Page 197 of The Lost Ones

“Because with no definite hierarchy or leader it was quickly overtaken by the worst of the worst Supernaturals. Thieves, murders and more. Only those with a suicide wish go there now. Or those with no choice. They’ve developed their own hierarchy and system for keeping the chaos marginally under control. They show no mercy and death is almost always the punishment for the crime no matter what was done or if the accused are actually guilty.”

“Fuck. That sounds like hell.” Mav mutters.

“That’s why they call it the Cursed City.”

“I still want to see her castle. Why don’t the Enforcers do something about it?” I ask.

“They can’t. They’ve sent multiple teams over the centuries to dismantle it but none of them have ever come back. All communication has been lost with them everyone assumed they were caught and killed. At this point no one is willing to send Enforcers on a suicide mission especially since the amount of supernaturals willing to join the Enforcers in recent years has dropped substantially. Until we can work out how they are taking out our best and strongest teams we steer clear. We pick them off when they venture out of the city. That’s the best we can do for now.”

“That’s strange how they keep disappearing. I wonder if they were actually killed.” Levi muses looking back over his shoulder.

I can feel all of the guys curiosity through the Bond link.

“We’ll come back one day.” I say and Kysen looks at me sharply, I carry on talking. “We’ll gather as much information as we can and train andthen we’ll come back and take the city back.”

“Sounds good Darling.” Levi grins.

“You guys are fucking crazy as hell.” Kysen says shaking his head in disbelief. “Can we help?” He adds grinning widely.

“I knew we were going to be life long friends Dude.” Kai says excitedly. “You’re just as nuts as we are.”

“You can count on it!” Kysen grins. “I’ve always wanted to do something to try and help the normal people that are living as pretty much prisoners there or victims of circumstance.”

“What?” I say my voice dangerously calm. “There are normal people there? People that have done nothing wrong?”

“Yes. They use them as well servants pretty much. It’s become a case of do as you’re told and you don’t die a gruesome death. It’s very unlikely that you can escape once you’ve been captured and taken there.”

“Yeah. We are definitely going back and soon. For now let’s get as far away from there as possible. Until we’re ready and after we find my parents.” I add.

I get an overwhelming feeling of rightness as I say it and I know from instinct that the goddess approves.

“The goddess agrees with the plan.” I tell them and the dubiousness on their faces clears.

“That is so weird. Did she just talk to you?” Kysen asks his voice hushed and his eyes wide.

“No dude and why are you whispering?” I chuckle.

“Well how do you know she agrees then?” He asks.

“It’s kind of like a feeling I get almost like approval and then its pure instinct that tells me its from her.” I shrug, leaning down to pat Dave and then tilting my head up to the sky to watch Ghost and Knot flying above us.

“That makes no sense but I’m going to take your word for it.” He grins.

“Are your brothers going to be ok with you just volunteering them to go to the Cursed City?” Levi asks.

“Oh yeah. We’ve toyed with the idea of going for a while. If only for recon purposes.” He admits.

“We were absolutely supposed to friends Dude.” Jax grins and Kai frowns as he looks between them.

I really hope they realise what they’re feeling for each other soon before one of them accidentally ends up hurting the other.

“What was that?” Levi says suddenly and we all fall quiet.

Chapter Eleven

Ilisten intently, trying to push some of my magic into my ears so that I can hear better. We’ve come out through the woods and on to yet another wide dirt track. It twists and turns in a winding path with large trees lining either side of the road.

As we approach the bend in the road raucous laughter suddenly sounds out along with the sound of several male voices and hooves. I listen harder to see if I can hear anything else and I swear I can hear the sound of soft sniffles like someone is crying and trying to hide it.