Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder
Chapter 1148 - 59 : The Dark Witch’s Grimoire

Chapter 1148: Chapter 59 : The Dark Witch’s Grimoire

*Eva*

It felt as if another horrendous storm was underway. The ship started to rock violently. I clutched the grimoire tightly in my hands. It was a thick, beautiful book that could have only belonged to my powerful mother.

I had no idea how old it was, but it looked to be centuries worth with its well-worn binding. The cover was ornate with intricate designs and mythical symbols. There were even a couple of precious stones embedded in the center of the swirling pattern that made up the cover.

I immediately felt a warm spark form within me as soon as I was handed the beautiful book. It was as if a piece of myself was returning to me.

When I tried to open it beneath the orange light from the tiny lantern in the dim room I had occupied, it wouldn’t budge.

I smirked. Of course, there would be an invisible protective seal on the powerful piece of literature. It took some time, but I was eventually able to use my magic to open the book, running my hands over the cover and along the sides.

I scanned the pages with wide, hungry eyes, amazed by all the intricate illustrations and spells that were inside of the thick book. There were spells for just about everything from those having to do with love, and death, and everything in between.

My hands froze over one particular page with grotesque images of bones being violently inserted into another body in order to transfer magical abilities. This kind of practice could only be performed by the most powerful of magic wielders.

Like Hestia.

I read her notes, my heart pounding heavily with each word as realization chilled my blood.

Hestia had a plan more than two decades earlier; to kidnap children to perform this ritual with the church of Lycaon on them using the bones of the first witch.

What Rion and I had endured as children was all starting to fall into place as I came to the shocking realization that our mother had done the heinous deed of abducting us from our real families.

She didn’t stop there. I could only imagine how dangerous and risky this ritual would have been, even for a powerful witch like Hestia. Rion and I would have been extremely lucky to survive it.

My heart suddenly ached as I wondered how many other children she had tried this on. How many of them had died because of this?

I felt sick to my stomach as my fingers grew numb from the shock of it. As I continued to scan the pages, my ears buzzed as the distress only grew stronger.

My fingers traced over the words that confirmed Ryan and I had been abducted. Hestia wasn’t our real mother. I had been lied to and deceived by her and her followers to bring her back, to attempt to sacrifice a Crimson and give her my body....

“Hey, Witch!”

I tilted my head at the sound of Carissa’s voice. If I’d have had my powers, I would have killed her right then and there. The tiny door flew open and the captain burst in, her green eyes narrowed when they finally landed on me.

I straightened, shifting the book slightly behind me so that it was mostly out of view. “Why have you disturbed me?” I demanded. “I require all the concentration possible in order to decipher the grimoire.”

Carissa just smirked at me, even going so far as to lean against the doorjamb. The pirate slut still managed to look nonchalant, however.

She lowered her breathy voice to an almost sultry tone that made me want to chuck something at her stupid red curls. “I just thought that you’d like to know that you’re running out of time, little witch. Your brother seems to be growing more pale and more weak by the minute.”

I clenched my jaw, glaring hatefully at her. “Get. Out.”

Carissa shrugged but was actually wise enough to obey, leaving me alone with my growing anger.

I flipped through the pages feverishly, the shock of my past unraveling and quickly being replaced with the fear of losing my brother.

Finally, I found the page I was looking for. The map leading the Hestia’s treasure was naturally a riddle in of itself, filled with magical symbols and codes that only another magic wielder like myself would be able to decipher.

Still, it took some time to decode the entire map.

But then... I knew where the treasure was.

I walked out to give Carissa the directions. She smirked at me once again, but nodded and immediately gave Kyle and the rest of her crew the orders to change course north through the Southern Pass toward islands off the coast of the Southern Jungle.

I looked down at the map as we approached a lone, rocky island. We circled the island until we spotted an inlet on one side, large enough for the ship to sail through and directly into the cave indicated on the map.

My jaw dropped at the bluish crystals embedded into the walls of the cold cave, illuminating our way through the breathtaking tunnel.

I grew uneasy the further we sailed into the darkness. The little crystals seemed to flicker, exasperating my anxiety.

I felt Carissa and Kyle’s frustration growing. It was a long tunnel, the end of it not visible at all.

“How much further?” Carissa snapped, turning to glower at me.

I gritted my teeth. “May I remind you that I haven’t exactly seen this treasure?” I asked rhetorically.

One of Carissa’s crew members suddenly ran up to her, his eyes wide. “The crew is getting restless,” he announced. “We all feel as if we’ve been sailing in circles inside of this cave.”

Carissa snapped at him to tell the other crew members to toughen up, but I had stopped listening, thinking about what the concerned crew member had said.

It was probably foolish of us to believe that Hestia would have just put the treasure out in the open.

That would have been way too easy.

I straightened and shut my eyes, jumping up on the railing of the ship. I had just enough of my power left to search for any protective spells. I raised my hands, feeling the familiar warmth and tingling flow through my fingertips as I extended my abilities outward.

The shimmering crystals on the cave wall suddenly glowed brightly and allowed us to see the legendary treasure, sitting on a large, raised platform. It was actually just as I had envisioned it, with piles of gold coins and precious gems sprinkled throughout.

I had been correct. Hestia had put an invisible shield over the treasure to hide it from view.

The whole crew cried out joyously and brought the ship to a stop right in front of the large rocky platform. Carissa was the first to jump off of the ship, hopping lightly over the edge. As she jumped, I noticed something bright and purple glimmering just beneath her neckline under her shirt.

I barely stifled a gasp when I realized what it had to be.

It was an Ethereal Amulet, a magical relic that allowed the wearer to dampen the powers of those around them.

That was what the worthless scum had been using to weaken my abilities.

I saw red as I strode across the ship and purposefully jumped over the edge to land on the platform just behind Carissa, who was busy surveying the treasure with bright, greedy eyes. I watched her for a moment, feeling very much like a lioness about to pounce on her prey.

I could tell that my magic was still very much diminished, but suddenly, it was as if my anger boiled over, causing a brief spike in my power that I used to spin the worthless pirate around and pin her in place.

She was taken by surprise. Her green eyes were round and frightened as I slowly descended on her, grabbing the amulet from around her neck and yanking it off violently. I smirked down at her just as she had done to me several times during the past few days.

“I bet you thought I wouldn’t be able to figure it out, you worthless pirate scum.”

I watched her eyes widen even further, causing my smirk to grow in response. As soon as I snapped the necklace off of her, my powers immediately began to spill back into me as if the little gem had it all trapped inside.

“The antidote for my brother,” I spat between my teeth. “Now.”

It looked as if Carissa couldn’t even speak, the fear seeming to choke her.

“Unhand her,” said a low voice behind me.

I whirled, my teeth baring automatically. Kyle was holding a vial with glowing blue liquid in his hand. “This is the antidote for your brother, which you would have been given regardless since you were able to bring us to the treasure.”

Not allowing Carissa to move, I crossed the space between Kyle and me, snatching the vial out of his hand. “Be warned,” I said. “This had better work, and if it doesn’t, you won’t live long enough to enjoy your precious treasure spending.”

Kyle nodded seriously, giving me confidence that this antidote would actually work.

I left the two idiot captains before rushing back onto the ship, gripping the small container tightly in my fist as I hurried down the ladder leading below deck.

I shoved the small door leading to my brother’s room open and I felt like going back up to pummel both of those fools when I saw the state that he was in. Carissa had spoken true when she said that he was even paler.

I had visited him just a couple of days prior and he wasn’t nearly this pallid. I sprinted across the small space separating us and took him into my arms, propping his head up so I could carefully pour the blue liquid into his mouth.

I ran my fingers up and down the front of his throat firmly, helping the liquid to flow down into his still form.

It took a couple of moments for Rion to open his gray eyes. I nearly cried with relief but was able to restrain myself.

Rion blinked up at me. “Eva....” he rasped.

I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, half to hug him and half to help him into a sitting position. “It is a relief to see your eyes open again.”

I helped him stand and frowned with fury when I saw how much he struggled. I gritted my teeth and turned toward the door, welcoming the familiar flood of power that rushed through my veins.

“Stay here. I’m going to go torture those pirates and make them wish for death before handing it over to them.”