Lahat ng Kabanata ng Mated to Three Handsome Nightmares: Kabanata 121 - Kabanata 130

Kate's POVThe giant serpent coiled away from us, its massive form sliding back through the forest the same way it had come. I could hear the crunch of its scales over the dead leaves and damp earth, and I didn’t dare move until the last flick of its tail disappeared between the trees.Only then did I exhale.A shaky breath escaped me, and I realized I’d been holding it this whole time. My lungs burned.“Are they dead?” I asked, turning to Kira, my voice a whisper like I was afraid the serpent would return if I spoke too loudly.Kira didn’t answer immediately. She stared down at the nearest soldier, her brow furrowed. Then she slowly knelt and placed two fingers on his neck. “No,” she said finally. “I don’t think so. His pulse is strong.”Relief flooded through me.We moved quickly, checking each man, one by one. Some had shallow breathing, others just lay still like they were under some kind of deep sleep spell. But soon enough, I saw movement. Eyelids fluttered. Fingers twitched.

Lyra's POVI was stirring from slumber when I felt an unusual cold sensation circling my leg. My eyes lazily opened with hardly a sight of the dim light seeping through the curtains. The very first thing my eyes settled upon in the room was Orion, still sleeping beside me, breathing slowly and steadily. I turned away again; I just could not bear the rising chill feeling as it climbed up my leg. With my eyes shifting towards my legs, I almost felt my heart stop. There upon the ground was an enormous serpent coiled around my leg, the likes of which I had never even seen in my life. The three-headed eyes opened wide and glowed an unearthly golden hue! I froze in terror, unwilling to even move or utter a sound, as the voices clamoring inside my head erupted in an ugly chorus from the worm. "First, you. Then, him." And it hissed under its breath. I shuddered to see one of the heads open its gaping mouth, ready to swallow me whole. My body tightened up, my heart picking speed with f

Kate's POV"Are you sure this is the place?" I asked Keto, and I watched the dense fog crawl sluggishly along the roadside.He had not looked at me; he was still gazing at the map on his tablet and nodded to my question. "Yes, according to the map, the hotel should be just right around here. That's where Ravenna and Orion last stopped."I tightened my coat. The atmosphere felt wrong. It was chilling and instilled a horrid form of terror within me.Captain Zack made a deep whistle as the old building curved into view, carefully lit dimly by a bulb overhead the door."Set up a perimeter," he ordered his men, raising a hand.They moved out, quick and silent like shadows.He turned to me. "Something’s creepy about this place. Gives me the chills."Kira, who had been mostly quiet the whole ride, gave a dry laugh. "You saw a giant serpent a few hours ago, and now you think something’s creepy?"I chuckled. "Looks like the stuff you drank from me earlier is just wearing off."Kira laughed aga

Lyra's POVThe corridor that lay behind the red-lit door was narrow, the walls throbbing faintly as though they were alive. I didn't dare touch them. The heavy warmth getting heavier with each step we took penetrated my lungs with the smell of something akin to blood. Neither one uttered a word. There just wasn't the need for any. The narrow corridor finally widened to the size of a circular chamber, not nearly as large as the throne room but far more intimidating.The walls were marked with symbols that glowed faintly. At the center was a stone platform.Behind us came the witches, who did not fully enter. They remained on the threshold, as shadows in tattered cloaks, their voices joining as one to say,"This is your trial. You spilled sacred blood, and blood must answer for blood."I stiffened, my fingers clenching at my sides almost instinctively. "We came for forgiveness. We didn't come to shed any more blood."Then one stepped forward-most definitely taller than the others-her

Kate's POV“At this point,” Zack muttered, dragging a hand through his dirty blond hair, “it’ll be best if we get some rest and start again in the morning.”I snorted. "You know as well as I do that we can't quit now. Not when we don't even know if Orion and Ravenna will survive the night."Zack breathed a heavy sigh, as if the burden of the entire cursed island had fallen on his shoulders. "Assuming we do find them, what next? How are we going to kill that thing? What if none of the bombs kills it?""Then we run for our lives," said Kira as if stating the obvious.Zack laughed harshly. "Run for our lives? You see how fast that snake moved? There's no running from it. Not from something so fast and so large.""But when we recorded it," I completed, tightening my hold on my weapon, "it healed within a few seconds, perhaps even a minute. That is our window. This time, we injured it worse than that. We hit it with something enormous, something that rends it in twain, and within the time