Chapter 258

Olivia

Darren was so close that I could practically feel his breath on my skin.

Nathan and I stayed stock still, even more still than the stalactites that we were hidden behind. Neither of us even dared to breathe. As Darren crept closer, I began to worry that he could even hear my pounding heart. Part of me wished that I could will it to stop beating altogether.

Just then, an unexpected sound saved us. A howl, eerie and melancholic, resonated from the cave’s entrance, reverberating through its labyrinthine depths.

“That’s our signal,” Colt called, a note of urgency entering his voice. “We need to leave, Darren. Now. Tooth or no tooth.”

For a tense moment, Darren hesitated, still staring intently at the shadows, searching. The intensity of his gaze felt almost tangible, as though he could peel back the darkness and expose our hiding place with sheer will.

But then, as if torn between duty and suspicion, he reluctantly turned and retreated.

“Fine,” he growled, his voice echoing with a mix of frustration and resignation. “But mark my words, she was here. We need to be vigilant.”

Their voices receded, growing fainter as they retreated from the cave’s depths. The sounds of their departure were soon overtaken by the cave’s natural ambience: the distant drip of water and the soft rustle of the wind at the entrance.

Only when their presence was completely gone, their essence no longer palpable in the cave’s expanse, did Nathan and I dare to breathe a little easier.

We remained in our hiding place, still as statues, processing everything we had overheard, our thoughts and concerns held silently between us.

It wasn’t until we were absolutely certain that the two men were gone that we eventually came out from behind the stalactites, our limbs aching from crouching for so long.

With the unsettling silence having completely consumed the last remnants of the strangers’ voices, Nathan and I hesitated to speak, each waiting for the other to break the palpable tension. The cave, which moments ago had felt like a sanctuary, now bore the atmosphere of a battleground.

Nathan, ever the voice of caution, inched closer to the entrance, the dim light from outside casting eerie shadows over his face. He seemed to be listening intently for any residual noises, his blue-green eyes scanning the environment with hawk-like precision.

“I think they’re gone,” he murmured, his voice barely audible in the cave’s cool, damp air. “Whoever gave them that signal had impeccable timing. Little do they know they probably just saved our asses.”

Drawing a deep breath and collecting my frayed nerves, I replied, “What was all that about, Nathan? How could they possibly know about the ritual? Have you told anyone?”

He shook his head, clearly as baffled as I was. “I haven’t breathed a word of it to a soul,” he said, shooting me a firm glance. “Have you?”

I furrowed my brow for a moment, thinking. “No, I…”

But then, it dawned on me. Angela.

“I told Angela,” I said. “But we were alone, and she would never tell anyone. Not in a million years.”

Nathan was quiet for some time. He seemed to be deep in thought, but also eerily alert. “You’re sure no one was around when you told her?”

I swallowed, nodding. “Yes,” I replied. “We were completely alone.”

“Alright.” Nathan let out a sigh and rubbed his tired eyes. “I don’t know how Ryan could know, then. But it makes me wonder…”

I nodded, finishing his sentence for him. “If that’s why he wants Elliot so badly? Not for an heir, necessarily, but for an ancient bloodline?”

“Bingo.” Nathan paused, peering out into the night again in a paranoid fashion. “Let’s wait here a few more minutes, just in case. I really don’t wanna be running into any of Ryan’s followers tonight, but at least they were headed in the opposite direction of the town.”

There was a silence. I kept thinking back to that howl. “That signal,” I said quietly. “I wonder what all of that was about.”

Nathan shrugged. “A lookout, probably. Maybe they were worried about getting caught. Or they just had… other time constraints.”

Another silence.

“Did it sound familiar to you?” I finally asked, my voice breaking through the sound of the crickets and water dripping at the back of the cave.

Nathan furrowed his brows. “What, the howl? Not really. Why?”

I shook my head. For a moment, I had thought that the howl was oddly familiar. But now that I thought about it, I wasn’t so sure. And besides, I was too exhausted and terrified to delve into who their lookout might have been. Whoever it was was likely a Redclaw, and that was all that mattered at that moment.

I hesitated, then slowly turned around, allowing the soft, ambient glow from the cave entrance to continue to be our sole source of illumination. It painted the cave’s walls with silvery hues, transforming it from a dark, imposing space to something ethereal.

For a moment, it was easy to forget our troubles and become lost in the cave's tranquil beauty.

However, the artifact I held brought me back to reality. Its tooth-like shape seemed to pulse with an energy, a palpable essence that felt both ancient and profound. I clutched it close, feeling its cold solidity, grounding me.

“We need to find the other two artifacts, Nathan. If Ryan or his goons are after them, we don’t have much time,” I stated, urgency creeping into my voice.

Nathan took a deep breath, his usually confident demeanor appearing shaken. “I never thought our journey would attract so much attention, especially from someone like Ryan. He always seemed…” He paused, searching for the right word. “...distant from these legends.”

I nodded, a myriad of emotions surging through me. “He was. At least, as far as I knew. The entire time we were together, he never showed any interest in anything like that. It’s strangely unsettling to think that he’s now competing for these artifacts.”

“Artifacts that don’t even belong to him or his pack,” Nathan said, sounding bitter. “He just wants to take and take and take. Come on… Let’s head home now.”

We began to walk back toward the mouth of the cave, using the dim light to guide our path. The uneven ground, damp and cold beneath our feet, made every step feel like a conscious effort. But eventually, we reached the soft forest floor, and the air there felt lighter and fresher.

Out of nowhere, a thought nagged at me as we walked—a thought so unsettling that I almost wished it hadn’t crossed my mind. I halted, causing Nathan to stop as well, his eyes filled with concern.

“What’s wrong, Olivia?”

I hesitated, then said, “How do you think Ryan knew about the artifacts in the first place? Our circle has been tight, our steps discreet. Hell, we only just found out about the artifacts a couple of days ago. So how is it that Ryan is already sending his goons out to find them?”

Nathan's gaze turned distant, lost in thought. “I’ve been wondering the same thing. There’s no way he could’ve found out on his own. Someone must’ve tipped him off.”

A chilling realization settled over me. “I wonder if there’s a spy in our pack... But who could it be?”