Shadow wolves: The Demon Hunter (Book 9)

Chapter 6 - The homelands of the witches Part 1

Theodore

I had spoken to my mom about the horrific scar on Skye’s back and what I could possibly do to help her. I loved her just the way she was, but I wanted to do something special for her and hoped she wouldn’t be offended. Who knew if she liked the scar or not? Maybe she wanted to keep it?

“Good morning, wild thing.” I smiled at the sight of her. Her eyes fluttered open and she grinned at me. Last night was mind-blowing.

“Good morning, Theodore. I’m starving!” She giggled, and it was the sweetest sound I ever heard. I wanted to see her this happy every day for the rest of our lives.

“Let’s get you some food then.” I jumped out of bed, dragging her by the wrist as we made our way to the dining room.

Skye

I couldn’t get the stupid grin off my face as we walked into the dining room hand-in-hand. Esmeralda was busy having her breakfast and I blushed when she looked up to greet us.

“Skye, darling. I wanted to talk to you about the scar on your back.” She looked concerned, and I frowned as we sat down with plates filled to the brim. Was it that awful?! “In my homelands, there is a group called the seekers. They are incredible healers, and I’ve spoken to them. They would be able to help you, if you want, of course. They might even be able to remove it completely if we are lucky. Don’t get me wrong, dear. I know my son loves you no matter what, but I thought …”

“Is it that bad?” I frowned. I had never really thought about it before.

“No, not at all, I just thought that you might want it gone. I mean, every girl wants to wear a bikini at some point or an open-back dress. Wouldn’t you like that?” She smiled, and I could see in her eyes that she meant well.

“Sure, why not?” I grinned. The scar had never bothered me, but if it could be removed completely, who was I to say no!

“Good, because we will be leaving tonight.” Theo spoke up for the first time during this conversation and my eyes grew wide. It still fascinated me how quickly they could just decide to go somewhere at the drop of a hat.

I was used to being restricted to just the camp and not only had I been to see where their pack lives, but I had also just spent some time at his mom’s castle, and now we were going to see his mom’s homelands!

“You can finally meet my husband!” Esmeralda burst out laughing and I felt my heart skip a beat. I was going to meet the vampire king! Theodore and I spent a lot of time talking, and I knew that he had been given the title of a prince a short while ago. His sister was going to be the future queen! I never in my wildest dreams could have imagined living this kind of life.

“Are we taking the airship?” Theodore looked like a kid at Yule when he asked his mom, and she nodded and winked.

“Airship?” I frowned, tilting my head, and he explained what it was. I was enthralled as he told me more about the homelands and his grandparents. I didn’t even think that half of the things he told me about existed, and I couldn’t believe that I was going somewhere I would be able to see these things. Real fairies!

After breakfast, we went to our room to pack. I actually owned a suitcase, which wouldn’t properly close with everything Theodore bought me while we were there, giggling when he decided to go in search of a trunk. We spent the afternoon looking at photographs of when Theodore and his siblings were children, and then it was finally time to fly.

We walked up the stairs of one of the castle towers and I gasped at the sight of the enormous boat. It looked like a real-life pirate ship! It was incredible!

“May we come aboard, captain!” Esmeralda shouted and a man no more than thirty popped his head out of the captain’s cabin.

“Of course, my love.” He rushed over so fast that I didn’t even see him move and held out his hand to help Esmeralda onboard. I immediately realized that he must be Julius and I bowed my head slightly as Theodore picked me up and carried me on board.

“Theodore!” The man exclaimed as Theodore put me down, and they embraced in a loving hug.

“Your Majesty.” My voice was so soft as I curtsied that I almost didn’t hear myself.

“You must be the lovely Skye I’ve been hearing so much about.” His voice sounded so friendly and I looked up. “We don’t stand on ceremony here, sweetheart. Especially not for family.” He winked, and I was a little startled when he pulled me into a hug. “Just call me Julius.” He let go of me and I quickly stood next to Theodore, still reeling a bit from the shock of how cold he felt. It was true, vampires really were the walking dead!

“Calm down little man. I won’t steal your beautiful bride. I have one of my own, remember.” He grinned at Theodore and I realized there was a soft, but possessive growl coming from my mate which made me smile. Sometimes I still felt overwhelmed by the fact that he was mine, and he could get so possessive over me.

“Let’s get you lot settled, and we will take off.” He waved to the front of the boat and we followed Esmeralda.

The inside of the boat was even prettier than the outside. There was a beautiful dining room and kitchen and a couple of bedrooms, which surprised me. Our trunks were standing in our room and our clothes had already been packed away.

“The trip doesn’t take that long, but there is enough time if you want to take a nap.” Theodore slid his hands down the sides of my arms and I shook my head. I didn’t want to miss one single moment of this trip and asked if we could go outside.

As we stepped out onto the deck, I saw the beautiful night sky with the stars shining brightly in the sky. Esmeralda and Julius were at the helm steering the ship and laughing when we joined them. Theodore put his arms around my waist and I snuggled into his embrace as the cool night air started to freeze up my nose.

“It won’t be cold for too long.” Esmeralda laughed. “As soon as we cross the veil you are going to feel the incredible heat of the homelands and wish we were back here.” She told me some more about the homelands and it still sounded unreal.

After what felt like forever, we reached what they called the veil and as we passed through it slowly, I felt the change in temperature they mentioned. From there it didn’t take long before a huge two-story house came into view. I was so excited. I was convinced I would never be able to sleep again.

Julius docked the boat and Theodore helped me and his mom onto the platform that led to the beautiful top floor. They took me on a short tour of the enormous house, but the thing I loved the most about it was the stained-glass window at the top of the stairs. If I was left there alone, I would be able to spend hours just staring at it.

After some iced tea, we all went our separate ways and Theodore took me to his room. It was nothing like the room in the castle, yet everything I thought I would find in his room. There were shelves upon shelves of trophies and banners from the different schools he attended. There was a double bed that was a lot smaller than the one in the castle, and the bedding was soft lime green.

When he pulled me into his arms in bed, it didn’t take me long to disappear into blissful sleep. Because we arrived at night, I didn’t get to see much of this incredible new world, and I was up at the crack of dawn, sneaking down the stairs, so I wouldn’t wake Theo.

“Good morning.” A lovely older woman greeted me and I jumped with fright.

“Hi.” I grinned when she handed me a cup of tea.

“I’m Lorelei and that old grump over there is Patrick.” I recognized their names as Theo’s grandparents and wasn’t surprised when she gave me a tight hug. I introduced myself, and she told me that they were so happy when they heard that Theo had finally found a mate. Lorelei was busy cooking breakfast and I quickly jumped in and helped.

Esmeralda and Theo soon joined us, and I caught myself just staring at them from time to time. This was a real family, and I was part of that. They were all cooking together, hanging over each other and commenting on the other’s methods, making it a joy to be together in the kitchen.

When breakfast was ready, we all sat down at the huge dining table. The food was incredible! Like nothing, I’d ever tasted before, we spent some time talking about our plans before clearing up. Theodore was going to take me to the seekers after breakfast, and although I was nervous, I was excited. Not only would I hopefully be healed soon, but something in the air just told you what an incredible place this was going to be.

We made our way to the garage, and I was a little surprised to find a bright red sports car parked in there. Although I guess it did make sense for a young man like Theo, I didn’t picture him as the sportscar type. He opened the door for me and we climbed in. He was a really great driver and I couldn’t get enough of the scenery on the way.

We drove through a thick forest and I almost wished we could have shifted and run through it when we pulled up outside what looked like an oasis. It was in strict contrast to the forest with the light brown walls and palm trees. It felt as if we had just stepped through another veil into a new world or country.

There were so many things to look at, but what caught my eye first were the intricate tiles that formed a small border in the middle of the wall. Almost like a mosaic was flowing from the entrance into the building guiding you to where you needed to go.

“Theodore! How lovely to see you again!” A woman walked up to us with her arms stretched out, and she hugged Theo, making me growl softly. She laughed when she let go of him, and looked at me.

“You must be Skye. It’s so wonderful to meet you.” She pulled me into a tight hug before taking my hand and leading me further into the maze of corridors. I looked back to make sure Theo was coming with us and found him smiling, walking a couple of steps behind me.

“I’m Rochelle, assistant to the leader of the seekers.” We walked into a room that looked completely out of place in this beautiful world.

It was some kind of medical examination room filled with what I could only guess was the latest in technology, and she pointed me to sit down on the bed. The exam was incredibly extensive as she checked me from my head to my toes and finally, I had to remove my pretty sundress to show her the scar.

“Oh, my sweet, sweet girl.” She sounded so kind, and I didn’t once feel as if she felt sorry for me, which was my greatest fear. I didn’t want anybody to feel sorry for me. I survived what I had to, to get out of the demon world, and I would have worn my scars proudly if I wasn’t afforded the opportunity to have them removed.

“Can you fix it?” I felt my heart starting to race a little as I waited with bated breath for her answer. She had some more questions about how it affected my movements and then told me to get dressed and join her and Theo next door. I didn’t like the sound of that as fear pushed up my throat while I got dressed.