At the end of her words, Leticia rushed into the gathering, her breath coming out in short puffs, "You saw who?" Leticia demanded.
Marisol took a deep breath, her mind still reeling from the vividness of her dream. "Guinevere," she repeated.
"Recount your experience. Tell us everything you saw." Leticia urged, her eyes frantic. "And leave nothing out, not a single detail."
"How can you-" Nicole started to protest.
"It might be difficult, but please do it for all our sakes. I'm almost certain that you've never crossed paths with Guinevere up until this point. So I need to know if it's an apparition, a warning, or a trick."
Marisol hesitated for a moment, still picking apart the scattered images in her head.
"Marisol, please, tell us everything you saw. Every detail is crucial. And every second lost can never be regained." She pressed and Marisol licked her lips nervously.
"It started with me in a weird dark place. I ...I think I was lost. I walked a little, trying to find my way out, but instead of an exit, I saw this woman sitting there on the ground. She seemed frozen in place, she was wearing a dark cloak, I couldn't see past it...."
Leticia leaned in, her chin jutting "Go on, Marisol. What else did you see?"
"Not much, it was all dark, but I knew I could sense danger and there was this overwhelming feeling of... of dread. Suddenly, a voice started speaking to me from nowhere. Saying I walked into its territory. It called me weak and threatened to destroy me.... To kill me. I couldn't find the source of the voice anywhere and the woman in the cloak was still not moving. I woke up when something started to strangle me. I think ....I think it wanted to go through with the threat."
Leticia's eyes widened in shock, her expression one of profound disbelief. "How did you manage to gain access into Guinevere's realm?" she exclaimed.
The question hung heavily in the air, a sense of unease and apprehension washing over everyone present. Marisol shook her head, more in confusion than in answer. She had no idea what Leticia meant.
"What... I didn't..."
"That wasn't a dream, Marisol" Leticia cuts in, her voice solemn and her gaze piercing as she met Marisol's wide-eyed stare. "You somehow wandered into Guinevere's realm while she was in hibernation."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Liam finally spoke for the first time that night, frustration heavy in his tone. "Speak in clear terms."
Leticia visibly flinched. Everything about Alpha Liam terrified her.
"I will when I understand better, Alpha," she said, grabbing Marisol's arm.
"Marisol, Luna, come with me." She spoke, already starting to walk away with Marisol and Nicole in tow. "We need to investigate this further."
She paused at the sound of heavier footsteps behind them, turning around to regard Cedric with a raised brow. "I'm going wherever she goes," He growled and Leticia rolled her eyes.
"You had better keep off for now, Alphas. Your mates are safe, and you should listen to me if we're ever going to get to the bottom of this."
Cedric's lips pressed into a thin line, but he said nothing in the form of argument, so they continued on their way.
Leticia dragged Marisol all the way to her quarters, her steps quickening as she led them away from the gathering. "This is worse than I expected," she muttered under her breath.
They arrived and settled into Leticia's quarters without speaking. Marisol had a lot of questions bouncing around in her head, but she waited patiently for the right time. Leticia looked more troubled than she'd ever seen and that did nothing for Marisol's nerves.
"There's no time to waste," Leticia began. "I've been approaching this all wrong."
Marisol's heart sinks as she processes the implications of Leticia's words. She had known deep down that something was amiss, but hearing it spoken aloud only served to confirm her worst fears.
"What is it? What have you been approaching all wrong?"
"The state you met Guinevere in is called Hibernation. It means that Guinevere is nearly ready for battle," Leticia explained. "For her to already be hibernating means that she already has every single aspect of her plan mapped out and is now drawing energy to unleash her full power. Tell me, did you see some sort of dark matter surrounding her?"
Marisol shook her head and Leticia sighed in relief.
"Not around her, but her hands ...like between her fingers." She answered and Leticia nodded.
"This gives us a lot more time. It means that she'd just begun hibernating. When she completes that ritual, she'll become invincible."
Nicole looked to be trembling in fear for her daughter as she stood wordlessly to a side, her hand over her mouth in horror.
But Leticia wasn't finished yet.
"I've been going about teaching Marisol in the wrong way," Leticia admitted with a regretful shake of her head. "She's not like other witches. She doesn't need spells. All she needs is to think.... Think about it and it happens."
Marisol's mind raced as she also seemed to only just realize the truth in Leticia's words. The incident with the door and Cedric are now replaying in her mind.
"You were probably curious about Guinevere. It makes sense, since you've been thinking about the looming attack for a while now." Leticia surmised, her gaze fixed on Marisol. "That's what led you to stumble into her realm."
Marisol's heart pounded in her chest as she struggled to come to terms with the magnitude of what Leticia was suggesting.
"We're lucky that she hadn't harnessed enough power and that she couldn't risk breaking out of hibernation. Or she might have done something worse to you, Marisol. Both of you had the chance to end this before it even started."
"Oh Goddess,"49. Nicole exclaimed.
"That's why we must be vigilant. The dangers she encountered there are only a fraction of what awaits us in the coming battle."