Chapter 23 The Trap Springs Backwards

Chapter 23 The Trap Springs Backwards
Chapter 23:

Sera's POV

The abandoned mill stood three miles outside Crimson Fang territory, exactly where the second message had specified. Moonlight filtered through broken windows, casting skeletal shadows across rotting floorboards. The perfect place for an ambush.

Mine or theirs...that was the question.

"Are you sure about this?" Lyssa whispered beside me. We'd positioned fifty warriors in a perimeter around the building, hidden in the forest. Invisible. Ready to strike.

"No." Honesty felt better than false confidence. "But we're out of options."

The message had arrived at dawn, slipped under my door while guards stood watch. Impossible, but there it was. Three words: 'North mill. Midnight. Alone.'

I'd known it was a trap. Walked into it anyway.

Because the message included something else. A child's drawing. Crude stick figures....a mama, a papa, and a small boy between them. Asher's handwriting at the bottom: 'Come get me.'

Whether it was real or fabricated didn't matter. I had to try.

"The perimeter is secure," Rhett's voice crackled through the communication crystal Marcus had rigged. "No magical signatures detected beyond standard wards."

"Stay alert," I murmured. "This witch has been invisible for three weeks. They're good at hiding."

"You don't have to go in," Lyssa said for the tenth time. "Let me-"

"It has to be me." I checked my weapons one final time. Silver daggers, spelled against dark magic. Not much, but better than nothing. "They want me personally. Anyone else walks in there, they'll disappear again."

"And if it's a trap to kill you?"

"Then you avenge me and protect Dante." I tried to smile. Failed. "Simple."

"Nothing about this is simple."

She was right. But simple or not, I was out of time. The Continental Council vote was tomorrow. The witch's deadline was tonight. Everything converged to this moment.

I stepped into the clearing. Moonlight painted everything silver and black. The mill loomed like a broken tooth.

"I'm going in," I said quietly into the crystal. "Hold positions until my signal."

"What's the signal?" Rhett asked.

"You'll know it when you hear it."

I crossed the clearing alone, every sense screaming danger. The mill door hung open, creaking in the wind. Inside, darkness and the smell of rot.

I stepped through the threshold.

For a long moment, nothing. Just empty space and shadows.

Then I heard it. Small. Terrified. Achingly familiar.

"Mama?"

My heart stopped. I spun toward the sound, silver light blazing from my hands to illuminate....

Asher.

My son, tied to a chair in the center of the room. His face was dirty, tear-streaked, eyes wide with fear and desperate hope.

"MAMA!" He struggled against the ropes. "Mama, help! Please!"

All rational thought fled. I ran toward him, crossing the space in seconds, reaching for...

A figure materialized between us. Black cape from head to toe, face completely obscured. Female form, judging by the silhouette. Power radiated from her in waves of corrupted magic.

"Stop." One word. Calm. Almost amused.

I skidded to a halt, every muscle coiled. "Let him go."

"Or what?" The figure tilted her head. "You'll fight me? Please. I've been looking forward to this."

"You wanted me. I'm here. Release my son."

"In time." She moved slowly, circling. Predatory. "First, I want to see something. The great Twilight Sovereign. The last Lunar Lycan. Show me what all the fuss is about."

"I didn't come here to fight. I came for my son."

"Then take him." She gestured toward Asher. "If you can."

I didn't wait. Lunged forward, hands blazing with Lunar Lycan power. Silver light exploded outward in a wave designed to obliterate.

The figure didn't move. My attack passed through her like smoke.

Illusion.

I spun, searching for the real threat. There, another black-caped figure behind me. I struck again. Faster. Harder.

Same result. My power hit nothing but air.

"Disappointing." The voice came from everywhere and nowhere. "I expected more from royal blood."

Figures appeared around me. Ten. Twenty. All identical. All radiating that corrupted magic signature.

"Which one is real?" I snarled, silver light building to critical mass. "Show yourself!"

"Why?" Laughter echoed through the mill. "This is so much more entertaining."

I released everything. Pure Lunar Lycan power exploding outward in a sphere of destruction. The mill groaned, walls cracking, floor splintering.

Every figure vanished like mist.

Including Asher.

"NO!" I spun wildly, searching. "Asher! Where is he? WHERE IS HE?"

A single figure reappeared. Directly in front of me. Close enough to touch.

"Right here." She touched my chest. Once. Lightly.

Pain exploded through me. Not physical....magical. Dark energy flooded my system, seizing every muscle. I crashed to the floor, gasping, unable to move.

"Weak." The figure crouched beside me. Even through the pain, I could hear the smile in her voice. "Exactly as expected."

"Who-" I could barely speak. "Who are you?"

"Someone who's been waiting a long time for this." She stood. "I just wanted to see how desperate you were. How far you'd go. How easy you'd be to break."

I tried to rise. Couldn't. My body wouldn't obey.

"Your son was never here," she continued conversationally. "Just a projection. Very convincing though, wasn't it? The way he cried for you? The hope in his eyes?"

"I'll-kill you..."

"No, you won't." She moved toward the door. "You'll go home. Empty-handed. Defeated. You'll watch your mate die slowly. Wonder where your child is. Feel yourself crumble piece by piece."

"Why?" I forced the word out through clenched teeth. "What do you want?"

"What do I want?" She paused at the threshold. "I want you to suffer. I want you to know what it feels like to lose everything. To be powerless while those you love are destroyed."

"Who did I...hurt you?" The pieces wouldn't fit together in my pain-fogged brain. "What did I do?"

"You existed." Her voice went cold. Absolute. "That's all you needed to do. You and your cursed bloodline. You existed and ruined everything."

"I don't-understand-"

"You will. Eventually." She stepped toward the door. "When you've lost everything. When you're alone and broken and begging for death. Then maybe...maybe...I'll let you understand why."

"Wait-"

But she was gone. Vanished like she'd never been there.

Leaving me alone on the floor, paralyzed by dark magic, as the mill began to collapse around me.

"Sera!" Lyssa's voice through the crystal, frantic. "The building's coming down! Get out!"

I couldn't. Couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't do anything but lie there as beams crashed down and walls caved in.

Then hands grabbed me. Dragged me. Rhett and three warriors, pulling me from the collapsing structure.

We cleared the door as the mill imploded completely. Dust and debris filled the air.

"What happened?" Rhett demanded. "We felt the power surge but couldn't get through the wards-"

"Trap." I managed to sit up, the paralysis slowly fading. "It was all...trap. Not real."

"Asher?" Lyssa's voice was small. Afraid of the answer.

I shook my head. Couldn't say it out loud. Couldn't admit I'd been fooled so completely.

"We need to get you back," Rhett said. "The witch could still-"

"She's gone." I pushed to my feet, ignoring how my legs shook. "She got what she wanted. Got to watch me fail."

"Majesty-"

"I fell for it." Bitter laughter escaped. "Walked right into it. So desperate to save him that I didn't even question, didn't verify, just ran straight at what I wanted to see."

"Anyone would have-"

"I'm not anyone!" The words exploded out. "I'm supposed to be the Twilight Sovereign! The Lunar Lycan Queen! And I just got played like a rank amateur!"

Silence. No one knew what to say.

"Get me back to the compound," I said finally. Voice flat. Dead. "We need to regroup."

The walk back was endless. Every step a reminder of failure. My son, still missing. My mate, still dying. My territories, still crumbling.

And me, defeated by an enemy I couldn't identify or fight.

We reached the compound as dawn broke. Gray and cold, matching my mood perfectly.

"Majesty!" Marcus rushed toward us. "Thank the goddess you're alive. We felt the power surge, thought-" He stopped, seeing my face. "What happened?"

"Later." I couldn't explain. Couldn't relive it. "Dante?"

"Stable. But Sera-"

"I need to see him."

I pushed past, ignoring questions, ignoring concerned looks. Made it to Dante's room and closed the door firmly behind me.

He lay exactly as I'd left him. Pale. Still. Dying by inches despite the bond keeping his heart beating.

I sank into the chair beside him, took his hand, and broke down.