Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 117: Lost Control

*Jared*

I could tell that Hestia was weak as we traveled to the stone circle. She had her servants with her, but we still had to stop frequently throughout the day.

Hestia always played it off as wanting her palanquin bearers to rest, but I could tell it was for her own benefit.

Either way, Hesita was still dangerous. She looked weak, but I had no doubt she could still be a danger to Eliza. I had to keep her focus on me and keep Eliza safe.

If I said or did anything wrong, Hestia would go after Eliza and our unborn child.

When we stopped for the third time in one day, I sat down on a rock far from the group.

Hestia had her servants to tend to her. They never bothered me, thankfully.

I breathed in deeply, taking in the fresh air. We'd be at the stone circles by nightfall, despite Hestia's persistent stops.

Moving slowly had its advantages. It gave Eliza a chance to catch up with Archer and figure everything out.

The look in her eyes when I'd sent her away still haunted me–so much pain, hurt and betrayal. I never wanted to hurt her like that, but I had to in order to protect her from Hestia.

At first, I'd only played along to try to discover what Hestia was after. She'd been playing games with us right from the start, and if I wanted to learn her true motives, I needed to show her I was willing to listen by shutting Eliza out.

The more Hestia revealed, the more I knew I had to get Eliza away from her.

My mind wandered back to when Eliza and I were in the Light Realm. We'd gone to Ciana and Theo for help.

Ciana had spoken to me directly on the phone. She'd told me not to tell Eliza what she had to say because we both knew that Eliza wouldn't listen.

Her message had been cryptic and I didn't understand it at the time. It wasn't until Hestia mentioned the stone circles that I'd realized I had to push Eliza away completely.

Ciana had told me back in the hotel that Mila had shared a vision of the future with her.

Future visions were not something I was used to thinking about or talking about. But Ciana had assured me the visions were real.

She said that Mila didn't usually share her visions because they were hard to interpret, but this vision was about Eliza and it was pretty straightforward.

Ciana told me that if I ever had to go back to the stone circle where Eliza was cursed, I had to go alone, without Eliza.

Beyond that, I didn't need to understand the vision. Knowing that she couldn't go with me was enough.

The things I'd said....

Groaning, I bowed my head into my hands. I'd had to say some of the cruelest, harshest things to get her to stop trying to help.

I hated saying anything that brought tears to her eyes, and she'd had those tears in her eyes when she was dragged out of the room at Aries's mansion.

It had broken my heart to see her go like that. I just had to keep telling myself that she wouldn't accept what I was saying, not really.

Since Ciana had warned me about the stone circle and because Eliza had been attacked by the Cryptex there, her hand getting mangled and the curse taking her over, it was a no brainer to keep her as far away as possible.

Besides, it would only get Hestia to cooperate and reveal more of her plan if she thought I was on her side.

By now, Eliza would be on her way back to the mansion. At least, that's what I hoped. I'd tried to drive that point home when talking to her.

She'd be safe there while I took care of Hestia.

I glanced up and saw how far the sun have moved in the sky. Sighing, I stood up and stretched my legs.

“Let's go Hestia. We're losing daylight." I knocked on the post of her palanquin.

“But we only just stopped." She glared at me through the curtains.

“We've rested long enough. I don't want to waste any more time."

“Fine," she sighed.

Her palanquin bearers lifted the transport and kept moving. Hestia just had to lay on a comfortable platform of pillows and blankets. I didn't even see why she needed to stop and rest. She didn't even get up and move around.

***

We arrived at the Stone Circle as the sun was setting.

The palanquin bearers set Hestia down in a spot where she had a good view of the entire site. They pulled the curtains back so she could see better.

“Light some torches and hang them on the tallest stones," she instructed.

“What are the Bones of the First Witch?" I asked as her little minions ran around, putting torches up.

The flames flickered around the stones, giving them a creepy, horror vibe.

“Exactly what it sounds like–the skeleton of the first witch is buried here in the stone circle. Her bones are quite powerful."

I wrinkled my nose. “You actually want me to dig up ancient bones? I thought we were after an artifact!"

Hestia chuckled darkly. “They are an artifact. They also happen to be bones. That isn't going to be a problem, is it?"

I sighed and shook my head. “No...."

“Well, you might as well start digging."

“What!? You don't know where they are buried?" I arched an eyebrow.

Hestia shrugged and wrapped a thick blanket around herself, stroking the fluffy fabric covering her shoulder with white, bony fingers.

“Somewhere inside the circle. That's all I know. My servants will help."

She clapped her hands and her servants moved into the circle. They dropped on their hands and knees and started to dig through the dirt around the stones.

“The legends say that her bones were separated as a way to disperse her power because together it was so potent, even in death. Based on tradition, her bones will probably be at the base of the larger stones."

Hestia's instructions made my stomach clench.

Digging up bones was definitely Eliza's territory as an archaeologist.

I wasn't sure how I felt about digging up an ancient, dismembered witch. Though, if I could get my hands on the bones first and hide them from Hestia, it could stop her in her tracks.

“You better be right about this," I hissed.

I went into the stone circle and dropped down at the base of one of the larger stones. The dirt was dry and tough, but I broke through to the softer soil underneath.

I scooped dirt up in my palms, tossing it aside and going back to my hole for more. Eventually, my finger grazed against something hard and smooth. I paused and glanced around quickly.

None of Hesita's other servants had found anything yet. They were all furiously digging, desperate to be the ones to find what their mistress was looking for.

Careful not to draw attention, I reached one hand into the hole and felt around the item I'd struck. It had the hardness and smoothness of bone. I felt around the edges and discovered an arm bone with tattered pieces of clothing hanging off of it.

“I found something!" one of the servants called.

“Me too, over here!"

“Bring the bones to the center of the circle," Hestia demanded.

Her servants obeyed and they began assembling the First Witch's skeleton in the center of the circle.

Soon, there was a leg, her ribs, a skull, and several finger bones. Every few minutes, another servant found more bones.

Soon, they'd have the entire skeleton except that arm I'd discovered. I needed to remove it and make it look like I hadn't found anything.

Whatever bad Hestia was going to make happen, it started with getting all the bones in the center of the circle.

I sifted my hands through my dirt pile, spreading it out and flattening it out some. While the others were focused on assembling the skeleton, I plucked the arm bone from the hole and covered it in the loose dirt around me.

I went to the next large stone and started digging around the base. When I had a shallow hole, I slipped the arm bone out of its hiding place.

“Hey, you found one!"

One of Hestia's servants pointed at me, crying out excitedly.