Chapter 18 Eighteen
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Sara’s POV
The sound outside the vault wasn’t loud.
A single scrape.
A shift of weight.
A breath too close to the door.
But in the silence of the underground corridor, it sounded like thunder.
Xenon moved instantly. He positioned himself between me and the entrance so completely that I couldn’t even see the door anymore. His shoulders tensed. His body lowered into a stance meant for one thing.
Attack.
Kael’s hand went to the dagger at his waist. His eyes narrowed. “They should not know this room exists.”
“They should not be inside my pack at all,” Xenon said, voice low.
Another sound.
Soft.
Controlled.
A step.
Xenon’s wolf surged hard enough that the air warmed around him. “Sara. Get behind the table.”
“Xenon—”
“Now.”
I obeyed. Kael grabbed the lantern and shifted it so the shadows fell behind me, hiding me from the direct line of sight if the door opened.
Xenon didn’t look at me, but I saw his hand flex once. A silent reassurance that he knew where I was.
The hinges of the vault door shook lightly.
Someone was testing it.
Ryker’s voice called from behind it. “Alpha. It is us.”
Xenon didn’t move. “Prove it.”
Ryker breathed once. “Your sister Liora once punched me because I told her your hair looked too perfect.”
Kael blinked. “That sounds true.”
Xenon exhaled slightly. “Open it.”
Ryker pushed the door inward, and two warriors stepped in first, scanning the room. Then Ryker entered, sword drawn, breathing hard.
“Alpha,” he said. “We lost one of the patrol teams.”
Xenon tensed. “How.”
“They vanished. No bodies left. No scent trail. Just gone.”
Kael’s eyes sharpened. “Shadow walkers.”
Ryker nodded once. “The Creed is using them.”
My stomach twisted. “What are shadow walkers.”
Kael answered. “Rogues trained to mask their scent and mimic silence. They can pass you in daylight and you would not know.”
Xenon shifted slightly, enough to block me further. “Where were they last seen.”
“The west corridor,” Ryker said. “The outer patrol followed tracks leading here. Toward the deeper wings.”
Kael stiffened. “They knew about the vault.”
“No,” Xenon said. “They followed her scent. They are tracking her.”
Ryker’s jaw clenched. “Then this place will not hold long.”
Xenon made a decision instantly. “We move.”
Kael frowned. “Move where.”
“Not deeper,” Xenon said. “Up.”
Ryker stiffened. “Alpha, the upper halls are not secure.”
“They will be,” Xenon said. “The Creed expects us to hide. They will not expect us to shift levels this fast.”
He turned to me. “Stay between me and Kael. Do not fall behind.”
I nodded, my chest tight.
Xenon opened the vault door and scanned the empty hallway. “Move.”
We stepped out quickly.
Two warriors took the lead. Kael moved beside me. Xenon walked behind, close enough that his breath brushed the back of my neck.
We climbed the narrow staircase that led back into the lower level. Every footstep echoed too loudly. Every shadow seemed to stretch.
At the top of the stairs, Ryker held up a hand, signaling us to stop.
He listened.
Nothing.
He pushed the door open—
And a figure lunged from the side.
Xenon pulled me back so fast I barely felt my feet touch the floor. Ryker slammed the rogue into the wall, blade at his throat before the rogue could strike again.
The rogue didn’t fight.
He didn’t move.
His eyes were fixed on me. “There you are.”
My blood ran cold.
Xenon took one step forward, his aura sharp enough to cut the air. “Look at her again and I will tear your throat out.”
The rogue’s gaze didn’t waver. “She is waking. We can feel it.”
Xenon grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off the wall. “You will feel nothing soon.”
The rogue smiled. “It is too late.”
Kael stepped forward. “Ask him what he means.”
Xenon didn’t blink. “What is too late.”
The rogue’s eyes slid toward me. “She already saw the first memory.”
Xenon’s jaw clenched. “You die in three seconds if you do not answer me properly.”
The rogue coughed a bloody laugh. “We only needed the first one. Now the rest will come.”
He leaned forward slightly.
“And she will not control it.”
Before Xenon could react, the rogue twisted sharply and bit down hard—on his own tongue. A spray of blood spilled from his mouth. He went limp instantly.
“Damn it,” Ryker muttered, dropping him.
Kael stepped back. “They are trained to die before revealing anything real.”
Xenon turned on me instantly. “Sara. Look at me.”
I looked up.
His eyes were dark, fierce, but focused entirely on me. “Are you feeling anything. Anything at all.”
I opened my mouth to answer—
A sharp sound cut through the hallway.
A heartbeat.
Not mine.
Not Xenon’s.
Not anyone in the corridor.
A heartbeat inside my head.
I staggered back, gripping the wall. “Xenon—”
He caught me before I could fall. “Talk to me.”
Kael leaned in. “What do you see.”
A flash.
Stone.
Cold wind.
A child’s scream.
A woman dragging me through a forest.
A voice whispering my name. Not Sara. A name I didn’t recognize.
I gasped, clutching my head. “I see—something. I do not know what it is. I cannot—”
Xenon held my face gently, forcing my eyes to his. “Breathe. Listen to me. Stay with me.”
Kael grabbed his arm. “Alpha. Do not ground her too hard. It could interfere with the memory.”
Xenon turned on him with a look that could kill. “She is not losing herself to this.”
The heartbeat grew louder. Faster. It didn’t feel like mine. It felt ancient. Heavy. Like something pounding from beneath the earth.
The hallway tilted.
Xenon’s arms tightened around me.
My breath shook. “Xenon. Make it stop.”
“You are safe,” he said. “I am right here.”
A flash hit again—stronger.
The same woman’s hand grabbed mine.
Her voice broke.
“Do not look back—do not—”
The vision snapped. Hard.
I collapsed against Xenon. He caught me, holding me upright as my breath came in hard gasps.
Ryker looked at Kael. “Is this it.”
Kael nodded slowly. “Yes. This is the second stage.”
Xenon lifted me slightly. “Enough. We are going upstairs.”
Kael stepped forward. “Alpha, she is unstable. Moving her—”
“She is not staying down here,” Xenon said.
Ryker nodded. “I will clear the path.”
Xenon shifted his grip, one arm behind my back, the other under my legs.
I froze. “You do not have to carry me.”
He looked down at me, eyes unblinking. “Yes. I do.”
He lifted me without effort.
My head rested against his shoulder, my body still trembling from the vision.
Kael moved ahead. Ryker stayed close.
Xenon held me firmly, like nothing in the world could pull me from his arms.
“As long as I breathe,” he whispered near my ear, “you are not losing yourself. Not to them. Not to your bloodline. Not to anything.”
Another flash tried to rise.
But it didn’t reach me.
Not with him holding me like this.
Not with his voice grounding me.
Not with the heat of his chest keeping my mind from slipping further away.
And as he carried me up the staircase toward the main floors, I realized something terrifying.
The Creed was not the only one afraid of what was waking inside me.
Xenon was too.
But he wasn’t afraid of my bloodline.
He was afraid of losing me to it.