
He knew she was exaggerating. Was Isaac in pain? Absolutely. However, as a werewolf, Isaac will heal in a few days (OK, maybe weeks). Even if he was human, those injuries wouldn't be life-threatening.
What they did to him could have crippled him forever. If Damon wanted to make it even, he should give them a few more rounds of beating... after they recuperate.
Axel relaxed when he confirmed that Damon didn't attack Sophia for her outburst, but he didn't know if Damon's temper will flare again, so Axel waved at the healers to take Sophia and Isaac away. Kai and Meg helped.
"We will join the feast once I make sure someone is keeping an eye on them.", Axel said while walking out with Yasmin.
Keith and Liam also made themselves scarce, leaving Talia and Damon in the suite.
"I heard my parents.", Talia said.
"And I nearly lost my mind when I thought I lost you."
Talia could feel the weight of his emotions, and she felt guilty for being happy when he suffered. "I'm sorry. I didn't know this will happen."
Damon shook his head. "So many things happened since we found each other, one might think I will be used to this rollercoaster ride."
Talia chuckled bitterly while pulling him into a hug and gripping his back firmly, his tension pouring into her and making her crave for an outlet. A run in their wolf form with some howling would help, but they didn't have time for it.
However, they couldn't go to the feast like this either as their anxiety was tangible.
On the other hand, people were already waiting for them, will they be bothered if they wait a bit longer?
