"Why are you here, Ed?" Talia asked while standing at the door of the cell.
His brows came together. "I forgot."
"Whatever he did, it was a grave offense considering that the Guardians locked up one of their own," Damon said. He was right behind Talia.
Ed nodded. "Gregory was not known for tolerance."
Talia relaxed at Ed's words. At least he was not friendly with Gregory, and that should be a good thing. But can she just release him? What if he is a mass murderer? The fact that Ed crossed Gregory, who was a bad guy, didn't mean that Ed was a good person.
Ed's leg was shackled to the wall, and she guessed it must be something special to prevent him from escaping.
"Did I hear that right? Astraea's daughter is here?" Ed asked. He couldn't see outside, but he heard everything.
"Did you know her?" Talia asked.
He smiled a little. "Who didn't know her?" He gestured to the right wall. "Even that poor bastard talks about her, and he is not one of us."
Talia turned to the right. It was the direction she didn't visit yet. "Are there more people here?"
"Who knows? It's been many years since we ran out of things to say. Other than Gregory, no one else visits us. I think they forgot we are here, yet the barriers are still keeping us trapped. Humans and other weak creatures died of hunger and old age. I don't even know if Val is alive."
Talia's eyes widened. "What did you say? The man there is called Val?"
She told herself not to get excited, but she couldn't help it.
Before Ed responded, Talia went to the right and anxiously observed the next cell. It was empty.
But there was one more door, and she moved there.
Talia's heart dropped to her stomach when she saw a skeleton on the floor. She pushed the door open and stepped inside.
"You don't know who that was," Damon said. Based on Talia's grief, he guessed that she was mourning her father. Again.
Damon cursed that Ed person for giving Talia hope only to be crushed like that.
"Who else could it be?" Talia asked. "We know Valerian was facing big opponents, and those could only be the Guardians. They captured him and held him here, and… he died." Talia went down to her knees, and she reluctantly touched the skeleton. She shook her head. Why did she think that something would happen? It was just a pile of bones.
"We should bury him," Talia said and raised her head to meet Damon's concerned gaze. "Valerian Moonrider should be buried in the Midnight Guardians pack."
"I'm not dead yet," a raspy voice grumbled in the cell.
Talia's eyes sprung open wide to form perfect circles, and she jumped on Damon, who was quick to catch her.
Talia clung to Damon like a koala while staring at the skeleton. Did it talk? That was NOT normal! Should they call an exorciser?
"Hello?" Talia called.
"I'm over here…"
Talia turned to see a shadow curled up in the corner. Even with her enhanced sight, the only thing she could see was an outline. Was that due to the restrictions the Guardians placed here? It didn't matter. The point was that there was another person in the cell, and Talia completely missed his presence. Or was that a ghost?
"You… you…" Talia stuttered as her heart started beating in her ears. "Who are you?"
"Those are not my bones."
'Lis?' Talia called.
Liseli realized what Talia wanted to know. She wanted to know if the shadow in the corner was her father, but Liseli didn't have a definite answer. 'I can tell you that's a werewolf. Considering that he is alive despite his poor state, he is an Alpha.'
"Are you Valerian Moonrider from the Midnight Guardians pack?" Damon asked, unable to wait anymore.
"And you are…?"
Damon wondered if the guy had just confirmed it. It seemed like it. "I guess… I'm your son-in-law."
The shadow groaned as the man tried to push himself up, and Talia rushed there to help him.
He paused to stare at Talia with his honeyed-colored eyes that were still full of life despite his haggard appearance.
"Natalia? Is that you?"
Talia's eyes filled with tears when she recognized the voice. It was a bit raspy, but she had heard it before, in the message recorded in the necklace.
She noticed that his leg was chained.
"Help him, Damon."
Damon got there and observed an iron fetter that circled a skinny ankle. It was just skin over bones. How was this man alive?
Damon dispersed any unnecessary thoughts, and he focused on Talia's whirlwind of emotions.
"Calm down, kitten. We will get him out of here."
Damon's fingers slipped inside the fetter, and he used his dark energy to corrode it before it snapped open like it was a children's toy.
On the third floor of the castle...
Axel and Evanora entered a room to find Yasmin breastfeeding Valeria while maintaining a small flame with her magic to heat them up. Edgar was sleeping soundly by her side.
The room was nicely furnished, but it had no heating, and it was cold. Yasmin used curtains to wrap herself and the kids to stay warm.
Serena, Feya, Sandy, Tyler, Grady, and Varya also entered the room.
They were all happy that Yasmin and the twins were safe.
After one minute of happiness, Evanora chid Yasmin in a hushed voice so she doesn't wake up Edgar, "Why did you allow yourself to be captured? Didn't I teach you to escape? My daughter is not a victim of these scoundrels. You could at least notify someone you are here…"
Yasmin waited for Evanora to pause to catch her breath, so she could say, "I love you too, mom. Thank you for worrying about me. They knocked me out, and when I came to it, I was here with Ed and Val. I checked outside and saw that things were covered in snow. My magic was restricted, and I didn't see how I could escape with two babies." She squeezed Axel's hand. "Besides, I was confident that my mate would come for me, so I focused on taking care of our babies."
"You did good," Axel said while pressing his lips on her forehead.
"How did you find me?" Yasmin asked.
"Talia," Axel responded. "I called her when I realized you were missing, and then we found out that Damon was also gone. We were confident that the Guardians got both of you. She followed the mate bond to come here."
Yasmin listened as Axel told her who all came, witches and werewolves, that rogues were attacking, and it was a mess.
"We should leave," Yasmin said. It didn't feel right to sit in this room when so many others were fighting.
Serena and Feya took one baby each to carry, and the group moved down. They didn't meet any Guardians.
When they reached the main level, Evanora paused.
"Mom?" Yasmin called.
Evanora put her hand over her chest. What was this familiar feeling which tugged on her heartstrings?
Evanora sensed it since she came here via a teleportation spell, but she thought it was due to anxiousness, or maybe the energies were leading her to Yasmin and her grandbabies, but now she realized this was different.
"I need to check something…" Evanora said, and she moved down the hallway with urgency.
