Chapter 118 The Stone Leads
Chapter 118 The Stone Leads
CADE
I couldn’t shake the thoughts swirling in my mind about what Bethany had said.
She was Arden’s mother.
The images in my head refused to align, leaving me in a state of confusion. We were now in the car,, heading South, and a nagging instinct told me that Arden wasn’t up North where we’d been searching My parents had also alerted the guards to conduct a thorough search of our territory from top to bottom, but they hadn’t provided any updates since.
I stole glances at the woman sitting beside me. Her fragile frame was curled up in the passenger seat, a blanket draped across her lap. In the days since we last saw her, it was evident she had lost even more weight, deepening the lines of worry across her face.
“Is it bad?” I asked, my question directed at her condition as–4 sped through the stillness of the night.
She managed a weak chuckle, her gaze fixated on the scenery sliding past the window. “I’ve had worse,” she muttered. “Don’t think about me. Focus on Arden; that’s what matters right now,”
My heart raced at her words–Arden was missing. My baby was missing.
“Please.” I whispered under my breath, uncertain whether I was speaking to myself or the moon goddess above.
“She’s alive,” Bethany interjected, pulling me out of my spiraling thoughts, if only momentarily.
I turned to her. “How do you know this?”
Her trembling hands moved toward her neck, fumbling under her collar until she brought out a pendant It was small, round, and encased in dull gold. At its center lay a strange, translucent stone that emitted a faint glow.
“This… this is how,” she said, her voice steadying slightly. “The crest that Arden has–it’s ours.”
Ours? The word echoed in my mind. Who else possessed it? My curiosity flared, but I hesitated to ask further questions, realizing that Bethany was already offering more than she likely had in decades
With determination, she gripped the pendant tightly between her fingers. “It glows when my DNA touches it,” she rasped. “It never reacts for anyone else. That’s how I knew, when Arden held it.”
I pursed my lips, recalling the moment we first discovered the crest and how Arden found it utterly fascinating.
“At first, I thought it was a fluke. How could she even be alive!” she chuckled softly. “But when I witnessed it with my own eyes, I knew. Arden is my daughter,” she added, a smile breaking through as she ran her fingers through her thinning hair.
“So, she must be holding it now,” I said quietly.
Bethany nodded, tears shimmering in her eyes. “She must be. If she’s holding it, she’s still breathing.”
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Chapter 118 The Stone Leads
A long, shaky breath escaped my lips as a tiny shuard of hope cracked through the dense wall of doubt weighing on my chest. “She told me it comforts her. She doesn’t quite understand why?
Bethany’s mouth tightened. “Will you tell her?” I asked gently.
She fell into silence for a moment, her gaze drifting back outside. “It doesn’t matter,” she muttered hoarsely. “What we need to focus on is making sure she’s safe first. That’s the only thing that truly matters right now.”
I nodded, respecting her need for silence amidst the storm of emotions between us. My eyes returned to the pendant resting in her lap.
“It glows green when we’re close,” she explained. “If it ever glows red, it means she’s in danger–not just feeling pain, but real, imminent danger. It connects to her through blood. If the stone reacts, it signifies that she’s actively touching it.”
In that moment, I noticed the pendant, still glowing faintly green. For just an instant, I thought I detected a shift in the hue, making it appear more vividly bright.
Ime
That told me one thing–we were on the right track.
I hit the gas harder, my heart racing. If the stone was correct, and everything in my gut told me it was, then it meant Arden wasn’t just wandering aimlessly. No, she was being held somewhere against her will And if that place was nearby, there was only one area that made sense geographically.
The South
The West boasted strong borders, largely untouched by natural calamities. The East was lined with inviting beaches and was the warmest of all the factions. The North, often called the “center” of Fenra, had abundant resources and was bustling with business establishments and educational institutions.
But the South? It was rich in land, with the largest landmass among every faction.
My jaw clenched in frustration.
Without fully realizing it, my fingers were already dialing his number. The phone rang several times before someone picked up with a gruff, irritated growl.
“What do you want, you bastard?” Rowan snapped from the other end. His voice was rough, as if he’d just been dragged from a deep sleep, but beneath that irritation, I could detect his exhaustion.
I tightened my grip on the phone. “Get up,” I
darkly: “Something’s happened.”
A rustle came through the line, followed by a sharp hiss from him. “Why the heck would I do that?” he barked, his voice groggy and irritated. “Do you have a death wish, Cade?”
In the background, I caught the sound of a woman’s voice. “You bastard, are you at a hotel?”
“So what?” he muttered in response.
I heard a brief scuttle before he returned to the line. “I’m ending the call.”
-Rowan-
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Chapter 118 The Stone Leads
Just as he was about to disconnect, I uttered the words that carried weight. “Help me:
A heavy silence fell between us. In the background, Bethany’s cough echoed softly inside the car, and gritted my teeth, trying to drown it out.
Rowan didn’t speak immediately, and 1 recognized that silence. He was weighing my words, contemplating the gravity of my plea. After all, I never asked for help lightly.
Rowan and I had a tangled, complicated past, much of which revolved around our families. Our relationship had been hostile ever since, but deep down, I knew we respected each other. He was also aware that I didn’t beg unless something was genuinely wrong. The last time I reached out to him had been concerning his brother, Elijah–years ago. After that, our communication dwindled, even though we had once shared a close bond during our childhood.
Finally, I heard a long sigh on the other end before he broke the silence. “… What the fuck do you need
