Amanda
“You better have good news for me, Nytos,” Granger growls somewhere behind me. His words whisper over a spring wind carrying ash and decay.
“The only news I have is that there’s still no sign of Alpha Ryatt or his Luna.”
My stomach clenches. I roll a smooth, white rock in the palm of my hand as the conversation continues without me.
“And Westfall?”
I look over my shoulder in time to catch Commander Nytos shake his head, his eyes downcast and solemn.
Granger chews the inside of his cheek, his green eyes sliding to mine.
I give my mate a tight smile, praying to the Goddess he can see the love behind my eyes–and the sorrow there.
“I’ve spoken to the other commanders,” Nytos continues. “The Alphas need answers, Beta. Are you the King of the Roguelands now?”
My heart skips a beat as I watch fury and grief darken his eyes.
“No,” he rasps. “Not until we find their bodies.”
I close my eyes and turn back to the cairn situated in the center of an area of scorched earth. This is where the pack house of Granite Rise once stood.
Hundreds of rocks of varying sizes and shapes make up a great mound that is as tall as my chest.
I place the little white rock atop its peak. A memory of Gemma flutters through my mind as I blink back tears.
I need three more rocks.
I hike up my skirts and carefully step over the debris surrounding the remains of the packhouse, which had been burned to the ground. I try not to think about who might have been inside when the fire happened. Granger knows the details. He offered to tell me, but I think I’d rather not know whether or not my pack members were rounded up by King Kane’s warriors and locked in the packhouse before they lit it on fire.
But… there’s no one left. No bodies. I am the last living member of the Granite Rise Pack.
Granger’s voice drifts into the background as I walk out of the village, my focus locked on the forest surrounding my homeland.
There’s still a chill in the air as I walk between birch trees and thickets of alders. The entire landscape is painted a vibrant pale green. I press the toes of my thick leather boot into the ground, turning over the mud to look for rocks. This whole area outside the village is generally flat and grassy, not a single pebble to be found.
“Damn,” I whisper to myself as I fold my light blue cloak tighter around my shoulders, my breath sending wisps of silver mist toward the overcast sky.
It’s growing late in the day. I can’t be out here for long. Granger doesn’t care if I wander. He likely knows exactly where I am right now. He has a knack for that.
So, I walk further into the forest until the scent of ash and death stop staining the air and suddenly find myself in a familiar clearing.
I imagine the moment I first saw Ella in her strange black dress. I remember the glowing silver fire behind her eyes as she saw me, her expression turning from panicked confusion to protective rage.
She would have killed me. I remember that feeling vividly, and I’d run for my life before falling into…
I whirl back toward the forest and set off in a jog through the woods. The sound of running water cuts through the birdsong before I reach the creekbed, where pockets of ice still cling to the banks on either side. I kneel, panting, and rest my hands on the cool, smooth stones that cover the bank. Tears burn my eyes before sliding down my cheeks.
Just a few days ago, when Ella turned into black mist in the cave beneath the coven and disappeared, I’d been full of hope. I’d turned into Granger’s arms and cried happy tears against his chest thinking our people–our child–would have a future outside of war, slavery, and secrecy.
But less than a day later, after we finally dug our way out of that cave and gazed upon the ruins of the coven, I felt like my soul was being pulled apart.
The powers Ella gifted me the night we battled the hellhounds screamed in agony, and then flickered out. She’s gone.
There’s been no sign of them, and Rifthold is… nothing but smoking embers.
“Where are you?” I whisper, sniffling. I swipe my hands over the rocks and find one black as the darkest, starless night. I think of Ryatt as I slip it into my pocket. I find another black stone, this one a little rough around the edges, and imagine Commander Westfall’s face. He was always so kind to me. I never understood Granger’s weariness when it came to him. I slip the rock in my pocket and scan the shore for the stone I don’t really want to find.
The bank of the creek is a tangle of silver, black, and brown. None of which are colors I’d ever associate with Ella. She is–was… was so vibrant, so beautiful, so unique.
I rise and scan the creek. The other side is illuminated by pale sunlight drifting through a parting cloud.
A flicker of dark green catches my attention.
I suck in a breath and enter the creek.
The ice cold water burns my skin as my skirts billow out around my knees, my cloak dragging in front of me as the swift current threatens to pull me away. Soaked to the waist, I start scanning the water along the far bank.
It’s a green rock, likely granite, and it’s far larger than the small rounded pebbles surrounding it. It’s just below the surface, smoothed to a buttery softness from years spent beneath rushing water. I reach down, water soaking through the sleeve of my shirt, when the water whispers all around me.
I freeze, my fingers curled around the stone.
“Hello?”
“We’re alive! We crossed the veil. I had no choice. We’re alive, and well. Ryatt was injured but we’re trying to find a way to come back. We’re safe. We’re safe–”
I whirl around, expecting to find Ella standing across the creek and shouting the words at me, but I’m alone.
“Ella?”
“King Kane is dead. Westfall is dead. Ryatt is alive, Amanda. I’m alive. Cassian and Hannah are alive. We made it–”
“Ella!” I start splashing through the water, trying to find the source of her voice.
I rear back when flickers of crimson light rush against the current then explode, the whispers louder than before.
“Go to Veiled Valley and wait. Granger is the Alpha until we return–” Ryatt’s voice cuts through the increasingly frantic murmurs rising from the water–a chorus of genderless voices blurred into one. I hear Ella laugh softly, and the sound is like the sweetest music before the moment snaps and the entire forest goes eerily silent.
Struggling to catch my breath, I whirl around at the sound of hurried steps.
A great golden wolf skids to a stop at the shore of the creek, green eyes locked on mine.
‘What are you doing?’ Granger growls in my mind. ‘You were screaming–’
“They–they’re alive. They made it out. Granger!” I pick up my shirts and rush toward him. “Granger, I heard them. They’re alive. They crossed the veil somehow. Ella said Ryatt was injured and they’re trying to find a way to cross.”
Granger’s voice is a soft whisper through my mind as he says, ‘You heard them?’
“Don’t you feel it?” I exclaim, climbing onto the shore. “Her power?” I look down at my chilled fingers, at the pale shimmers of crimson just below the surface of my skin. I know if I shift now, her power will burn through me, allowing me to summon the beast she turned me into the night so long ago. “She did it. She killed King Kane.”
***
Ryatt
Ella sputters water, gasping for breath. I cling to her, trying to find the air my lungs have been screaming for. The water all around us shines with her power–swirls of silvery fire and shimmering ribbons of crimson. It fades as quickly as it came.
“Ella,” I croak, walking out of the water with her in my arms.
“Oh, my Goddess, I thought I was going to drown!”
I scan her face as I lay her down on the soft grass that surrounds the shore of the pond. Her eyes glisten in the setting sun as she catches her breath.
“Are you all right?” I ask, cupping her face.
She shoves at me, coughing sharply. “I’m f-fine, Ryatt.”
“Your powers–”
“I’m fine, really. I felt Amanda. I think I got to her somehow.”
I nod, kneeling beside her. She turns her head and looks up at me, grinning madly.
“What?” I ask tersely, my body still racked by nerves.
“Your chest is healed.”
I run my hand over my chest. “Which god do I thank for it?”
She smiles, closing her eyes as her breathing returns to normal. “This is the Moon Goddess’s domain.” She opens one eye and peers at me. “Are you… doing okay?”
“I’m fine.”
She knows I’m lying but says nothing further as I help her to her feet. She pulls her dress over her head and lets it fall over her nearly naked body.
It clings to her wet skin, showing off her curves.
I look away as a twisting, heavy sensation settles in my gut.
“Are you upset with me?”
“No, Ella.”
“Then why won’t you look at me?”
I put on my shirt, squinting into the sunset. “None of this feels real.”
“How so?”
I turn to her. She looks up at me expectantly, some of that infamous temper gleaming in her eyes. “Are you sure Amanda could hear us?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
“How?”
“I just know. Amanda and I are connected by my powers. I just had to give her a little nudge.” She rolls her lower lip between her teeth in thought. “I know she heard me.”
My focus is on her mouth, her lips. My body begs for her–to touch her, to feel her softness and warmth, but my hands curl into fists at my sides as internal dread begins to snake through my veins again.
“I almost lost you,” I say out loud before I can stop myself. My tone is harsher than intended. “I came this close.” My fingers pinch together as I edge toward her. “I didn’t protect you. I could barely protect my people, my lands. Why did you bring me here? Why didn’t you leave me in Eastonia to die? Why risk your life again to bring me through the veil?”
Her eyes darken with pain, her lips parting. “You told me you’d find me again. You’d find me again in another life, another body, and we’d have time. I didn’t feel like waiting.”
She brushes past me, stomping off down the gnarled trail leading away from the falls.
“Ella!”
“What do you want me to say, Ryatt? That you no longer deserve me? That I’m somehow mad at you for not being able to protect me from Kane?” She stomps back up to me, fire in her eyes. “I love you, for Goddess sake. It’s more than the mate bond for me. I would follow you into hell and back, and honestly, I did. I don’t blame you for what happened.” Tears start welling in the corners of her eyes. “I was the one that failed. I used what little power I had left to kill us all, Ryatt. I brought Kane’s fortress down on top of us. You were pinned. Westfall was crushed because of me. Kane was stabbing you and I–it would have been my fault if you died. I killed Westfall, didn’t I? It was my fault!”
I reach for her, running my knuckles over her arm.
“I put on the mask and it felt good,” she sniffles. “All of that power… it sang to me, Ryatt. It wanted me to wear it, to use it, to let it consume me. I used it to cut through the veil. And when we landed in Maatua, for a moment I… I didn’t want to take it off. I didn’t want to give up that power. I probably killed so many people bringing down the fortress, Ryatt. Innocents. What did I do when I broke through the veil?”
“Stop–”
“I didn’t want him to take me. I didn’t want him to kill you and use me as a breeder. I was terrified and nearly killed all of us. I would have rather killed all of us—”
I crush her to my chest and hold her as she falls apart.