Resisting the Moon (Royal Shifters #2)(16)

Memories flashed through my mind, but they weren’t my own. They were Amelie’s. I could see my aunt and uncle smiling, then it changed to blood. I saw their deaths, heard their screams as the other wolves ripped them apart. I wanted to close my eyes and shut it out, but I couldn’t. I was trapped. The voices of the wolves were all jumbled in my mind, but their faces started to come to me. Ever so slowly, they became clearer.

“Tyla!”

Gasping, I was thrust back into my own mind, the blue stone skidding across the floor as Sebastian knocked it out of my hands. He lifted me to my feet, cupping his hands against my cheeks. “What the f*ck? Are you okay?” His eyes were wild, flashing back and forth between human and wolf.

I nodded quickly. “I’m fine. I don’t know what happened.”

He glanced back at the stone. “I do. That rock is covered in magic. I tried to stop you from touching it, but you beat me to it. What did you see? It’s like you weren’t even here anymore.”

Swallowing hard, I could taste the bile burning my throat. “I don’t think I was. I could see into Amelie’s memories. She watched the wolves tear her parents apart.”

Sebastian growled.

“I was about to see the wolves who took her until I was thrust out. We need to see who they are.” Clutching his hands, I pulled them away from my face and rushed to the stone. Before I could grab it, he tackled me to the floor, pinning my arms above my head. My body was too weak to even fight him off.

“Tyla, stop! I don’t know what kind of magic this is. We don’t know if it’s good or bad.”

I tried to move my arms and they wouldn’t budge. “What does it matter if I can find out who took her? Whatever the reason for it being here is, it’s obvious someone was meant to find it.” Her journal still sat on the desk. “We need to read her journal.”

Huffing, he loosened up his grasp and I still couldn’t fight him off. “The stone made you weak. I’m barely holding you and you can’t fight me.”

My heart raced. I knew I was close to something; I just needed to get there. “Please, Sebastian. I don’t know what’s going on, but it feels right. You have to trust me.” Jaw tense, he glared over at the stone and reached for it. “What are you doing?”

“I want to see what you saw.” I held my breath and waited for him to touch it. He took a deep breath, and when he touched it . . . nothing happened. Brows furrowed, he held it in his hands and studied it. That was strange. He helped me to my feet and sat the stone on the desk. “I wonder why it’s not working now,” he said.

I reached over and scooped up the thick journal, flipping through the pages. There were entries from thirty years before, when we were in Finn’s pack. “I don’t know. Maybe it was only supposed to work one time.” If so, we were screwed.

“I think we’re done for the day,” he suggested. “You can barely stand. I’ll rent us a cabin out this way so we can come back tomorrow. We’re obviously not going to get much more done today.”

Nodding, I held the journal firmly in my grasp and picked up the stone, not expecting anything to happen. But that wasn’t the case. I was sucked back into its magic. And this time, I may not have seen the three wolves who took Amelie, but I did see someone else.





Sebastian

Tyla was still passed out by the time we got to the cabin I’d rented, so I carried her inside and laid her on the bed. Taking one last glance at her, I shut the door to the bedroom and retreated downstairs. I pulled out the stone and set it on the kitchen table. Why hadn’t it worked for me?

Sliding my phone out, I dialed Seraphina’s number. She was one of the Royal Pack elders, and a wolf who had the magic of a witch.

“Hello,” she answered.

“Seraphina, it’s Sebastian.”

“Oh dear, you don’t sound so good. I take it there’s bad news.”

Sighing, I sat down on the couch. “It’s not good. In fact, I have to call Sophia and Erle as soon as I get off the phone with you.”

“Where’s Tyla?”

I closed my eyes and concentrated on her in the room above. She was still breathing heavily. “She’s upstairs sleeping. We found her aunt and uncle ripped apart in the woods, with no sign of Amelie.” She gasped. “But that’s not what I’m calling about. Something else happened and I need your help. Have you ever encountered a blue stone with linking capabilities?”

“Like what exactly?” she asked.

“We found a smooth, blue stone on top of Amelie’s journal. When Tyla touched it, she was thrust inside Amelie’s memories. The downfall is that it drained Tyla’s energy and completely wiped her out. That’s why she’s unconscious upstairs.”

“What all did she see?”

“The first time she touched it, she could see her aunt and uncle’s death. But then I stole the stone away because I thought it was hurting her.”

“Did you see anything when you touched it?”

I picked up the stone and examined it. “No. I’m holding it now and it’s not doing a goddamned thing.”

“Interesting. And from what you said, I’m assuming she touched it more than once?”

“Yes, but I don’t know what she saw the last time. She’s not awake to tell me.”