Chapter ThreeThe Memory That Shouldn’t Exist
876 Words
Darkness swallowed the corridor.
Elara stood completely still.
She could hear her own heartbeat.
Then Cassian’s hand closed around her wrist.
“Stay close.”
“I can walk by myself.”
“Not tonight.”
His voice was low, but there was something different about it now.
Urgency.
He pulled a small silver blade from his belt and moved ahead of her.
“Whoever destroyed those records knew exactly what they were looking for.”
Elara followed him through the darkness.
“Why would someone care about records from twenty years ago?”
Cassian didn’t answer immediately.
Then he said, “Because your past may be more dangerous than you realize.”
A candle suddenly flared at the end of the corridor.
Elara stopped.
A figure stood beside it.
Seraphine.
“Alpha.”
Cassian raised his blade.
“Where were you?”
“The east wing.”
“Who else was there?”
“No one.”
Cassian’s eyes narrowed.
“You expect me to believe that?”
Seraphine looked at Elara.
“I found something.”
She held out a small metal box.
Elara stared at it.
“What is that?”
“Something that survived the fire.”
Cassian took the box.
There was a symbol engraved on the lid.
A crescent moon surrounded by three wolves.
The moment Elara saw it, pain exploded behind her eyes.
She stumbled.
“Elara!”
The corridor disappeared.
Suddenly, she was somewhere else.
A forest.
Snow covered the ground.
She was younger.
Much younger.
Someone was holding her hand.
A woman was crying.
“Don’t let them take her.”
A man’s voice answered.
“They already know.”
“Then hide her.”
“She won’t remember.”
The woman’s grip tightened around Elara’s tiny hand.
“You must promise me.”
“I promise.”
The memory shattered.
Elara gasped.
She was back in the palace.
Cassian was holding her shoulders.
“Elara.”
She pushed him away.
“I saw something.”
“What?”
“A forest.”
Cassian went completely still.
“What forest?”
“I don’t know.”
She closed her eyes, trying to remember.
“There was a woman. She was crying. She told someone to hide me.”
Seraphine’s face had gone pale.
Elara noticed.
“You know something.”
Seraphine said nothing.
“You know who she was.”
“I don’t.”
“You’re lying.”
Elara stepped toward her.
“You’ve been lying since I arrived.”
Cassian looked between them.
“Seraphine.”
The older woman finally lowered her eyes.
“There are things you were never meant to know.”
Elara’s anger burned hotter.
“Then tell me.”
Seraphine shook her head.
“Not here.”
“Why?”
“Because the walls have ears.”
A sound came from behind them.
A faint scrape.
Cassian spun around.
Nothing.
He walked toward the darkness.
Then he found something on the floor.
A black feather.
Elara stared at it.
“What does that mean?”
Cassian’s expression hardened.
“Someone from the Raven Court.”
“Who are they?”
“Enemies.”
“How many enemies do you have?”
“Enough.”
Elara folded her arms.
“That’s not helpful.”
For the first time, the corner of Cassian’s mouth moved slightly.
Almost a smile.
Almost.
Then his expression disappeared.
He opened the metal box.
Inside was a single piece of parchment.
Elara leaned closer.
There was a name written across it.
ELARA VALE.
Her blood ran cold.
Below her name was another line.
Subject successfully hidden. Memory suppression confirmed.
Elara stared.
“What does that mean?”
Cassian’s eyes darkened.
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying too.”
“No.”
He handed her the parchment.
At the bottom was a date.
Twenty years ago.
The same year Elara was born.
She looked at Cassian.
“Someone erased my memories.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who am I?”
Cassian didn’t answer.
Elara’s fingers tightened around the parchment.
“I want the truth.”
“So do I.”
“Then help me find it.”
Their eyes met.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then a voice echoed from somewhere beyond the corridor.
“Too late.”
Cassian immediately stepped in front of Elara.
A figure appeared at the far end of the hallway.
A hood covered their face.
They threw something toward them.
Cassian caught it.
A small pendant.
Elara recognized it instantly.
Her fingers went numb.
It was the same crescent-and-three-wolves symbol from the box.
But there was something else.
A tiny inscription on the back.
She stepped closer.
Three words.
REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE.
Then the hooded figure disappeared into the darkness.
Cassian looked at Elara.
“Elara…”
She wasn’t listening.
Because somewhere deep inside her mind, something had begun to wake.
And this time, she could hear a voice.
Her own voice.
A little girl’s voice.
Whispering one name.
“Cassian.”
She looked at him.
His face had gone pale.
Because he had heard it too.
And neither of them understood how a memory from twenty years ago could possibly contain his name.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD