Chasing My Rejected Luna
Chapter 177

TEGAN'S

P.O.V

When Ezra went missing, everyone was freaking out. Especially with the knowledge that he possessed not only the sword, but apparently the Alexandrite too. I wasn't sure what possessed him to think that he should do this alone. Nobody needed to be that heroic. It had been weeks, and he still hadn't reached out. Not a day went by that I didn't attempt everything in my goddess-given power to locate him. But with each failure, I could feel myself sinking more and more into a depressive state. All I felt in his absence was an emptiness in my chest. A spot that was normally full of joy, especially in his presence.

Not only were we all on edge about not being able to locate Ezra, but that idea of the possibility of Sibil appearing at any moment made that edge even more slick. Especially now that she has located her items. But she never came. Where was she? Better yet, where was he? Was he on the run, with her chasing him? Had she already found him and killed him?

'No. Mates alive. I feel his beating heart.' Gemma reminded me for the millionth time.

Her words brought no comfort because, even if she said she felt him, I didn't. The longer he was away, the more it felt like my physical body was becoming weaker. Was this also happening to him? Was he out there somewhere so weak that he couldn't go on? "Tegan, we need to go collect the item from them." Novalee said, making me realize I was still sitting in front of the mirror, completely zoned out.

Being in this state made me vulnerable to an attack. But I couldn't help drifting back off to my thoughts in the absence of others. I got so caught up in my head that I was beginning to confuse reality with my mind's overactive imagination.

"Where is Elias?" I asked, looking over at his empty crib.

"With Lucy. She kept him last night so that you could get some sleep for today's mission. Remember?"

I did. But I guess I had also forgotten?

"The rogues won't wait any longer, Tegan. It's now or never."

She was right, of course. But that didn't stop me from still dragging my feet. It was like my mind couldn't catch up with the importance of this mission. In all of our bad luck with locating Ezra, we did manage to locate a group of rogue wolves that knew a friend that knew a friend who was a thief and had stumbled on an artifact we wanted our hands on. So I guess all of our luck wasn't bad. I just prayed that the artifact was real, and the rogues weren't bluffing. I groaned before standing to my feet. "Let's go."

I wasn't sure about this, I had this gut feeling that it was a trap. Novalee insisted these men were telling the truth. She swore that she was in their minds and she had no doubt. But something felt off. However, that isn't saying much, considering everything, by definition, felt off with me recently.

We got in the car and were heading to a pin drop location. Like I said, it all felt sketchy.

Novalee offered to drive and considering the options, that was probably the safest one. I knew I couldn't continue to do this to myself, I couldn't stay locked away in my head all day. I had to be strong. So many people were relying on me and that wasn't just figuratively. There was a real threat lurking in the world and time was not on our side.

"Did the GPS say turn right?" Novalee asked, once again taking me out of my racing mind.

I pulled up the GPS on the car's radio.

"Ugh, yeah. Next right."

"But, there are no roads here."

I looked up, realizing we were in bum f**k Egypt. When did we make it this far? How long had I been lost in my thoughts?

"What do I do?"

"I mean they dropped the pin. So, either there is an imaginary road we can't see, this was a ruse, or it's a trap."

"Why didn't I think of that!"

I looked over at her excited face as she put the car in park, jumping out of the vehicle. Which one was she referring to? Because I didn't like any of those options. Especially the last one.

I had been significantly weaker since Ezra disappeared six weeks ago. My body felt like it was fighting against me. I was barely able to keep anything down, let alone practice my battle tactics with magic. In those 6 long weeks since his disappearance, I hadn't bothered with my magic unless it was to search for Ezra. I should've been practicing with it in other ways than locator spells, but I just didn't have the energy for it at the end of the day.

Our days were spent looking into old artifacts, contacting covens across the globe, along with contacting any elders in wolf packs that agreed to help. Then, after a long day of researching and phone calls, Novalee and Lucy would call it a night. But I would stay up looking for Ezra. Only to be met with the heartbreak of nothing.

In the beginning weeks of Ezra's disappearance, we searched everywhere. Tore those woods apart. But it was as if he vanished into thin air. I followed his scent up until a clearing of trees where it just disappeared without a trace.

Many of the pack theorized a demon inhabited his body and that was why he hadn't contacted us and was able to just disappear. But something deep in my gut told me that it was much bigger than that.

"Shit, you were right. It's like a force field. There is definitely something behind this." Novalee hollered out as she placed her hand in the air.

It stopped moving as if it had hit against something, yet to me, it only looked like her hand was held up. I exited the car to go look at what she was talking about. She then began slapping the air, her hand coming to a stop in the same spot every time. "You think we can use our magic to break it down?"

"That may not be the best idea. We have no idea what's waiting for us on the other side."

The pit of my stomach felt like I was going to explode with all the "what if's". But we came all this way, and I'd be damned if a little force field was going to stop me.

"Do you even know the name of who we are meeting?" I asked as I examined the invisible wall.

A shimmery translucent shadow swirled in the air, the magic flowing freely from it. It wasn't visible to the naked eye. However, if you got close enough, tilted your head just right, you could see it. The invisible magical force field and it was there. "What if it's keeping something inside and these bandits are using us to help it escape?"

Like I said, anything was possible, and my mind was thinking about every possible scenario already.

"Is that a chance worth taking?" She then asked.

Maybe. But also maybe not.

"I mean what's worse than releasing hell on earth? No offense."

"None taken. And I don't know. Maybe something or someone far worse than Sibil."

"There is always someone worse than the next. Always someone more evil lurking in the shadows."

She had a point, so why would we willingly break the veil? Especially since they knew we were coming. Something just didn't feel right. But curiosity was starting to get the best of me. What was behind this veil?