2. Chapter Two

No matter how hard I hit, kicked, and clawed the door, it refused to budge. Magic scorched my skin, only for the burns to heal immediately. Except for the emoji, which I supposed was Walter’s idea of a joke.

I fully intended to convey just how unfunny it was as soon as we saw one another.

Drinking blood usually made me tired, but the audacity to lock me inside of a room and tell me to stay was too great an insult. I paced the bedroom, listening to the increased heartbeats of the two people downstairs. It took a minute for logic to break through the haze of anger; if I could hear their blood pumping, I should be able to hear their conversation, too.

Either they weren’t speaking, or Walter had spelled the door to filter certain types of noises.

The curtains were parted just enough to see the cloudy night sky. Snow melted on the cold glass. I pressed my cheek to the window and peered at the winter wonderland below. Wolves patrolled the property line.

Are they meant to keep me in or others out? I wondered.

A rumble in the distance drew my attention. ATVs, five of them, headed toward the house from the valley below. Ewan drove one, with a much smaller figure sitting behind him.

Essie, I thought, a feeling of unease coming over me.

This was what she’d hoped to prevent—the rising of eternals and their protectors. Two of us had turned since we all parted ways. I worried my change might disappoint her, and Winter’s great-grandmother was one fae I desperately didn’t want to let down. She had embraced me like family, when my own flesh and blood had turned their backs on me. I couldn’t stand the thought of her looking at me with disgust in her wise eyes.

Ewan pulled to a stop in front of the house and helped Essie from the ATV. The leader of the Gemini Fae usually appeared strong, exuding confidence and power. But the woman who took Ewan’s arm hunched against the wind and moved as though each step pained her.

A tall man with a bright shock of red hair jumped off a second ATV. He wore a navy t-shirt, exposing corded forearms dotted with freckles and impervious to the cold. His irises glowed gold as they flicked to the passenger who climbed from the third ATV—Reggie.

Two other shifters pulled to a stop on their four-wheelers. One had Winter on the back. She wore a heavy parka with a fur-trimmed hood and thick mittens. Her green eyes darted toward the window where I stood watching the procession of newcomers. A small, sad smile lit her face, cheeks tinged pink from the cold, as she waved up at me.

Downstairs, the front door opened. I didn’t dare press my ear to the wood and risk another jolt of Walter’s magic. There was no need, though. All the heartbeats were impossible to miss. The soft thump, thump called to me, making my mouth water and my throat itch, despite having just consumed Ewan’s blood.

My nostrils flared, fangs descending. So much mortal blood. One taste, that’s all I need… I gravitated toward the bedroom door without conscious thought, reaching for the knob before I could stop myself. Walter’s oily magic scorched my palm again. I hissed and kicked the door reflexively.

“Fuck!” I screamed as the skin on the bottom of my foot burned and healed before my sole touched the floorboards.

Between the bloodlust and the rage, I almost didn’t hear the two sets of footsteps climbing the stairs to the second floor. My chest heaved, though the air I inhaled was pointless; I didn’t need to breathe.

The handle twisted, and the door popped open. My nose twitched as the scent of cinnamon and oranges and electricity filled the room. Essie still wore a long, hooded jacket that reached below her knees, snow clinging to the sides of her boots. Ewan towered over her from behind, arms crossed and jaw clenched, as if he hated everything about this situation.

From our very first meeting, the day after Enzo killed Nate Ames, I had felt Essie’s potent power. She was one of the strongest fae I’d ever encountered—in this life, anyway. But now, with my new vampiric senses, I truly understood just how much magic lived inside her aging body. Not even King Orrin himself had embodied such tremendous strength. If I didn’t know her, I would have been afraid of Essie Sable.

“Hello Zara, dear,” Essie said, clasping her gloved hands in front of her. “I’m glad to see you are awake. I would ask how you are feeling, but under the circumstances, I fear such a question would be insulting.”

Her words barely registered over the hum of her blood in my ears.

“Zara,” Ewan snapped, the single word laced with authority.

My lip curled back in a snarl, gaze transferring from Essie to my mate.

“Stand down.” He gave a jerk of his head. “Put the fangs away. Now.”

My lips clamped shut, obeying his command without a second thought. Essie’s mouth thinned to a narrow line, obvious displeasure on her strained face.

“May I come in, Zara?” Essie asked.

“I don’t—” Ewan started to protest.

“You have voiced your concerns already.” Essie kept her eyes on me. “Zara can make her own decisions, and her thoughts are the only ones I’m interested in hearing.”

A growl rumbled in Ewan’s chest. “With all due respect, Elder Sable, this is my house and Zara is my mate. You may speak to her across the barrier, as we agreed.”

“Don’t let her in. You’re not ready for this. Trust me,” Ewan spoke inside my head, more of a plea than a command. “You won’t forgive yourself if something goes wrong.”

I blinked several times unnecessarily. “Um, maybe Ewan is right.” The words sounded raspy, my throat growing tighter by the second. “I’m not sure I’m ready yet, and you’re much too valuable to be my first victim.”

She pursed her lips while she studied me, as if trying to decide if this was my choice or Ewan’s influence. After a minute, she nodded. “Of course, dear. A few more days won’t hurt.” Essie unzipped her jacket and reached inside, pulling out a flat rectangular box and handing it to me. “In case you need something to keep you occupied.”

I hesitated. Ewan eyed the package and nodded, encouraging me to take it. “Thank you,” I whispered, setting the box aside.

Essie caught sight of the emoji burned into my palm and frowned, but didn’t comment. She turned and swept past Ewan toward the stairs. “Don’t keep an old woman waiting too long,” she called and disappeared around a corner.

He shook his head and mumbled under his breath, something about the older women in his life treating him like a cub. He brushed a quick kiss across my forehead. “I’ll be back to check on you in a little while. Stay put.”

The door closed before I could respond, sealing me again inside the bedroom prison. I toyed with the ribbon on Essie’s gift, considerably less annoyed about being left alone in a locked room again. I lifted the lid and peered into the box. An ornate gold-handled mirror nestled in a bed of tissue paper.

The last time I’d seen the mirror was before leaving to rescue Winter from the Infinites. It had drawn me in from the first moment I laid eyes on it, in a pawnshop of all places. The mirror had called to me then, same as it did now. Only after Essie had tested it did I understand why I felt the magnetic pull—in another life, the mirror had belonged to me. I’d created it to see my descendants, those born from the line of Stavros and Zosia.

At least, that was the assumption, since I had yet to regain any memories of it from my previous lives.

I wrapped my fingers around the handle and plopped down on the bed with the mirror. Jagged lines appeared on the reflective surface, separating it into thirteen pieces. I selected a section with two figures huddled together on a large, snow-covered rock and tapped to enlarge the image.

Tears pricked my eyes. My brother had his arm around Brooke, and her head rested on his shoulder. They were in the woods, on Zach’s favorite rock, just the two of them. Their voices were faint, as if traveling a very long distance to reach my ears.

“Is it true, you think?” Brooke asked.

Zach’s expression was pensive as he played with her hair. “Dad doesn’t.”

My best friend rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I asked.”

Zach shrugged. “It’s what matters. I’m not alpha yet.”

Brooke angled her body and placed her small hands on his cheeks. “Your opinion matters to me. So tell me—is it true? Are the eternals rising?”

Zach stared into her eyes, his gaze so much like mine that it was like looking into a mirror. “Zara swore she saw the vampire that killed Nate Ames shift. The rumors about a vampire who can use magic have been circulating for a while. Now, the Zodiac Fae council is questioning the leader of the Gemini Fae about her great-granddaughter. All signs are pointing to yes.”

This is bad. So, so bad. Fuck.

Brooke leaned in until her lips touched Zach’s. “Then you must speak with your father,” she whispered. “He has to understand the larger picture.”

Zach pulled back and shook his head. “He doesn’t want to hear it.”

Brooke stood her ground, drawing my brother back to her. “Make him listen. The future of the pack—of your pack—depends on it. A war is coming. If your father can’t or won’t accept the truth, many of us will die, my love.”

Zach’s expression softened, and he leaned into her touch.

“Our pack,” he corrected her. “The Gemini wolves will be our pack.”