[CONTENTID1]Lavender[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]Chapter Thirteen[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

Yoonhee was roused by the sound of muffled voices. They were speaking over each other, some louder, others quieter, and with this buzzing noise in the background, she gradually regained consciousness. Her tiredness was gone in a second when she remembered their predicament. Fear struck her like a lightning bolt. Eyes snapping open, she stared at the ceiling of the living room. She sat up, rubbing her face and pushing the blanket away from her body. Dread gnawed at her and made it impossible to sit still. When she got up, she was driven by the sole desire to find her soulmate, to assure he was safe. She made her way through the dark living room, almost stumbling over the coffee table. The dim morning light that reached into the room wasn’t enough to illuminate her surroundings.

A jittery hand touched the door handle. She opened it and entered the foyer. The agitated voices grew louder—they originated from the kitchen. Yoonhee’s fear mounted with every step she took. Soon, she would find out whether the search had been successful or not, but she was not hopeful… The upset state of the other clan members signified that something was wrong.

When she reached the kitchen, everyone except for Baekhyun was there. Her desperate gaze jumped from face to face, wishing to find an inkling of hope, but it was futile. The vampires’ eyes were ruby red with anger and desperation. Yoonhee’s arrival made them fall silent. A veil of trepidation fell over the group.

“Did we wake you up?” Junmyeon asked. He scanned her appearance, scowling at what he saw. She looked ill, her complexion looking ashen instead of rosy. Since she had barely slept, dark shadows rested beneath her eyes and her hair was messy. On top of all that, she still wore the clothes from yesterday.

“Not really. I couldn’t sleep well,” she admitted, nervously wringing her hands.

“You should rest more, you don’t look good,” Kyungsoo chimed in. Besides the anger burning in his scarlet eyes, she read debilitating worry for his friend, and maybe for her.

“No!” she replied, but once she realized how snappy she sounded, she bit her lip. “I’m sorry, I just can’t sit still as long as we haven’t found Baekhyun.”

“We don’t have any leads, unfortunately,” Junmyeon answered. The clan leader was visibly concerned, wearing a permanent scowl on his handsome features. Yerin stood next to him, holding on to his arm, presumably to calm him down.

“What we found in Sooyoung’s home wasn’t useful,” Kyungsoo continued. “It was obvious Baekhyun was there at some point. The front door was damaged, so he must have forced his way in, but neither he nor anyone else was inside the flat. It looked abandoned. None of Sooyoung’s belongings were left which means he lives somewhere else now. We followed his and Baekhyun’s scents to the parking garage beneath the building. Two humans accompanied them as well, but we lost them when they entered their car and left the area.”

“Sooyoung disappeared with Baekhyun?” Yoonhee asked, eyes widening in horror. “And you couldn’t follow them?”

Her own helplessness roused unstoppable rage within her. Sooyoung had tormented her for long enough—and now he even hurt her soulmate. She couldn’t forgive him. Her hate reached an immeasurable height, towering over any other feeling. He made her miserable for years, and he was not allowed to do the same to her love. Baekhyun was all she had, she cherished him so much it was painful to be separated even if it had only been a day. Her chest hurt.

This was where she drew the line.

“That means they’re keeping Baekhyun in a random location and we don’t have a clue where he could be.” Yoonhee wanted to scream in frustration. Something within her urged her to hurry and save him quickly. A strange instinct kept telling her that Baekhyun was in grave danger. The magic of their soulmate bond buzzed in her chest, nervous like a swarm of bees. It felt weaker than yesterday, an alarming indicator that something was wrong with him.

“What should we do now?” Chanyeol sighed. His red hair covered his eyes as he stared at the kitchen tiles. The weight of defeat lay on his shoulders. He didn’t want to lose his best friend.

It was clear they couldn’t rely on the vampires’ senses any longer. They needed a new plan. Yoonhee wished she knew more about their soulmate bond—maybe she could have used its inherent magic to find Baekhyun, but it was vastly different from her green magic and hard to understand.

A sudden idea struck her. If she couldn’t use the bond’s magic, why not try it with her own? Yoonhee had never used her powers to search for someone and she wasn’t sure if it was even possible, but it was worth a try. She would do anything to find Baekhyun.

And if she ever saw Sooyoung again, she would resort to any means necessary in order to stop him. She was done submitting to him and his violent ways. Sooyoung would not manipulate her ever again. And more importantly, he was not allowed to lay a hand on her beloved soulmate. Her green magic was not meant to cause harm, but she would make an exception. For Baekhyun.

Boiling with rage and determination, Yoonhee clenched her hands into fists. If Baekhyun was in a place with a connection to nature, there was a chance her magic could reach him. The sudden determination brightening her eyes didn’t go unnoticed by the vampires. They followed her when she ran out of the kitchen, storming through the foyer and throwing open the front door. The weak rays of the morning sun greeted her. She entered the flower garden behind the mansion and sank on her knees. The grass was covered in dewdrops, dampening her jeans. She ignored the cold morning air.

“Yoonhee, what’s going on?” Yerin asked.

“I want to try something,” she replied. “But I don’t know if it’s going to work. I need to concentrate, please give me a moment.” The clan members watched her with questioning gazes. They didn’t speak a word and waited to see what she would do.

The young witch spread her hands on the grass and focused on the soothing magic dwelling within every plant in the vicinity. She sensed their connection to the earth and each other, their roots reaching deep into the ground. Yoonhee would use this connection to search for Baekhyun. If she was successful, she would find out where he was.

The thrumming magic in her fingertips resonated with the flowers, following their roots into the ground, jumping from plant to plant with astonishing speed. This allowed her to use them as a network—and once she got the hang of it, she became even faster. Thus, she was able to search a large area for her soulmate.

Fortunately, her efforts were rewarded. She received a signal. Some plants seemed to grow very close to Baekhyun, allowing her to sense him. She thanked the stars he wasn’t unreachable. Her relief was immense, and while the excessive use of her magic had tired her out, the excitement about reuniting with him was much stronger.

Sooyoung had underestimated her. He thought her to be a weak witch because she refrained from using her magic to cause damage. But her powers were strong. She had honed them and practiced continuously, becoming more attuned to the natural magic residing in every living being.

“I think I got him,” she mumbled, squinting her eyes. “He is… somewhere in the east… in a room beneath the earth. It’s a cold and dark place and it’s located in a forest. I sense many trees nearby.”

The vampires were speechless for a moment, staring at her with newfound hope. “How far is it?” Junmyeon asked.

“It’s hard to tell… I’ve never used my magic like this. But I doubt it’s far from Seoul.”

“Can you lead us there?”

Yoonhee didn’t hesitate. “Yes. Let’s go right now.”

The group didn’t take their cars. They were too slow now that every second counted. Since Yoonhee couldn’t keep up with the supernatural speed of a vampire, Chanyeol had volunteered to carry her on his back while she told them where to go. He ran insanely fast. At first, it made her nauseous. Her surroundings blurred and became unrecognizable while a sharp wind hit her face. The ride was quite bumpy, too. She gritted her teeth and held on to his shirt for dear life while he supported her legs with his arms.

Every few minutes, they needed to stop so she could reestablish her connection to Baekhyun. They needed to be sure they still were on the right track. It was a nerve-wracking endeavor, especially for Yoonhee whose worry didn’t disappear. Her heart’s thundering beats didn’t calm down.

The group left the city behind and was now on the way to a forest, just as Yoonhee had predicted. The closer they came, the easier it was for her to pinpoint Baekhyun’s location. And suddenly, the vampires were able to pick up his scent, mixed in with that of three other people.

“We’re almost there,” Chanyeol said, slowing down. The vampires became cautious, and their fierce gazes swept over their surroundings. Since they did not know whether to expect an ambush, they carefully moved on, keeping Yoonhee in the middle.

It was eerily quiet in this part of the woods. The birds were not singing. Everything seemed dead or frozen in time. Not a single animal dared show itself, sensing the dangerous vampires who intruded on their home.

“This must be it,” Junmyeon said and halted in front of a rusty metal hatch in the ground. It would have been easy to miss, had they not picked up Baekhyun’s scent.

Chanyeol set Yoonhee down and stood in front of her. Th