The Dead Woman's Warning
2504 Words
The corpse opened its eyes.
Lyra screamed.
Kael moved first.
He grabbed Elara around the waist and yanked her backward so hard her feet left the ground.
“Put me down!”
The dead woman inhaled.
A sharp, wet sound.
Impossible.
Her throat had been cut nearly from ear to ear.
She should not have been breathing.
She should not have been moving.
She should definitely not have been looking directly at Elara.
Yet her pale eyes followed her across the clearing.
“Elara…”
The voice came broken.
Barely human.
Kael placed himself between them.
“Don't move.”
Elara pushed against his back.
“She's alive.”
“She was dead.”
“You don't know that.”
“I couldn't hear a heartbeat.”
The woman jerked.
Her spine arched unnaturally.
Maeve rushed forward.
“Everyone back.”
Elara looked at her.
“What is happening?”
“Back!”
Something in Maeve's voice made even Kael listen.
They retreated several feet.
The black wolf remained beside the body.
His lips peeled away from enormous teeth.
The woman slowly turned her head toward him.
Then smiled.
Elara's stomach twisted.
That smile did not belong on a dead person's face.
“Pretty dog.”
The black wolf snarled.
Lyra whispered, “Okay. I officially hate this.”
Maeve raised both hands.
Blue light appeared around her fingers.
“Who are you?”
The woman's cloudy eyes moved toward Maeve.
“You know.”
“I don't.”
A laugh bubbled from the ruined throat.
Blood spilled from the wound.
“You always were a terrible liar, Maeve.”
Elara looked sharply at her.
Maeve went still.
“You know her?”
“No.”
The dead woman's smile widened.
“Another lie.”
“Elara, don't listen to it.”
“It?”
Elara looked at the body.
The woman laughed again.
“This body has been dead for six hours.”
Lyra stumbled backward.
Elara's skin went cold.
Kael growled.
“Then what are you?”
The woman's gaze shifted toward him.
“Alpha heir.”
Kael's muscles tightened.
“You smell like regret.”
Elara flinched.
Kael's face darkened.
The woman inhaled dramatically.
“Mmm.”
Her eyes returned to Elara.
“And heartbreak.”
“Enough,” Maeve snapped.
The blue light around her hands intensified.
“Leave the body.”
The woman smiled.
“Make me.”
Maeve thrust both hands forward.
Magic exploded through the clearing.
The woman's body lifted off the ground.
Her back slammed against a tree.
For one second, everything went silent.
Then she laughed.
Elara stared.
Maeve looked afraid.
That terrified Elara.
She had seen Maeve angry.
Annoyed.
Exhausted.
Even grieving.
But until tonight, she had never seen the older witch genuinely frightened.
“Maeve,” Elara whispered. “What is that?”
The woman answered for her.
“A messenger.”
Her head tilted.
“Although I suppose puppet would be more accurate.”
Kael stepped closer.
“Who's controlling you?”
The woman's eyes rolled upward.
Black flooded the whites.
Elara's stomach dropped.
“Someone who's waited a very long time.”
“For what?”
The black eyes snapped toward Elara.
“You.”
The thing inside her chest stirred.
Not fear.
Anger.
Elara stepped around Kael.
He immediately caught her wrist.
“No.”
She pulled free.
“Stop deciding where I can stand.”
“This thing murdered someone.”
“It wants me.”
“Exactly.”
“So hiding behind you isn't going to fix anything.”
Kael looked furious.
“Do you have to fight me on everything?”
“Tonight?”
She stared at him.
“Yes.”
His expression shifted.
Guilt.
Good.
Let him feel some of what she felt.
Elara approached the body.
Maeve moved in front of her.
“Don't.”
“I need answers.”
“Not from this.”
The dead woman smiled.
“She's right to be afraid.”
Elara looked past Maeve.
“Afraid of what?”
“Truth.”
Maeve's jaw clenched.
“Silence.”
The woman's lips moved even though no sound came out.
Maeve's magic tightened around her throat.
Elara stared at Maeve.
“What don't you want her saying?”
“Elara.”
“What?”
“This thing is trying to divide us.”
“Maybe.”
She folded her arms.
“But you already admitted you've been lying to me for twenty years.”
Maeve recoiled as if struck.
Elara immediately felt guilty.
But she didn't take it back.
Not tonight.
The woman whispered, “Good girl.”
Elara's head snapped toward her.
“Don't call me that.”
The smile faded.
Interesting.
Elara stepped closer.
“You wanted me here.”
The black eyes watched her.
“I'm here.”
“Elara,” Kael warned.
She ignored him.
“What do you want?”
The woman's mouth opened.
A dark liquid poured over her lower lip.
Not blood.
Something thicker.
Almost black.
Then she whispered, “Wake up.”
Pain slammed into Elara's skull.
She screamed.
Images exploded behind her eyes.
A woman running through the forest.
A baby crying.
Fire.
Blood.
Maeve screaming.
A man with silver eyes.
A black stone necklace.
Her mother's face.
Then another image.
Alpha Darius.
Younger.
Covered in blood.
Standing over a body.
Elara gasped.
The vision vanished.
She collapsed.
Kael caught her before she hit the ground.
“Elara!”
She couldn't breathe.
Her head throbbed.
“Elara, look at me.”
She pushed against Kael.
“Your father.”
He froze.
“What?”
“Your father was there.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Maeve looked horrified.
“What did you see?”
Elara turned toward her.
“My mother.”
Maeve's face drained of color.
“She was running.”
“Elara—”
“There was fire.”
She swallowed.
“And Darius.”
Kael shook his head.
“You're seeing whatever that thing wants you to see.”
“Maybe.”
The dead woman laughed.
Kael rounded on her.
“Shut up.”
Her smile widened.
“Defend Daddy.”
Kael's eyes flashed black.
The woman continued.
“Like a good little Alpha.”
“Enough.”
“Does he know what his father did?”
Kael stepped toward the corpse.
Elara grabbed his arm.
“Don't.”
He looked at her.
The contact burned.
They both felt it.
Neither moved.
The woman watched them.
Then whispered, “How sweet.”
Elara released him.
“Who killed my parents?”
Maeve inhaled sharply.
The corpse's smile disappeared.
Finally.
A real reaction.
Elara moved closer.
“You want to play games?”
Her hands trembled, but she kept walking.
“Fine.”
She stopped only a few feet away.
“Who killed them?”
The thing studied her.
“Which answer would hurt more?”
Elara's heart pounded.
“The truth.”
The woman smiled slowly.
“Then ask the witch.”
Elara turned toward Maeve.
Maeve looked away.
That was enough.
Something inside Elara broke.
“You know.”
Maeve closed her eyes.
“You know who killed them.”
“Elara.”
“Who?”
“This is not the place.”
“Who?”
The earth trembled beneath them.
Kael looked around.
“Elara.”
“Don't.”
She stared at Maeve.
“Who killed my parents?”
Maeve's eyes filled with tears.
“I don't know.”
Elara's power surged.
Trees bent away from her.
The black wolf lowered his head.
Maeve stumbled backward.
“You're lying.”
“I know who was involved.”
“Names.”
“Elara, please.”
“NAMES!”
The clearing exploded with wind.
Lyra screamed and grabbed a tree.
Kael braced himself.
The dead woman's body shook against the trunk as though enjoying every second.
Maeve raised her voice.
“Darius Blackthorne was there!”
Silence.
Kael stopped breathing.
Elara stared at Maeve.
“What?”
Kael shook his head.
“No.”
Maeve looked at him.
“I didn't say he killed them.”
“You just said my father was there.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Maeve's mouth tightened.
“Because he was trying to stop it.”
The dead woman laughed.
“Oh, Maeve.”
Everyone turned.
“You almost sounded convincing.”
Maeve's face twisted with rage.
Blue fire erupted from her palms.
The dead woman's laughter became a scream.
Her body convulsed.
“Tell your master,” Maeve said, “that Elara is not his.”
The corpse's black eyes widened.
Then she smiled.
“No.”
Maeve's fire burned brighter.
“She never was.”
The woman began to laugh again.
Even as her skin blackened.
Even as smoke rose from her clothes.
“Elara belongs to no one.”
The laughter stopped.
For the first time, fear appeared on the dead woman's face.
Not because of Maeve.
Because of Elara.
Her gaze locked onto her.
Then she whispered something that made Maeve's magic vanish instantly.
“He's awake.”
Maeve stumbled backward.
“What?”
The corpse grinned.
“You heard me.”
“No.”
“He felt her.”
Maeve looked at Elara.
Real terror filled her face.
“Who?” Elara demanded.
The woman's lips parted.
“The First.”
The black wolf released a roar.
Every bird within the forest erupted from the trees.
The ground shook.
Elara covered her ears.
Maeve rushed toward the body.
“Who woke him?”
The woman laughed.
“You did.”
Maeve froze.
“What?”
“Twenty years of hiding her.”
The corpse's head tilted toward Elara.
“One little rejection…”
Her smile widened.
“And the seal cracked.”
Elara touched her chest where the necklace normally rested.
The broken seal.
Kael went pale.
His rejection had awakened whatever was inside her.
The woman looked at him.
“You should be proud.”
Kael's jaw clenched.
“Tell me who you are.”
“No.”
“What is the First?”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“Who is controlling that body?”
The dead woman's eyes turned fully white.
Her body began trembling violently.
Maeve shouted, “Move!”
Everyone jumped back.
The woman screamed.
Black smoke poured from her mouth.
It twisted upward.
Forming something almost human.
Elara stared.
A face appeared inside the smoke.
Male.
Sharp features.
Silver eyes.
The same eyes from her vision.
Elara stopped breathing.
The figure looked directly at her.
Not Maeve.
Not Kael.
Her.
His mouth moved.
No sound came.
Yet Elara heard the words inside her head.
I found you.
The smoke exploded.
Elara flew backward.
Kael caught her.
Maeve raised a magical shield around them.
The black wolf lunged at the smoke.
His jaws passed straight through it.
Then everything disappeared.
The forest went silent.
The woman's body dropped.
Dead again.
This time, Elara knew it wouldn't wake.
For several seconds, no one moved.
Then Lyra whispered, “Can someone please tell me what the First is?”
Maeve stared at the corpse.
“No.”
Elara pushed herself away from Kael.
“Don't start that again.”
Maeve looked at her.
“You don't understand.”
“Then help me understand.”
Maeve shook her head.
“If the First is truly awake, there isn't enough time.”
“For what?”
Maeve turned toward Kael.
“Get your father.”
Kael's expression hardened.
“You expect me to bring him here after what you just said?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if I'm right, Darius is one of only four people alive who knows what happened the night Elara's parents died.”
Elara's heart pounded.
“Who are the other three?”
Maeve looked at her.
“Me.”
“One.”
“Your mother.”
Elara's stomach dropped.
“She died.”
Maeve said nothing.
The silence stretched.
Elara's skin prickled.
“No.”
Maeve closed her eyes.
Elara stepped closer.
“You said my parents were murdered.”
“I said they didn't die in an accident.”
“No.”
“Elara—”
“You let me believe she was dead.”
Maeve's eyes filled with tears.
“Because I believed she was.”
“Believed?”
Kael looked between them.
Lyra whispered, “Maeve…”
Elara's voice became dangerously quiet.
“Is my mother alive?”
Maeve swallowed.
“I don't know.”
The world shifted beneath Elara's feet.
She grabbed the nearest tree.
Maeve continued.
“But six months ago, I received a message.”
Elara stared at her.
“What message?”
Maeve reached into the pocket of her dress.
She pulled out a folded piece of paper.
Old.
Creased from being opened too many times.
She handed it to Elara.
Elara unfolded it.
One sentence had been written across the center.
Her heart stopped.
She knew that handwriting.
She had one birthday card hidden in a box beneath her bed with the exact same looping letters.
Her mother's handwriting.
The message read:
If Elara's seal breaks, do not let the Blackthornes find me.
Elara slowly raised her eyes to Kael.
He looked just as shocked as she felt.
Then she looked at Maeve.
“You've had this for six months?”
Maeve nodded.
“And you said nothing?”
“I was trying to protect you.”
Elara laughed.
Cold.
Broken.
Done.
“No.”
Maeve frowned.
“No?”
Elara folded the note.
“You don't get to use that excuse anymore.”
“Elara—”
“No more lies.”
The black wolf moved beside her.
She rested her hand against his massive head without thinking.
He allowed it.
Kael stared at them.
Elara looked at Maeve.
“Tomorrow, I leave Nightfall.”
Maeve stepped toward her.
“And I'm finding my mother.”
“Elara, you don't know where to start.”
She looked at the note again.
Then at the dead woman.
Then toward the darkness where the silver-eyed face had appeared.
“I'll figure it out.”
Kael moved forward.
“You're not going alone.”
Elara looked at him.
“Yes.”
His eyes hardened.
“No.”
She almost smiled.
Some men truly did not learn.
“You rejected me.”
His expression cracked.
“You made it very clear tonight that you don't want me as your mate or your Luna.”
“Elara—”
“You don't get to reject me and then decide you still have authority over my life.”
“I don't care about authority.”
“Then what do you care about?”
Kael opened his mouth.
Nothing came.
Elara nodded.
“Exactly.”
She turned away.
Behind her, the dead woman's fingers suddenly twitched.
No one noticed.
A single drop of black blood slid from her hand into the soil.
Deep beneath the forest floor, something opened its eyes.
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