Chapter seven

It's dark… and freezing. My bare feet slap against ice cold tile as I run down a hallway that's so pitch-black I can barely make out the shape of my hand sliding along the stone wall beside me. It feels like I've been running for hours, the muscles of my legs aching, but I don't understand how I got here—or where ‘here' even is.

A scream pierces the air, and my blood runs cold, goosebumps erupting over my arms.

That scream…

I race down the hall, my hand grazing the stone. Tripping over the curled edge of a rug, I land on top of it, barely catching myself before my face connects with the hard tile below. I scramble forward and to the slide, looking for the wall, but the stones curve away. The hallway ends before me, and now I'm faced with a choice—left or right.

Shadows blanket the right side of the hall, and a faint, distant light shines from the left. A part of me would rather hide in the darkness where it's safer, but the scream comes again, and I bolt to the left. Finally able to see my surroundings, I run faster through the halls—soft blood-red rugs now cover the white tile floor beneath my feet and huge paintings that line the walls blur as I push myself faster.

A door sits at the end of the hall, and I slow my steps as it swings on its hinges, as if on its own. The room beyond it is dimly lit, the light flickering, but the metallic tang of blood mixes with something putrid in the air. I press my lips together, and silently pad closer.

Chains rattle, then a sharp smack echoes around me. I grip the wood doorframe, my nails digging into the splintering edges as I peek around it.

Monique laughs—the sound unmistakable. Humorless, cruel, and arrogant. She stands with a black cloak draped over her shoulders, the hood pushed back to show her blonde curls, as she stares at the wall before her—where Jules hangs chained to the stone.

Blonde hair hangs limply in her face, and even in the dim candlelight, the differences between them are visible. The way Jules's hair is more wavy and a shade darker—more like Mila's wavy, honey colored blonde than Monique's cold, straight ice-blonde. Her chest heaves with each panting breath, her clothes soiled and fresh blood dripping down her chin, but her eyes are narrowed when she lifts her gaze to glare at the witch before her. "I'll never give her to you."

"You let me know when you're ready to make the right choice, Juliana." She turns and walks through a set of large doors at the other end of the room.

"I'll die before I help you!" Jules yells, as the doors bangs shut. She yanks on the metal chaining her wrists and ankles to the wall, her feet dangling a few inches above the floor, and a frustrated scream bursts from her lips.

I step from the shadowed doorway into the room, trying to stay as quiet as possible. Swallowing back tears and rage, I rush to her. "Jules," I whisper, putting my hand over her mouth when her head snaps up to me.

Her chin quivers beneath my palm, and tears race down her dirt-covered cheeks.

I try to pull my wolf out, but the connection between us is blocked. I pull my hand from her mouth, but still, my claws won't lengthen. It's the only way I know of to break the metal keeping her trapped here. "I… can't shift." Glancing between my hands and Jules, I clench my jaw.

"Addy," she whispers, giving me a sad smile, "it's okay. It won't work."

My brows furrow as I watch her. "What does that mean, it won't work?"

"Y-you're not really here." Her eyes drop to my hands as I try to grab the restraint around her wrist, but my hand brushes right through it. "How did you get here?"

"I… I don't know. I can't remember, but—"

"It's some kind of magic," she says softly. "Even if you were able to shift, you wouldn't be able to break the chains."

Sighing, I meet her gaze and set my mouth into a firm line. "So, tell me what I need to know to find you."

Jules shakes her head. "She'll kill you."

I brush the hair back from her face, irritated that I can touch her but can't seem to touch anything that'll help her. "She can't kill all of us, Julesy."

"No." She pulls her face from my touch. " I've already… Wren… She…"

"I know. Ruya showed us." I close my eyes and try to will the lump in my throat to go away.

"I can't lose you too," she says, her voice breaking.

Stepping closer to her, I press my forehead to hers. "I can't lose you, either. You can't ask me to not come for you. We're all going to help you, I promise. The pack, wer're—"

"Please don't," she cries. "It'll be too late by the time you get here. The full moon is coming."

"The full moon?" I pull back to look at her, but the room begins to dim. "What…"

"Don't come here, Addy," Jules says, her voice firmer. "Swear it! Don't come here!"

"Jules!" I spin in a circle, her sobs reverberating in the air around me, but the room is black now. "Juliana!"

The air begins to shift, and when I take a step forward, I trip over something and fall to the ground. Bringing my knees to my chest, I rest my forehead on top of them and close my eyes. What just happened? I have to be dreaming, but it feels so real.

Well, that's new.

I lift my head at the sound of my wolf's voice, but blackness still surrounds me. Slowly, it melts away, revealing the bare branches of the trees surrounding the clearing I've come to feel at home in. My wolf's world.

Where did you learn to do that,she asks, the black wolf stepping from the forest before me. Embers float into the air with each step she takes, almost like little fireflies.

"I didn't do anything. It was a dream… or something." I shake my head, staring down at my knees, my arms wrapped tightly around them.

My wolf laughs. A dream? You believe it's that over it being a spell?

Irritated, I glare at her. "What spell would be able to do that? I didn't physically go there, or I could've saved her. I couldn't even shift."

That's the beauty of it. You went, but no one could detect you without your physical presence.She tilts her head, silver eyes boring into me. How did you manage a spell no one's used in centuries?

"I didn't," I snap, my fists hitting the ground beside me.

You did. Even Jules told you it was magic that you were there without physically appearing, and she was right. It's an ancient magic spell—I can sense it.

Taking a deep breath, I think back through the dream. "Maybe it was Jules. She learned so much at the academy, even things she shouldn't have learned yet. She—"

She's too weak to use any spell right now, let alone one that powerful. It was you, princess. Own it. Walking around me, she keeps her gaze glued to mine.

"I…" My mouth feels dry when I think about the smell—how soiled Jules was, the blood in the air, fresh and dried all over her. She was exhausted and broken, the torture Monique was putting her through almost unbearable.

She needs me—all of us—and fast.

With a curt nod, I make my choice—I have to get stronger, and this new magic will help me learn exactly where within the castle Jules is being held, making rescuing her far easier than searching for a needle in a castle-sized haystack. "How do I do it again?"

One corner of the wolf's mouth lifts. I have no idea, but I'm excited to find out.

Again, my wolf says, standing over me as I lay on the ground.

"I… can't…" Pulling my arms beneath me, I try to push myself up on my elbows, but my muscles give out, and I collapse back on the ground.

You can.

Growling, I turn my head to stare up at her. "How? I can't even get up."

You have to,she says. She needs you.

Clenching my jaw, I groan and get onto my hands and knees. Eyes closed, I rest back on my heels and focus to pull the images from my dream back into my mind, locking in on Jules.

I feel myself slip into the castle halls, but the minute I see her face, it goes dark. I open my eyes, gasping for air and laying on the ground.

Again.

Better. Take a rest, and we'll try again.

I stare up at the winter sky as my wolf lays beside me. This exercise drains us both, but my mind refuses to stop racing. Each time I use the spell, it ends sooner and sooner, but every time, Jules has no memory of my previous visits, if she even sees me at all. There must be a part of the spell I'm doing wrong, or maybe that's part of it—anyone who sees you won't remember, which can make it easier and more difficult all at once. Monique won't find out because Jules has no memory of seeing me, but if Jules doesn't remember seeing me, then we can't make a plan to save her.

I hate this so much. Being without her when I came to the pack was hard enough, but this? To know she's stuck in that castle, being tortured and questioned, forced to watch Wren die, and not be able to reach her… I've failed her as a big sister, letting her be captured by such a monster, just after we both escaped that life.

You won't be any help to anyone if you refuse to rest, my wolf murmurs, reminding me of Gideon's words in the back yard.

Swallowing hard, I try to force my mind to go blank, focusing on each muscle as I make my body relax from head to toe, until finally, sleep blissfully reaches me.