Chapter 189: Finding Him
Aurora’s POV
"Because he loves you, and because you are carrying his child, your bloodline is tightly linked to his spirit right now," Lady Hailee explained, her voice serious and very low. "I know a special way. It is an ancient magic. I can help create a way for your mind to leave your body while you sleep. I can send your soul into the spirit world, deep into the dreamscape where Oliver’s wolf is currently trapped."
My breath caught in my throat. I listened to her words, my heart beating fast against my ribs.
"If you go there," Lady Hailee said, her eyes locking onto mine with an intense, desperate hope, "you can find him in the dark. You can talk to his wolf. You can convince him to keep holding on, and you can give him more reasons to fight and come back to the real world. You can show him that you and the baby are waiting for him."
She paused, looking at me carefully, waiting to see my reaction. "It is not an easy path, and it can be dangerous for a weak mind. But it might be the only way to pull him out of the coma before the poison takes him completely. Tell me, Aurora... can you do that for my son?"
"Yes," I said immediately. I did not even think about the danger. I did not care if the path was risky or if it could hurt me. "I will do anything, Lady Hailee. If there is a chance I can bring him back, I will take it."
Lady Hailee nodded her head, a soft look of relief passing over her tired face. She squeezed my hand one last time before standing up from the chair. "Come with me," she whispered.
I swung my legs over the side of the bed. My knees felt a little shaky, and my head still had a dull ache, but the burning need to save Oliver gave me a sudden burst of strength. I followed her out of the quiet bedroom and down the long, stone hallways of the packhouse. The palace was completely silent now, the dark night air heavy with a shared sadness.
We walked deep into the private wing until we reached the main medical room. Two large, broad-shouldered guards were stationed right outside the double wooden doors. Their arms were crossed, and their faces were set in hard, stony looks.
When they saw us approaching, they quickly straightened their backs, bowing their heads out of respect for the Luna. But they did not move away from the door.
"Lady Hailee," the guard on the left spoke up, his voice low and tense. "Lord Callum has instructed us not to let anyone go in. He was very clear, especially about the girl."
I shrank back slightly behind Lady Hailee, my heart sinking. I knew Sir Callum would try to keep me away from his son.
But to my surprise, Lady Hailee did not argue with them. She did not raise her voice at all. Instead, she stepped forward and simply flung her hand out in a smooth, quick circle through the air. A faint, glowing blue light flew from her fingertips.
Instantly, both of the heavy guards gasped, their eyes rolling back as if they had suddenly become completely drained of energy. Within two seconds, they fell into a deep, heavy sleep, their large bodies hitting the stone ground with a soft thud.
My eyes widened in total shock. I stared at the sleeping guards on the floor, then up at Oliver’s mother. She turned back to look at me, flashing me a quick, reassuring smile that made her look incredibly powerful. She did not say a word about what she had just done; she simply pushed the heavy wooden doors open and led me into the room.
The air inside the medical room smelled sharply of heavy herbs, burning silver, and raw medicine. A single old healer was sitting by a small table in the corner, mixing a bowl of dark green paste.
But I did not care about the healer. My eyes went straight to the center of the room.
There, laid out on the large bed, was my Oliver.
He looked so small, so completely still. His bare chest was exposed, and the three neat bullet holes I had made were now completely covered in a thick layer of dark, crushed herbs and clean white cloths. The gray, toxic veins of the Northern Wolfsbane were still visible, creeping like tiny spiderwebs up his neck and across his throat. The slow, weak rhythm of his breathing was the only sign that he was still tied to this world.
I ran straight to the side of his bed, completely ignoring the healer who stood up in surprise. My shaky legs gave out, and I sat right down on the hard floor beside his mattress, my hands grabbing for his cold, pale hand.
I burst into tears, the heavy sobs ripping through my chest as I pressed his knuckles against my wet cheek.
"Oliver," I sobbed, my voice cracking in the quiet room. "Oliver, please. I never knew you were Raymond. I never knew. I am so sorry... I am so, so sorry."
Deep down in my mind, a tiny part of me knew I was supposed to be angry at him. He had played me for a fool for months. He had worn a scary mask, forced me into a cold contract, and kept huge, massive secrets from me. He had let me hate Raymond while I loved Oliver. But right now, looking at his pale, unmoving face, none of that mattered at all. The secrets did not matter. The lies did not matter. All that mattered to my soul was him opening his blue eyes. All that mattered was him coming back to me and our baby.
Lady Hailee walked up slowly behind me, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. The old healer stepped back, knowing better than to interrupt the Luna.
"Are you ready, Aurora?" Lady Hailee asked me softly, her voice serious as the magical blue light began to hum around her palms again.
I looked up at her through my blurred, tear-filled eyes. I took a deep, shaky breath, pressing my other hand flat against my stomach to feel the faint warmth of our pup. "Yes. I am ready."
Lady Hailee looked down at me, her expression full of a deep, warning gravity. "Listen to me carefully, child. This magic is very old, and it is incredibly risky. You are going into the dreamscape without your wolf to protect you, and your body is pregnant. If the force of the poison or the darkness inside his mind becomes too much for you to handle, you must come back instantly. Do not let yourself get trapped in his nightmare, or you might not wake up at all."
I nodded my head tightly, my fingers gripping Oliver’s cold hand even harder. "I understand. I won’t lose him."
"Close your eyes," Lady Hailee commanded quietly.
I closed my eyes, letting out one last shaky breath in the dark. I felt Lady Hailee’s warm, glowing hands press softly against the sides of my head. A sudden, deep warmth flooded my mind, and the sound of the medical room began to fade away into a heavy, roaring wind.
The roaring wind in my ears grew louder and louder until it felt like it was tearing my thoughts apart. Then, in an instant, everything went completely silent.
The warmth of Lady Hailee’s hands was gone. The smell of the medicine and herbs was gone too.
I blinked my eyes open, shivering immediately from a deep, biting cold. I was no longer in the medical room. I was standing in a thick, dark forest filled with gray fog. The trees were black and twisted, looking like skeletal hands reaching up into a completely empty sky. The air felt heavy, like it was filled with old smoke and sorrow. The ground beneath my bare feet was freezing, covered in a thin layer of dark ash.
This was Oliver’s mind. This was the nightmare the poison had trapped him in.
"Oliver!" I screamed, my voice echoing off the dead trees. "Oliver, where are you?"
No one answered. The silence pressed against my chest, making it hard to breathe. Remembering Lady Hailee’s warning, I kept one hand pressed flat against my stomach, holding onto the thought of our baby like a lifeline. I started to walk, my legs pushing through the thick, gray mist.
After what felt like hours of searching through the dark, I saw a shape ahead.
Sitting on a fallen, rotting log in a small clearing was a man. His head was down, buried in his hands, and his broad shoulders were slumped forward. He wore a simple black shirt, but it was torn and stained with dark gray marks—the mark of the poison.
"Oliver," I whispered, my heart leaping into my throat.
The man stiffened. Slowly, he lifted his head and turned around. My breath caught. It was him. His sea-blue eyes looked dim, lacking their usual bright shine, and his face was tight with pain. But it was my Oliver.
He stared at me as if he were seeing a ghost. "Aurora? What... what are you doing here? You shouldn’t be in this place."
I didn’t care about anything else. I ran across the ash-covered ground and threw my arms around his neck, bursting into hot tears. I gripped him tight, terrified that he would disappear into smoke.
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