Sweet Redemption: The Morningstar Series Book 3
Sweet Redemption Chapter 73

Akeehla and Lenny didn't return for almost two days. Bou and I were in a complete panic. I couldn't sit still and had been pacing for possibly the entire time. Robby and Belle had joined us now. I was pretty sure that Max asked them to come to help Bou and me. "Bianca you are making me dizzy." Belle told me. "Sit down please. I can make you some tea." She offered.

Bou had sat in the same spot, staring at the same wall, for two straight days.

I stopped and narrowed my eyes at her. "Tea? My mate is gone, being put there who knows what! And you want me to sit down and have tea?" I shouted at her.

"Bianca." Robby scolded me as tears filled his mates eyes.

I sighed. "I'm sorry Belle. I just.." I trailed off unsure of what to say.

"It's alright B. I'll go make us some tea." She said as she stood to her feet. "Bou, help me please?" She asked my brother.

Without a word Bou got to his feet and walked to the very pregnant Wood Nymph. He grabbed Belle's hand and she held onto him tightly. Robby and I watched as they disappeared from the witch room into the kitchen. "I'm worried about Bou." I told Robby.

Robby looked at me with wide eyes. "I think we are all worried about Bou. Along with you B." He told me.

I looked at my brother and gave him a weak smile.

"It's hard not having her next to me." I admitted.

"I can't say that I know the feeling since Belle and I have been inseparable since we met but I get it. I'd die if she disappeared from me one day." He told me.

We were silent for a moment before I sat on the stool next to him.

"I can't believe how pregnant she is already." I told him.

Robby laughed. "I know. Apparently Wood Nyphm pregnancies are even shorter than werewolf ones. Something about it being too hard to be pregnant for a long time when you live in the middle of the woods." He said.

I smiled at him. "You're gonna be a dad soon." I whispered.

Robby turned to me with a face of pure horror. "Like days soon." He said.

"Like any day soon." I said making his fear grow.

"I don't know if I'm ready to be a father." Robby admitted after a moment of silence.

"What do you mean? It's a bit late for that brother." I said.

Robby sighed and ran a hand down his face. "After what happened in foster care I never thought I would be normal. Not even for our standards. I never thought I would stop having nightmares, never thought I would be able to move on completely. But then I met Belle and everything fell into place. She loved me with so much patience and understanding. She filled the hollowness in my heart and made me feel...normal again." He gave a short laugh. "But what if I'm not ready for this?" He turned his head to me. I placed my hand on top of his and gave it a squeeze.

"Robby you are the sweetest most patient man I know. Even when you were "broken" you would have been a great dad. And you are not doing this alone. You have Belle. And Tia and Max and me and Ahkari and Bou and Acaisia. Not to mention the rest of the Morningstar's here. You're family has grown so much since you found your mate. Lean on them when you need to. Know you are not in this alone. But still, you will be such an amazing father. I know it." I told him. "Thanks B." Robby gave me a small smile.

"Anytime bro." I said.

Just then Belle came back in with Bou right behind her. Bou was carrying a tray with a tea pot, mugs, sugar, honey, and milk. He set it down in front of us before sitting back down on the same stool he has occupied for days. "Bou you have to snap out of this. How are we supposed to save them if you can't even function?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "I'll be fine. We will save them." He said.

I frowned. I thought he was beating himself up and worried that our mates were lost forever. Yet he seems so sure that we will save them. So why the gloom?

"Then what's up with you?" I asked him.

Bou looked up at all of us before his eyes settled on me.

"She isn't going to want me once I get her back." He said.

I frowned at him.

"Well you two are marked now Bou so it's a bit late for that." Belle told him.

He shook his head. "You have no idea the things I said to her. The way I treated her." He told us as he looked away. "I drove her to the point where she no longer wants to live. How could she ever forgive me for that?" Robby and I shared a look before he turned to our brother.

"I think you will find that Aciaisa is more forgiving than you think Bou. She loves you. That's clear to everyone. You just have to tell her you were under a spell. She will understand." Robby told him. "What if she doesn't?" Bou asked.

The pain in his eyes was too much. I've never seen Bou like this. Not when we were kids being beat or starved in our foster homes. Not when I was almost raped as a child. Not once have I ever seen him look so hopeless.

"She will." I told him. "I know she will. She feels guilty about the way she treated you Bou. The two of you just want to be loved by each other but neither of you know how to communicate. So, communicate with her when she gets back." I told him.

Bou smiled to me but otherwise went back to sulking. It was clear that he didn't believe any of us. After another hour went by and no one was back I sat down on a table, crossed my legs, and tried to reach out to my mate. It didn't work but I wasn't ready to give up. "We're back!" Called out Lenny.

My eyes snapped open just as they entered the room. Tia appeared next to me scaring the absolute s**t out of me. She looked at her sister and aunt expectantly.

"Well?" She asked after they said nothing.

"I got the scales." Kee said as she walked back to the mortar and added them in.

"Are you going to tell me how you got those?" Tia asked her little sister.

"I told you. The King owed me a favor." Kee said vaguely.

There is something about that girl.

"He also gave us this." Lenny said holding up a golden spear.

"Uhmm... Holy shit." I said as I inspected it. "It radiates power." I commented.

"I know right." Lenny said excitedly. "He said that this should take Omen out." She told us.

"And he just gave this to you?" Tia asked skeptical. "The king of the Dragons?" She clearly didn't believe them.

Lenny gave Kee a strange look, that she ignored, before turning back to Tia.

"Well, there was a deal." She said and Tia gave her a look that said 'go on'. "As soon as this is over King Cadmus of the Dragon realm would like to sit down with you." She said.

"Why?" Tia asked skeptically.

"He wants to intergate the species." Lenny said simply.

Tia's jaw dropped. She blinked at her aunt for a few moments. I was beginning to worry about her when she still hadn't moved.

"You okay Tia?" I asked her.

She ignored me but started to speak to her sister and aunt.

"The King of the only species that we don't have a treaty with, the one who runs a race that is completely against any other race, the Untrusting King, wants to make a treaty with us now?" Tia asked incredulously. "Mhmm." Lenny hummed out.

Tia blinked at her. "Why?" She asked.

"King Cadmus just really likes Aunt Lenny. She did help bring his son back after he was kidnapped." Kee said and Lenny's head snapped to her.

"I didn't know his son was kidnapped." Tia said.

"Neither did I until I got there and found out that Aunt Lenny found him." Kee said. Just when Tia was about to question them further Kee brought our attention back to the problem at hand. "The potion is ready. You guys ready for this?" She asked Bou and I. I nodded and Bou got up from his seat. Kee held out a large spoonfull of the potion she made for each of us. We choked it down nearly throwing it back up. Then they taught us how to skry. I say taught but really they just had us drip blood onto the Orbuculum and told us to repeat a few words in latin that I didn't understand. We watched in anticipation as the sphere changed and showed us an image. Immediately I recognized it.

"The castle." Bou and I breathed out at the same time.

"Where is this?" Tia asked.

"This is the castle in the painting we were in for the mission. He took them back there." I said.

"Alright. Go gear up. Queen Annag is going to meet us at the cave entrance and we are all going in. Aunt Lenny you coming?" Tia asked her aunt.

"Only if our little Derranged can come." Lenny replied while she threw her arm around her other niece.

Tia narrowed her eyes at her little sister. "Akeehla is too young to go on missions." She said.

"Pft, come on. If it wasn't for her we wouldn't even know where the twins are." Lenny argued.

"Do we really have time for this?" I asked impatiently.

Tia sighed. "No we do not." Then she gave her aunt and sister a hard look. "Fine. But you follow my orders you got that?" She asked them.

Both nodded to Tia.

About an hour later we were all standing outside of the cave. It still gave off that ominous vibe. We explained to Tia how we got through the first time and how there was danger waiting for us at the end of the tunnel. We were all geared up with weapons. Bou has Acaisia's sword and I was carrying more knives than I could count.

Queen Annag told us who Omen really is. How he is the brother of her late husband, how he was trapped after all the s**t he had done. The Queen showed up with a small army of men and women. All of which were geared up with their own swords and other various weapons. This is it, we are getting them back.

Just as expected, the leech creature attacked us at the end. Tia, knowing it hated fire, burned it until it was nothing but ash. Then we rushed through. It took us less than ten minutes to get to the castle and when we did, we barged right in. And thank f**k we did. There in the ballroom was even more ritual items than the first time. The floors looked different too but what really caught my attention was my mate. Ahkari lay on a large stone table in the middle of the room, her sister next to her. My mate was thrashing around screaming out to her twin. Acaisia lay there doing nothing, she isn't even strapped down like my mate is.

A white-clear dome was blocking us from them. We tried to break through but not even Tia or Max could. Tears filled my eyes as I watched my mate try to escape.

"It's useless we cannot break through this magic." Queen Annag said softly.

"There has to be something we can do!" I shouted.

"Acaisia isn't tied down." Tia said. "Acaisia!" She shouted at her sister but Acaisia didn't respond.

"You are too late. My plan is almost complete." Omen told us.

He walked over to Acaisia's right side and hovered over her.

"Acaisia baby please don't do this." Bou begged her. "Please.. Just come back with me. I promise I will make up for everything I did baby! But you have to come back! You have to come back to me!" He shouted, his voice breaking at the end.

Acaisia was still not responding to us. Ahkari was thrashing around like a maniac. Panic was coursing through me as I watched Omen start to speak in a language I didn't know.

Kee placed her hand on Bou's arm and came to the forefront.

"Wait." She whispered to us.

Bou and I turned to her with incredulous looks.

"Trust Acaisia." She said.

We turned back to the scene before us just in time for Omen to plunge a dagger into Acaisia's chest.

"NO!" Bou screamed with so much agony even I felt his pain.

But then the dagger disappeared.

Acaisia sighed as she sat up. Omen frowned at her. Then Acaisia pulled out another dagger from behind her back.

"You shouldn't have trusted me with important things." She said to him in a bored tone.

We all stared in complete shock.

"You are going to pay for this. Give me that dagger!" Omen ordered her.

"Gladly." Acaisia said before plungging the dagger into his chest.

Omen's eyes went wide as he stared at Acaisia. So much happened at once. The symbols started to glow even brighter, almost blinding. Omen slowly fell to his knees after Acaisia pulled the dagger out of his chest. We all watched in stunned silence as Omen's body started to crumble until turning to ash.

The light from the symbols grew so bright that we all had to sheild our eyes. And then it stopped. The light disappeared completely and the room went still. My eyes popped open in time to see the dome go down.

I ran to my mate that was laying passed out in the table. Quickly, I unchained her and looked her over for injuries. She looks okay to me. I turned my eyes to Bou who is holding Acaisia in his arms. Tia and Max by his side.

Kee walked over to me and put her hand on my shoulder as she stared down at her sleeping sister.

"Come on. Let's take them home."

Bou's P.O.V.

We have been back for four days. Ahkari woke up hours after being rescued but Acaisia is still asleep. Everyone has come to look her over, none of them could tell me why she wasn't awake yet.

I knew though. This is all my fault. She didn't want to come back to me and how could I blame her? I drove her to this point, to the point where she didn't want to live anymore.

Bianca told me what Acaisia had said to her in that closet the other day. How she was upset because of me the whole time. I was so stuck in my own anger that I didn't see her suffering. Bianca told me it was the spell, even Kee told me I was under the spell, but that didn't make any of this easier.

Acaisia was the only one of the four of us that wasn't under any spell, but I hoped that was a lie. Omen took advantage of my mates guilt and I never noticed. I should have. I hated seeing her so upset. I should have comforted her and held her until I could make her smile. Now I was too late. I don't think Acaisia will ever wake up.

Sighing I left Acaisia in our bed, where she has been since returning home, and went to our bathroom. I turned the shower on as hot as it would go and stripped out of my clothes. Getting in I didn't even feel the sting of the scalding water. I stayed under the stream of water as I thought about what happened over the last few days.

Akeehla and Tia helped us teleport the twins back home. We stayed with our mates and as soon as Ahkari woke up, she insisted on seeing her twin. That was when Kari told us about Acaisia not being under a spell. How Omen took advantage of her mental state to help him. She told us that Acaisia must have been pretending after a while because she was obviously the one to kill him.

Kari joked that it was anti-cilmatic since Omen was taken out so easily. But she also said it was bound to happen with the way he underestimated women. Not only that but Omen had too much power for his body to handle. Ahkari told us that he wouldn't have survived absorbing their power anyways and Acaisia knew that.

My mates twin seemed so sure that Acaisia was putting on an act for Omen to save them all. While part of that seemed true considering what happened, another part of me knew she was really that sad. It might have ended in Acaisia acting but it did not start out that way.

Still, I was happy that Acaisia didn't go through with it. Even if it was just to save her twin. f**k I wish she would wake up. I miss her so much.

After my mate and her sister were brought home, Tia and Max met with Queen Annag. They had come by the next day to check on the twins. Max assured me that Acaisia was okay and just needed time to heal. When I asked him from what he told me that not all wounds are visible. My heart broke.

One very good thing that came from all of this was our new standing with the Fae. Queen Annag was already immensely greatful for us helping to save her realm. Then when Ahkari told her everything that she found out... Well I felt for the Queen. She lost her husband and son to this evil man. Queen Annag even admitted that she wasn't sure she could have taken him out without our help.

Now the Queen made a special treaty with the Morningstar family. She told them that her loyalty lies with this family. Then she sent out another team to find her son. After the second day of my mate not waking up, Lenny went out to finish her mission that we had interrupted.

Belle and Robby had come by to check on my mate every day. I was extremely greatful for my family. Belle checked all of Acaisia's vitals every day despite being very pregnant. It made me happy to see them all care for my mate. And myself.

Bianca and Ahkari were here every morning and stayed until late hours into the night. If it wasn't for them I'm not sure what kind of state I would be in. They made sure that I ate, got out of bed, showered, all of it. If it weren't for them I'm not sure I would have ever gotten out of bed. Every night when they left I would crawl into bed with my sleeping mate. I never slept though. I lay awake every night just staring at her, waiting for those beautiful deep blue eyes to flutter open. The sun would come up before I knew it and my sister was bursting through my door to force me up. Every morning I left the warmth of my sleeping mate with a deep sigh.

Belle had suggested that I try talking to Acaisia. Even if she is sleeping she might be able to hear me. But I never knew what to say or if Acaisia even wanted to hear me. My life feels empty without her giggles. The hollowness in my chest grew every day that she didn't wake up. I swear the moment she wakes up I am wrapping her in my arms and never letting her go. Not even if she wants me to.

I turned off the water and slowly got out of the shower. I don't think I even washed myself. My brain couldn't seem to focus. After I wrapped a towel around my body I walked back into the bedroom. Acaisia was still asleep on our bed. I stared at her for a few minutes before going to our closet and throwing on a pair of gray sweatpants and a white T-shit. When I came back into the room my mate was still asleep. I sat down on the bed beside her and grabbed her hand.

"Belle keeps saying that I should talk to you. I didn't think you'd want to hear from me though." I gave her a short dry chuckle. "But I have to try now because I have no idea what else to do." My eyes filled with tears. "Baby I am so sorry about what happened between us. It wasn't me. I would never treat you that way. I wish that I was stronger, that I could have faught it. You have to know that I love you more than anything in the world baby. I love being connected to you, being with you. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I don't regret anything between us at all baby. Not the fights, not the way you push me away, definitely not our marks, nothing." I told her but she didn't react. "I miss you so much Acaisia. Please wake up baby. I need you..." I whispered to her. Acaisia, of course, never reacted to me. After wiping the few tears from my eyes I kissed her forehead and trudged down the stairs. Ahkari and Bianca will be here any moment to "wake me". I walked to the kitchen and started pulling out things to make breakfast. Shortly after I started cooking the bacon my sister showed up with her mate.

"Good morning." Bianca said surprised as she walked into the kitchen. "Morning." I replied without turning to her. "You guys hungry?" I asked.

"Yeah actually." Bianca said.

"I'm gonna go check on Acaisia." Ahkari said before heading for the stairs.

I turned around and watched her rush up the steps, then I turned to my twin with my brow raised.

"You aren't the only one worried about her Bou." Bianca said softly. I just nodded and turned back for the stove. "So, how is she? Any change?" She asked as she hopped onto one of the stools.

I turned around and shook my head. "No, nothing. She hasn't even moved. I tried to talk to her before coming down here but.." I trailed off.

Bianca nodded in understanding. "She will wake up Bou."

"How can you sound so confident? What if she doesn't?" I asked her.

"She will. I know she will." Bianca said.

I only nodded to her. Bianca was the one that made sure her mate and I remained hopeful. I knew she felt it was the only thing she could do and she was partly right. We couldn't give up hope that Acaisia will wake up, and she will. She has to. I can't go on without

her.

A little while later breakfast was done. Ahkari came down to eat with us but the sad look on her face let me know that my mate still hadn't moved. My heart sank even deeper. The three of us ate in silence and my food tasted like saw dust. Then we spent the rest of the day doing what we usually did. Ahkari and I took turns sitting with Acaisia, who never moved. Bianca tried to cheer us up and it worked for Ahkari. We watched movies that I couldn't pay attention to, ate lunch and dinner, and I had started drinking two minutes into dinner.

Belle came by to check on my mate. Acaisisa's vitals were all normal like usual but she still didn't wake up. I was very thankful for everything our family is doing but it wasn't enough. Nothing would be enough until she woke up.

Around 11 p.m. Bianca and Ahkari went home. I stayed downstaris for the first time since we've been back. I just couldn't bring myself to go up there and watch the women I love never wake up. So, I drank instead.

I woke up with a stiff neck and still on the couch. I'm not sure how long it had been since I fell asleep. Honestly, I'm surprised I woke up since I haven't slept in days. Without looking at the time I got up and trudged up the stairs. If I'm finally going to sleep, it's going to be next to my mate.

Stumbling up the steps had me realizing that I'm still a bit drunk. I sloppily walked into our bedroom, my eyes fell on an empty bed. Empty? My eyes snapped back to the bed. Yup, empty. I looked in the closet for my mate before I heard the water shut off in the bathroom. How did I not hear that sooner?

I waited with baited breath as the door opened and steam poured out of the bathroom. Acaisia came out wrapped in a black fluffy towel. Her long blonde hair dripping water onto our floors. I stared at her wondering if I was still dreaming. Maybe I'm drunker than I thought. Then her eyes met mine and everything fell into place. My breathing came back, her strong chocolate raspberry scent wrapped around me, and my heart beat for what felt like the first time. "Acaisia.."