The Vault
1637 Words
Marta met us before dawn.
She wasn't alone. Two men stood behind her. Big. Silent. Armed.
"You brought muscle," Silas said.
"You're taking her to the Bone Quarter. She needs muscle."
"I don't need anyone," I said.
Marta laughed. "Girl, the Bone Quarter is where contracts go to die. No laws. No rules. Just teeth."
"I've survived worse."
"No, you haven't." Marta handed me a small blade. "This is silver. Don't lose it."
I tucked the blade into my boot. "What are we looking for?"
"Your mother's weapon. She hid it in a vault beneath the old courthouse."
"The old courthouse is in the middle of enemy territory," Silas said.
"Then don't get caught."
The Bone Quarter smelled like death.
Not the clean death of a hunter's kill. The rotten, wet death of bodies left to decay.
"Stay close," Silas whispered.
We walked through narrow alleys. The buildings leaned toward each other, blocking the sky. Every window was dark.
"How far?" I asked.
"Ten more blocks."
A growl echoed from somewhere ahead.
Silas stopped. Raised his hand.
"Company."
Three wolves stepped out of the shadows. Not shifters in human form. Full wolves. Massive. Eyes glowing yellow.
"State your business," one of them said. Its mouth moved wrong. Like a human trying to speak through a dog's throat.
"We're here for a vault," Silas said. "Old courthouse. No quarrel with the Quarter."
"The Quarter has quarrel with you, Draven. You owe blood tax."
"I paid last month."
"You paid half."
Silas's hand went to his belt. "Then let me pass, and I'll pay the rest on the way out."
"No. You pay now. Or we take the girl as collateral."
The wolves looked at me.
I stepped forward.
"You don't want me as collateral."
The lead wolf tilted its head. "Why not?"
"Because I'm the thing the Moon Court is trying to kill. If you keep me, they'll burn this whole quarter to find me."
"You're lying."
"Smell me," I said.
The wolf stepped closer. Sniffed.
Its eyes widened.
"Hybrid."
"Yes. And I'm not here to start a war. I'm here to find a way to end one." I held out my hands. "Let us pass. We'll be gone by morning."
The wolves looked at each other.
"Fine," the leader said. "But if you're not gone by sunrise, we hunt."
"Fair enough."
The old courthouse was a skeleton.
Walls missing. Roof caved in. Vines crawling through the cracks.
"The vault is underground," Silas said. "Follow me."
We climbed through a broken window. Dropped into a hallway. The floor was covered in dust and bones.
"Whose bones?" I asked.
"People who didn't make it out."
We found stairs leading down. Dark. Cold.
Silas lit a match.
"Your mother came here three months before she died. She said the weapon could change everything."
"Did she say what it was?"
"A contract. But not a normal one. A Moon Court contract. Null and void."
"I don't understand."
"The Moon Court controls all mate bonds. They decide which bonds are valid and which can be broken. But if someone had a contract that proved the Court was corrupt—that they were manipulating bonds for profit—it would destroy them."
I stopped walking. "My mother had proof?"
"She had the beginning of it. Names. Dates. Payments. She needed more. That's why she came to Marta."
"Did Marta give her the names?"
"No. Someone else did. Someone inside the Court."
"Who?"
Silas didn't answer.
The vault door was rusted shut.
"The weapon is inside," Silas said. "But the lock is keyed to hybrid blood."
"How do you know?"
"Because your mother told me."
I stepped forward. Pressed my palm against the door.
Nothing happened.
"Try harder," Silas said.
I thought about my mother. About her dying. About the lies.
The black mark on my palm burned.
The door clicked.
Opened.
Inside was a small room. A single table. A single box.
I opened the box.
Papers. Old. Yellowed. Stacks of them.
"What is this?"
"The names," Silas said. "Every judge on the Moon Court. Every bribe they took. Every bond they broke for money."
I picked up the first page.
Judge Alistair Vane. Received 500,000 from Alpha Theron Blackthorn to invalidate the bond between Rhea Vennier and Kael Blackthorn.
My hands shook.
"They paid to have our bond invalidated?"
"Not invalidated. Rejected. Theron wanted Kael to reject you publicly. It was the only way to trigger the curse."
"Why?"
"Because your mother was getting too close to the truth. Theron killed her. Then he made sure her daughter would die too. Slowly. Through the bond."
I dropped the paper.
"Kael knew?"
"Kael knew his father wanted him to reject someone. He didn't know it was you until the bond snapped."
"That doesn't excuse him."
"No. It doesn't." Silas stepped beside me. "But it explains why he looked so broken when he did it."
I picked up another paper. And another.
Page after page. Corruption after corruption.
"This is enough to destroy them," I said.
"Only if you survive long enough to use it."
I looked at him. "What do you mean?"
"The curse is spreading, Rhea. On you and on Kael. You have maybe three months before the black marks reach your heart."
"Three months?"
"Less, if you keep fighting the bond."
I touched my palm. The black mark had grown since yesterday.
"So what do I do?"
"You have two choices. Complete the bond with Kael. Heal both of you. Then use these papers to destroy the Court together."
"Or?"
"Or find another hybrid. Someone strong enough to replace him. Complete a new bond. But that would kill Kael for sure."
"I don't want him dead."
"You don't want him alive either."
I sat down on the floor. Surrounded by my mother's papers.
"I want him to suffer," I said quietly. "But I don't want him to die."
"Then you know what you have to do."
We carried the papers back to Marta's.
She read through them while I sat in silence.
"This is bigger than I thought," Marta said. "Theron didn't just bribe one judge. He bribed all five."
"Can we use it?"
"Not yet. You need a witness. Someone from inside the Court who will testify."
"Who?"
Marta looked at Silas.
"No," he said.
"She's the only one."
"Who?" I asked.
"Silas's mother," Marta said. "She's a judge on the Moon Court."
I turned to Silas. "Your mother is one of them?"
"She was," he said. "She retired twenty years ago. After your mother died."
"Did she know about the bribe?"
Silas didn't answer.
"Did she?"
"Yes."
"And she did nothing?"
"She couldn't. The other four would have killed her."
"So she just let my mother die?"
Silas's jaw tightened. "She tried to stop it. That's why she retired. As a protest."
"A protest doesn't bring anyone back."
"No. But her testimony might."
I stood up. "Where is she?"
"Hiding. In the mountains. She doesn't see anyone."
"She'll see me."
"Why?"
"Because I'm going to tell her that her son has been helping me. And if she doesn't help, I'll make sure everyone knows."
Silas grabbed my arm. "That's blackmail."
"That's survival."
He let go.
"Fine. We leave at dawn."
That night, I dreamed of Kael again.
He was sitting in a field of white flowers. The moon was full.
"You found the papers," he said.
"You knew about them?"
"My father mentioned them once. When he was drunk. Said they could destroy everything."
"Did you know about the bribe? Before the rejection?"
Kael was quiet for a long time.
"No," he finally said. "I thought I was rejecting you because you were weak. I didn't know my father paid the Court to make the curse stick."
"Does it matter? You still said the words."
"I know."
He looked at his hands. The black veins had reached his fingers.
"I'm sorry, Rhea."
"Sorry doesn't fix it."
"I know that too."
He looked up at me. His silver eyes were wet.
"But I'm going to spend the rest of my life trying. If you let me."
I sat down across from him.
"Why should I let you?"
"Because I'm the only one who can help you destroy the Court. My father knows their secrets. Their weaknesses. I know because I grew up listening to him brag."
"You want to betray your own father?"
"He killed your mother. He cursed us both. He's not my father anymore. He's my enemy."
I reached out. Touched his hand.
The bond flared.
"We're both dying," I said.
"Yes."
"And you want to spend your last months fighting with me?"
"I want to spend them earning your trust."
I pulled my hand back.
"Then start by telling me everything you know about the Moon Court."
Kael smiled. Weak. But real.
"Where do you want me to start?"
"Start with the judge who retired. Silas's mother."
Kael's smile faded.
"Maris Draven. She's not just retired. She's in hiding because she knows too much."
"Can she help us?"
"She's the only one who can." Kael leaned forward. "But she won't talk to me. She won't talk to anyone from the Blackthorn pack."
"Will she talk to Silas?"
"Maybe. But she'll definitely talk to you."
"Why?"
"Because you're the ghost of the woman she couldn't save." Kael touched my face. Just one finger. "You look just like your mother, Rhea. Maris will see her when she looks at you."
The dream started to fade.
"Don't go yet," I said.
"I'm not going anywhere. I'll be here. Every night. Until you tell me to stop."
The dream broke.
I woke up with his touch still warm on my cheek.
I'm in trouble, I thought.
But for the first time, I wasn't sure if the trouble was him.
Or me.
- Writer
