The Return
1560 Words
We reached Maris's cabin by noon.
Lena dismounted first. Her legs were stiff from the ride. She didn't complain.
"You look old," Maris said from the doorway.
"You look older," Lena replied.
They stared at each other for a long moment. Then Maris stepped aside.
"Come in. Both of you."
The cabin felt smaller with four people inside.
Maris made tea. Lena sat by the fire, her hands wrapped around the cup.
"I never thought I'd come back here," Lena said.
"You never thought you'd survive this long," Maris said.
"Also true."
I set the box of papers on the table. "Lena brought the rest of the files. The ones that name Theron directly."
Maris opened the box. Flipped through the pages.
"This is everything," she whispered. "Every crime. Every name. Every payment."
"Can you authenticate it?" I asked.
"I can. But authentication isn't enough. We need a trial."
"Where?"
"The Moon Court. There's no other authority."
"The Moon Court is the enemy," Silas said.
"Some of them are. Not all." Maris looked at Lena. "Judge Vane is dead. That leaves four. Two are corrupt. Two are... persuadable."
"Which two?"
"Judges Whitmore and Cross. They've always been on the fence. If we can convince them to side with us, we have a majority."
"How do we convince them?"
Maris smiled. It wasn't a kind smile.
"We show them the files. And we remind them what happens to judges who protect murderers."
That night, we made a plan.
Lena would stay with Maris. Safe. Hidden.
Silas would go to the two persuadable judges. Test the waters. See if they could be turned.
And me?
"You need to go back to Lunaris City," Silas said.
"Back to the underworld?"
"Back to Kael."
The room went quiet.
"No," I said.
"He's chained in his father's basement. You're the only one who can get him out."
"Theron wants me to come. It's a trap."
"Then don't walk into the trap. Walk around it."
"How?"
Silas pulled out a map. Spread it on the table.
"The Blackthorn pack house has a tunnel. It leads from the basement to the forest. Your mother used it once, when she was spying on Theron."
"She never told me that."
"She never told anyone. Except me." Silas pointed to the map. "This is the entrance. Behind the old well, half a mile from the main house."
"Assuming it's still there."
"It's there. I checked three months ago."
"You've been planning this?"
"I've been preparing for this. There's a difference."
I looked at the map. At the tunnel. At the basement where Kael was chained.
"If I go in there, I might not come out."
"You might not. But Kael definitely won't if you don't try."
I touched my palm. The black mark had grown again.
"What if the bond pulls me in and won't let go?"
"Then you'll have to be stronger than the bond."
"And if I'm not?"
Silas put his hand on my shoulder.
"Then you'll have to trust that some bonds are worth keeping."
I didn't sleep that night.
I sat by the window, watching the snow fall. Thinking about Kael. About the rejection. About the way he touched my face in the dream.
"I love you," he had said.
Did I believe him?
I didn't know.
I reached for the bond. Not to visit him. Just to feel.
He was still alive. Still in pain. Still waiting.
Don't die yet, I thought.
I'm coming.
The next morning, I left before dawn.
Silas rode with me to the edge of Blackthorn territory.
"From here, you go alone," he said.
"I know."
"The tunnel entrance is behind the well. Follow it straight. It opens into the basement storage room. Kael is in the third cell on the left."
"How do you know which cell?"
"Because I put him there."
I looked at him.
"Three months ago, when I was preparing, I broke into the pack house. I found the cells. I counted."
"You never told me."
"I'm telling you now."
I dismounted.
"Anything else I should know?"
"Theron has guards. Six of them. They patrol every two hours. You'll have a twenty-minute window between shifts."
"Twenty minutes?"
"Twenty minutes to get in, get Kael, and get out."
"And if I'm not out in twenty minutes?"
"Then I come in after you."
I turned to face him.
"You're my brother," I said.
"I know."
"Don't get yourself killed."
"I wasn't planning on it."
I walked into the trees.
Behind me, the bond pulled.
The well was exactly where Silas said it would be.
Half a mile from the main house. Hidden by overgrown bushes. The rope was old. The bucket was gone.
I climbed down.
The tunnel was dark. Cold. The walls were wet with condensation.
I lit a match.
Third cell on the left.
I walked.
The tunnel sloped upward. The air changed. Warmer. Smelled like iron and old wood.
I reached a wooden door. Pressed my ear against it.
Silence.
I pushed.
The door opened into a storage room. Barrels. Crates. Dust.
And beyond the storage room, the cells.
---
I found Kael in the third cell on the left.
He was chained to the wall. Silver cuffs on his wrists and ankles. His shirt was gone. The black veins had spread across his chest like a map of pain.
"Rhea?" His voice was hoarse.
"I'm here."
"You shouldn't have come."
"I know."
"Theron knows you're coming. He wants you here."
"I know that too."
I knelt beside him. Touched the silver cuffs.
"These have to come off."
"You can't. The silver is keyed to his blood. Only he can—"
I pressed my palm against the cuff. The black mark burned.
The cuff snapped open.
Kael stared at me. "How did you—"
"Hybrid blood. It's good for more than smelling lies."
I opened the other cuffs. He slumped forward. I caught him.
"You're heavy."
"You're strong."
"I'm motivated."
I pulled him to his feet. He swayed. Grabbed my shoulders.
"I can't walk," he said.
"You'll have to."
"The silver... it's been days. My legs won't—"
I put his arm around my neck. Wrapped my arm around his waist.
"Then lean on me."
We walked.
The tunnel felt longer on the way back.
Kael's weight dragged on my shoulders. His breathing was shallow.
"Talk to me," I said.
"About what?"
"Anything. Keep yourself awake."
"I dreamed about you."
"Everyone dreams about me."
"Not like this. I dreamed you came to the pack house. Not to save me. To watch me die."
"I considered it."
"I know."
We reached the well. I looked up. The opening was small. The rope was gone.
"How do we get out?" Kael asked.
"We climb."
"I can't climb."
"Then I'll carry you."
"You can't carry me up a well."
"Watch me."
I pulled him onto my back. His arms wrapped around my neck. His chest pressed against my spine.
The bond flared.
"Rhea—"
"Don't."
"Your heart is racing."
"Yours isn't. That's the problem."
I climbed.
At the top, I collapsed.
Kael rolled off my back. Lay in the snow, gasping.
"You did it," he said.
"We're not safe yet. Theron's guards will be looking for us."
"Then we run."
"I can't run. I can barely stand."
Kael looked at me. His silver eyes were clearer now. The black veins had faded slightly.
"The bond," he said. "It's healing."
"Don't get used to it."
"I won't."
I sat up. Brushed the snow from my coat.
"Silas is waiting at the border. He has horses."
"Silas. Your brother."
"You knew?"
"Lena told me. Before Theron caught me."
"When did you talk to Lena?"
"After you left the Velvet Claw. She came to warn me that you had the files. That's how Theron found out."
"Lena betrayed us?"
"No. Theron was watching her. He followed her to me."
I stood up. Pulled Kael to his feet.
"We can talk about this later. Right now, we need to move."
We walked.
---
Silas was exactly where he said he'd be.
Two horses. Three if you counted the one Kael would ride.
"You're alive," Silas said.
"Barely."
"Good enough." He helped Kael onto a horse. "Can you ride?"
"I can fall off with style."
"That's not reassuring."
Kael looked at me. "Where are we going?"
"Somewhere safe."
"Does that place exist?"
"It does now."
I climbed onto my horse. The bond pulled one last time. Stronger than before.
Kael felt it too. I could see it in his eyes.
"We're not done," he said.
"No. We're not."
"But you're not going to kiss me."
"Not today."
"Then when?"
I kicked my horse forward.
"Keep up, Alpha. And maybe you'll find out."
---
We rode through the night.
The moon was full. The snow had stopped. The world was silver and white.
Kael rode beside me. Silent. Weak. But alive.
"What happens now?" he asked.
"Now we go to Maris. We authenticate the files. We turn the judges. We destroy your father."
"And then?"
"And then we see if there's anything left of us to save."
He reached out. His fingers brushed mine.
The bond exploded with heat.
"That's not nothing," he said.
"No," I said. "It's not."
I didn't pull my hand away.
We rode into the dark together.
- Writer
