Rejected And Reborn As The Alpha King's Luna

Chapter 56: Forbidden Archives

POV: Thelma

The lockpick was tiny, barely larger than a needle, but it felt like salvation in my palm. Neon had slipped it through the bars an hour ago, his face twisted with guilt. "I can't undo what I did under Morgana's control," he'd whispered. "But I can help now. Elena died saving me. The least I can do is help save you."

Now, with the guards changing shifts, I worked the lockpick into the silver chains. My fingers trembled, both from fear and from the burns the silver had left on my wrists. The lock mechanism was complex, spelled to resist tampering. But I'd picked locks since I was twelve years old. Magic couldn't stop determined fingers.

The first cuff clicked open. Relief flooded through me as the silver fell away. The second cuff took longer, precious seconds ticking by as footsteps echoed in the corridor above.

Finally, it opened. I was free of the chains, but still locked in a cell in the middle of enemy territory. One wrong move and I'd be executed on the spot. The note had said midnight at the Forbidden Archives. It was eleven forty-five now.

I reached through the bars and worked on the cell door lock from the inside angle. This one was purely mechanical, easier. Within two minutes, the door swung open with a soft creak.

The corridor was empty. The guards were at their posts at either end, but neither was looking my direction. I slipped out, staying low and quiet, moving through shadows like Theo had taught me years ago.

Getting out of the prison building was terrifyingly simple. Everyone assumed I was secured, locked away. No one expected me to escape.

The Forbidden Archives were in the oldest part of Silver Moon territory, built into the side of a mountain. I ran through the darkness, my heart pounding. If I was caught now, there would be no trial. Just immediate execution.

The Archives loomed ahead, a massive stone structure carved with ancient symbols. Torches burned at the entrance, casting flickering shadows. And standing at the door, looking nervous and determined, was Xavier.

He turned as I approached, his eyes widening.

"You came," he said.

"You didn't think I would?"

"I didn't know what to think." He studied me, confusion and something else, something deeper, flickering in his expression. "Why am I helping a prisoner escape? Why do I trust you when I don't even remember you?"

"Because some things go deeper than memory," I said softly.

Xavier's jaw tightened. He turned to the Archives door, which was covered in glowing runes.

"There are magical wards," he said. "And apparently something called a guardian that asks riddles. If we answer wrong, we die."

"Comforting."

"Are you sure about this? Once we go in, there's no turning back."

I looked at him, this man who'd loved me and forgotten me, who was helping me despite every logical reason not to. My heart ached.

"I'm sure."

Xavier reached for the door handle. The moment his fingers touched it, the runes flared bright blue. A voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere.

"Two seek forbidden knowledge. Only those with pure intent may enter. What do you seek?"

Xavier glanced at me, uncertain. I stepped forward.

"The truth," I said clearly. "About a curse that threatens an innocent man's life. About corruption in the Wolf Council. About justice that's been denied."

The runes pulsed, considering. Then they shifted to green.

"Truth seekers may enter. But beware, knowledge has a price."

The door swung open, revealing darkness beyond.Xavier and I stepped inside together. The interior was breathtaking. Shelves stretched up impossibly high, filled with books and scrolls that glowed with soft light. The ceiling was lost in shadows, and the air smelled of old paper and magic.

A creature materialized in front of us, blocking our path. It had the body of a massive wolf but the face of a woman, beautiful and terrible. A sphinx.

"To proceed, answer this," the sphinx said, her voice like wind through caves. "I am taken from a mine and shut up in a wooden case, from which I am never released, yet I am used by many. What am I?"

Xavier frowned, thinking hard. I knew this one, an old riddle my mother had taught me.

"Pencil lead," I answered. "Graphite, taken from mines, put in wooden pencils."

The sphinx smiled, showing too many teeth. "Clever girl. Proceed."

She dissolved into mist, and the path forward opened.

Xavier looked at me with newfound respect. "How did you know that?"

"My mother loved riddles. She said they taught you to think differently."

We moved deeper into the Archives. The books here were ancient, some crumbling with age. I scanned the spines, looking for anything about curses, about mate bonds.

"There," Xavier said, pointing to a section marked with symbols I recognized. Dark magic classifications. We pulled down several volumes, spreading them across a reading table. Xavier lit a lamp, and we began searching.

Footsteps echoed somewhere in the Archives. Guards on patrol.

"Hide," Xavier whispered urgently.

We scrambled behind a massive bookshelf, squeezing into a tiny space between it and the wall. The space was barely wide enough for one person, let alone two. We pressed against each other, my back to his chest, his arms instinctively wrapping around me to make us both fit.

His body was warm, solid, familiar in ways his mind couldn't remember. I felt his heart racing against my back, felt his breath on my neck.

"Why do I feel like I've held you before?" Xavier whispered, his voice rough with confusion and something deeper.

Pain lanced through my chest. "Maybe in another life."

His arms tightened slightly, and for a moment, I let myself pretend. Pretend he remembered, pretend we were still mates, pretend everything was okay.

The guards passed, their footsteps fading.

We stayed frozen for another minute, neither of us moving to separate. Then Xavier slowly released me, and the loss of his warmth felt like dying.

We returned to the books, reading frantically now. Time was running out.

"Here," I said, finding a passage about death imprints. "This is Morgana's curse."

Xavier leaned over my shoulder, reading. His face went pale.

"It doesn't just kill me if I remember," he said slowly. "It kills everyone in my bloodline. Including Finn."

My stomach dropped. "What?"