Lyla
"I'm not sure. The scent is muddled, like it's being masked or distorted."
Against every instinct screaming at me to flee, I found myself moving toward the kitchen. The blood trail was clear and unmistakable, leading us deeper into the house.
Ramsey stayed close to my side, his body positioned to shield me from whatever we might encounter. Kyren took point, his weapon drawn and ready, while Circe brought up the rear.
As we approached the kitchen doorway, I could hear voices β low, urgent conversation that stopped abruptly as we drew near. My heart was pounding so hard I was sure everyone in the house could hear it, and the twins were moving almost frantically now, as if they too sensed the approaching danger.
Kyren paused at the threshold, holding up a hand to signal us to wait. He peered around the corner carefully, then his entire body went rigid.
"Well," he said, his voice carefully controlled. "This is unexpected."
"What?" I whispered, trying to see around him.
Instead of answering, Kyren stepped into the kitchen, keeping his weapon ready but not actively threatening. "Miriam," he said, and I heard surprise in his voice. "And Eliass. This is... quite the dramatic entrance."
My mind reeled as the names registered: Miriam, my mom and Elias.
I pushed past Ramsey's protective arm and stepped into the kitchen, needing to see for myself what was happening.
The scene that greeted me was both better and worse than I'd feared. Miriam sat slumped in one of our kitchen chairs, her usual pristine appearance dishevelled and her face pale with pain. Her clothes were stained with blood β some of it clearly hers, some of it belonging to the man she was tending to.
Elias lay on our kitchen table, unconscious and badly injured. His clothes were torn and bloody, and even from across the room I could see the severity of his wounds. But he was breathing, and Miriam's hands were glowing with healing energy as she worked to stabilise him.
"What happened?" I asked, rushing toward them despite Ramsey's sharp intake of breath behind me.
Miriam looked up at me, her usually calm eyes filled with urgency and fear. "They found us," she said. "Xander's children. They've been hunting anyone connected to you, anyone who might have information about your whereabouts."
"But how did they find us?" Circe demanded, moving to examine Elias's injuries. "The protective wardsβ"
"Are keyed to allow allies in need," Miriam replied. "There's a lot of connection between Delia and Lyla. I'm so sure of that."
I stared at Elias's unconscious form, noting the claw marks across his chest and the unnatural pallor of his skin. Whatever had attacked them hadn't been entirely human.
"How bad is it?" I asked quietly.
Miriam's expression was grim. "Bad. But he'll live, if we can keep him stable through the night."
"And you?" Ramsey asked, noting the blood on her robes.
"I'll recover," she said dismissively. "But Lyla, we have a bigger problem. They're not just hunting randomly anymore. They have a plan, an approach to finding you. And they're getting closer."
Miriam didn't look up. "Clean towels," she snapped. "Boiled water."
"I'll get it," I said, already moving. Ramsey caught my wrist.
"Slow," he warned in a voice that should have been ridiculous but wasn't. He helped me skirt the glass-littered floor and set a heavy pot on the stove while I grabbed towels. Circe flicked her fingers, and a blue flame burst to life under the pot.
"Circle the house," Kyren told her. "And check the wards while you're at it."
"On it," she nodded and disappeared.
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Whoever wrote chapter 196 for you did a poor job cause it's definitely not you...