The Vampire’s Hybrid / Book Four ✔️
Chapter Twenty-Five: The End of the Journey

The deep pounding inside of her chest didn’t feel healthy as they all waited outside of the castle for Sawyer. Ava woke that morning wrapped up in Lucas’s arms and despite neither one of them wanting to get out of bed, they had to and now she found herself wanting to go back. The warmth of his skin and his scent was her peace and right now, as he stood behind her with his hands wrapped around her stomach, she wished that they were back in that bed with nobody around but them.

Ava eyed the group. Abby sat in Raphael’s lap a few distances away as they quietly spoke to each other. It looked like Abby was trying to keep him there and Ava had to laugh at that, those two were always trying to keep each other from running off and living in the middle of nowhere and Ava didn’t blame them. Despite her short time being here in the kingdom, the walls of the castle sometimes feel like they are caving in around her and she has to step outside to get some fresh air. She’s shifted a few times now to let Ezer out which both freaked and fascinated everyone. Those reactions soon turned into fear when Cole and Gene would shift with her.

Then there was Mack and Zack holding Kendrix. Ava could see how nervous Mack was and she felt that deep in her heart. She could be getting her sister back today after two years and that would be nerve-wracking, to say the least.

“August looks like he’s about to burst.” Lucas chuckled from behind her as his lips touched her ear and made her shiver. “Know why, little wolf?”

Ava bit her lip and shook her head. “Nope.”

“Liar.” He said as he nipped her ear and made her jump.

“I can’t tell you.” She seethed through gritted teeth as Gene turned his eyes towards her and widened them in surprise. She instantly felt embarrassed and wanted to pull out of Lucas’s hold but he had a tight grip on her. “Stop making me feel things, my brothers are watching!”

Lucas chuckled again and kissed the side of her head. “You’re adorable when you’re embarrassed. Makes me want to do more things when they’re watching.”

Her eyes widened and she slapped his chest with the back of her hand. “Don’t you dear!”

“You two are sickening,” Figus commented while he sharpened his blade. “Now I know why Nim walks away from me and Pipèe.”

Nymeria wrinkled her nose, her feet crossed in front of her while she leaned against the castle wall with her arms crossed. “Thankfully she’s not here to demonstration.”

“I can get her here so fast, girl!” Figus fought with his feline eyes wide. “I’ll make more kittens and fill that house until there is no room left.”

Nymeria rolled her eyes. “You can’t actually.”

“And why not?”

She looked over towards August who was impatiently waiting for her to give him permission to tell everyone about her pregnancy. He was making it extremely obvious and at this point, Ava figured everyone knew but Lucas proved her wrong a moment ago. Once her head nodded, August exploded and told everyone he was about to have a son and started describing what his kid could look like, it was cute and Ava couldn’t keep the smile off of her face as she noticed the way Nymeria was watching her mate. They loved each other deeply and the way he brightened up at the idea of a child made him lose his normal, professional personality and turned him into an excited little boy.

“Next pregnancy, tell me,” Lucas whispered in her ear as they watched everyone congratulate the new parents. “I want to hang it over their heads.”

Ava raised an eyebrow. “And if that pregnancy is me?”

He hummed and swayed their bodies. “I can’t deny that I won’t act like August.”

She laughed and hugged his arms closer towards her body. Simon looked proud as he hugged Nymeria, her eyes swelling up with tears before she quickly wiped them away and hoped that nobody saw them but Ava saw the tears and she was glad that she had.

They waited another hour before everyone started to get impatient. Kendrix started to fuss and Mack started to get stressed while Zack held his son and tried to calm him down. Everyone was hot standing in the shade but Ava felt cold. Her body shook and her nerves spiked as she stood and held her thumbnail in her mouth. Lucas had tried to get her to sit down many times but she couldn’t. The closer Sawyer came, the more she felt the cold and his sadness. He was so sad and desperate that the tears that had started to fall from her face began to cloud her vision. Ava didn’t know how to explain that they weren’t her own and that her emotions were purely affected by Sawyer because she didn’t know how to explain it.

Sometimes when a person is so deep in their head, she can feel it and it burns her from the inside out. It was the side of her witch’s gift that she hated the most and it was something she deeply wished that she could control but Ava lived with it and hoped that it would get better. Now, all she wanted to do was run and hope that Sawyer turned back so that she didn’t have to feel what he was feeling anymore.

It was too deep. Too raw and it was unsettling.

“Is that him?” Gene questioned after a long silence. Everyone stood and held their breaths, Sawyer slowly came into view as his brows were drawn into a frown. The sight of everyone waiting for him must have been a surprise, and as he approached, he paused in his steps and went to open his mouth to speak but nothing came out. “Shit, he’s hot.”

“Every guy here is hot to you!” Cole groaned as he glared at Gene.

Gene gave him a sheepish smile. “They’re not as hot as you.”

Cole’s glare deepened before he huffed. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

Sawyer watched the exchange with confused eyes before he turned them towards everyone else. It was obvious that he wasn’t expecting a welcome party nor was he expecting to watch two grown men have a petty argument but it looked like his shoulders had loosened and he didn’t seem as tense as Zack stepped forward with Kendrix in his arms and finally spoke. “Welcome, Sawyer. It has been too long.”

“I wasn’t expecting to recognise every single one of you,” Sawyer admitted before his eyes turned to Ava. “Were you watching me a few days ago?”

Her face heated, the ring in her pocket suddenly burning through to her skin as she stepped forward and gave him a soft smile. “I was, yes.”

“How?”

She turned her head to replace Lucas giving her an encouraging look before she turned back and pulled out the ring. Ava felt herself shaking as she stood in front of him and gently grabbed his hand before placing the ring in his palm. “I met your mother and she gave me this.”

His frown deepened as she stepped back and watched as that frown turned into a surprised look. Ava hated that he didn’t feel intimidating anymore and that surprised her. He wasn’t himself, he didn’t feel like Sawyer and the fact that his hair was now shoulder length proved that he had lost himself the last two years. “It’s Marley’s engagement ring.” He mumbled before he balled his hand and looked into Ava’s brown eyes. “Thank you, Ava.”

She nodded, her smile widening before she turned and almost ran back into Lucas’s arms. Her heart had begun to pound so fast that her breathing was now ragged. This whole situation was a mess and having a dragon shifter in front of you was terrifying.

“We have refreshments inside if you want to come in?” Zack spoke again. “The journey must have been long and treacherous.”

Simon then stepped forward as he eyed Sawyer from head to toe. “Or would you like to get this over with?”

Sawyer eyed the old man back. “I see you haven’t changed.”

“But you have, boy!” Simon snapped, his beard swaying in his movements. “All of this stalling is only going to make you worse.”

Sawyer visually held his tongue as he scoffed. “So, all of you gathered here because you know about Marley and feel sorry for me?”

Mack crossed her arms. “No, we are here because we all want her back just as much as you do. I want my son to meet his aunt and I want my sister back!”

Sawyer didn’t flinch as he eyed Kendrix in Zack’s arms. Kendrix didn’t seem remotely bothered by the glare and was trying to stretch his little body out so that Sawyer could hold him. It would have been a comical sight if the air wasn’t so tense. “I don’t know why I came,” Sawyer admitted. “I don’t know how any of you could help.”

Abby finally broke her silence as she tilted her head towards Ava. “Only one of us can realistically help you. The rest of us are only here just in case something goes wrong.”

Ava bit her lip. “Actually, I will still need you, Mack and Nim to sit around me while I draw Marley out of the crystal. The only issue is making sure that nobody else gets sucked in once she’s out.”

Abby nodded in understanding as Simon spoke. “Don’t concern yourself about that part, I have it.”

Ava watched Nymeria visually flinch and close her eyes. She knew something that nobody else did and that didn’t sit right in her stomach. “Shell, we get started then?”

Raphael’s question finally snapped everyone out of their frozen states as Ava felt Lucas link his fingers with his and tug her to walk. They were going to do this in the garden and Ava hoped there would be enough room but she didn’t know how this was going to go. Nobody knew how this was going to go and that scared her. This crystal was deadly, it has been around for centuries and replaceing out that it held no soul was unsettling. It was never empty which means that someone had figured out a way around it and kept that secret, somebody out there knew but they are probably dead now and everyone here was left on their own to think about the what-ifs and hows in this situation.

The walk didn’t take long, her heart thumping louder and louder as she eyed the blankets that were laid out in preparation. She had thanked Daisy for doing that for her but Daisy only smiled and walked away. She was a quiet girl who only spoke to Mack and Ava was a little sad about that but she didn’t have time to think about it.

Ava sat down in the middle, Abby somehow getting the crystal off of Sawyer and for that, Ava wished she wasn’t so oblivious so she could have witnessed that exchange. Once she sat down, Abby placed the crystal in front of her and then sat down to Ava’s right, facing her. Next, Mack sat on her left also facing her with a soft, encouraging smile. Once Nymeria sat in front of her, the nerves suddenly became too much. The pressure was too much and she felt herself fall into a panic attack.

“I’m right here, my little wolf,” Lucas spoke from behind her. She felt him sit down and her body suddenly tensed. “I will always be your lifeline. At any point, if you feel like you can’t do this, I will pull you out. We will pull you out, everything will be okay. Nobody will hate you if you can’t save her.”

She then felt two more bodies beside Lucas and smiled. “You got this Ava, baby,” Gene said with a hint of his usual cheery self. “We all know you’ve got this.”

Ava didn’t turn around for a second as they all spoke. Her eyes only stayed on the crystal as it pulsated with power. Having her family around her was comforting and that comfort was the only way that she could sink herself into the depths of her soul and feel her body freeze.

Everything stilled in her mind as she felt herself latch onto Abby and a string of her soul took hold of Mack’s chest. Once her third string located Nymeria, a new stilled wave of air followed. They were her lifeline, Lucas was her lifeline and now she had to hold onto them until she found Marley.

Her hands reached forward, her movements feeling robotic as the electrical currents of her skin zapped the crystal. Her fingers barely touched it before she found herself standing inside of it, her breath coming out in soft smoke as she shivered and walked through the red-coloured surroundings. Everything was red from top to bottom, it was almost claustrophobic and Ava felt her heart clench at those sudden panicked thoughts as she walked and pushed through it all. This wasn’t about her, this wasn’t about her fears or regrets. This was about bringing a girl back home to her family and mate who are waiting for her on the other side.

It felt like hours of walking as she tried to replace Marley. Her scent was untraceable and the deeper Ava walked, the worse she felt. It was as if the crystal itself was draining the life out of her physical form and if it wasn’t for the memories of Lucas telling her about her future child, she would have thought that this was the end for her altogether.

Ava felt tears form on the corners of her eyes from that thought, she wanted that child so badly that it pained her that she didn’t already have it. A little bundle of joy and happiness to call her own called to her soul and that calling became louder and louder until she found herself running.

The pull towards her child grew and as she ran she found herself becoming desperate with the need to save a child that doesn’t exist. Her desperation became toxic and her lungs were filled with so much air and ice that she wheezed and swayed. Her legs almost buckled until she couldn’t move at all.

Ava felt her heart jump into her throat as she found that she had nowhere to go, the walls were caving in on her and the only option she had left was to crawl. A small opening appeared that only she could see. Distantly, she could hear panicked screaming and shouting, her body being swayed but she ignored it and kept crawling until finally, she found another opening.

Once her eyes locked onto Marley’s body, she felt the ice forming about her entire body as if it were trying to keep her locked in place. Ava felt her eyes burn and her breath slowly give out as she kneeled beside a sleeping Marley and grabbed her hand.

I’ll always be beside you, my little wolf.

Ava gasped, her head shaking as she held onto Marley tighter and pulled her body into her chest so that they could warm each other.

You are the air that I breathe, you are the only reason why I am still alive today. If you leave me now, I’ll be nothing, Ava. I can’t live without you and I know that makes me a selfish bastard but I don’t care. I love you, I love you, I love you!

Ava found herself repeating the words, her body rocking Marley until her eyes suddenly opened with a gasp. Her hands clinging onto Ava’s arms as she chanted.

Come back to me!

I love you!

Come back to me!

Ava felt her head drop, Marley’s green eyes widening in panic as she found herself holding onto a limp Ava. Ava wanted to move but she found herself slowly sinking, her soul was being pulled away and there was nothing she could do about it but listen to Lucas’s pleading.

“I’ve got you little one,” A voice spoke from behind her. Marley’s head snapped up as her eyes swelled with tears.

“Simon?”

“Take her back, Marley. Take her out of here and bring her back to her mate.”

“What about you?”

Simon smiled. “I was born to be in this crystal. I knew that the moment I saw Nymeria’s face when she was a child. I have pushed your fates because this was all supposed to happen. Now, go!”

Marley sobbed, her hold on Ava’s body tightening until Ava felt nothing but warmth. Death silence and gasps of shocked air were all that she could muster as she was pulled out of Marley’s hold and embraced by Lucas, Gene and Cole. Her brain tried to catch up with what had happened in there but her lungs burned for the need to breathe and her face was covered with residue ice that made her shiver.

“Marley?”

“Sawyer?!”

Ava opened her eyes just in time to see Sawyer pick Marley’s body up into his arms and hold onto her as if his life depended on it. His eyes were filled with tears and disbelief and his hold made her chock and laugh but she didn’t let him go either.

“I felt you die,” Lucas spoke, her eyes moving from the happy couple and into Lucas’s white face. All his colour was drained from him and that made her confused. “I felt you die!”

“I…I don’t know what happened.” She admitted as she looked around the group. “Where is Simon?”

“He saved both of you,” Nymeria said as she hung her head. Figus was wrapped up in her arms and August stood behind her with his head on hers for comfort. “He did all of this because he knew it was going to happen. He was dying and knew the crystal was going to take your soul so he sacrificed himself. He was always going to sacrifice himself.”

“That was so cold,” Abby mumbled as she leaned against Raph for warmth. “It was so cold in there.”

“I have never felt cold like that before,” Mack spoke after her which gained Marley’s attention in seconds. “That was…”

“Death.” Ava finished for her.

Mack nodded, finally standing before she turned towards Marley. “Where is my hug?”

Marley choked out a sobbed laugh as she pulled out of Sawyer’s grip and wrapped herself around her sister. “How are you here? How are any of you here? Where are we?”

Mack laughed, wiping a tear away from Marley’s eye. “You have a lot to catch up on.”

“Like meeting your nephew, Kendrix,” Zack said as he came up towards them with a loud Kendrix. His little eyes were so wide with excitement and his little hands instantly clung onto Marley’s hair. She looked just like she did two years ago as if the crystal stopped the aging process. She was covered in blood and her clothes were old and torn but she was alive and smiling and talking and that was all they wanted.

Marley was back, Simon was gone and Ava felt like a piece of her soul was missing as she clung to Lucas but it was all worth it.

Watching this happiness was worth it.