CHAPTER 154

CHAPTER 154
The Candle's Warning

Joel packed deliberately. Each thing he put in his satchel was carefully folded and put in as if it was precious. A black shirt. A knife. His insignia ring from years ago. Each thing he chose with deliberation, each thing with intention. There was silence in the room except for the soft creak of wood as he stepped from the dresser and back to the window. The sun was not yet fully up but he was moving at full strength.

He was observed from behind by Emerald. She was barefoot and shrouded in one of the thick wool blankets. She had barely said anything since the previous evening.

"I'll not be long," he said finally, his words short.

Emerald also nodded, her arms locked tightly across her chest. "Where are you headed?"

He did not glance her way. "Territory meeting. Pack issues to work out. You know."

She didn't flinch. "M

He turned then, finally fully facing her for the first time that day. "I have had the butler stay close. You will not be left alone."

“That’s unnecessary.”

It's not up for discussion.

Her jaw clamped together, then nodded again. "Of course. A routine trip."

He dwelled on her for an additional beat of time. Something wasn't the same in her eyes. something darker, something wiser, maybe something resigned. He'd seen it days ago, but he hadn't been capable of denying it now.

"Unusual emerald?" he began

But she cut in, her tone soft. "You'll be home for dinner?"

He hesitated. "Likely not. Tomorrow morning."

I understand

The silence between them was like something in the room. something listening in to both of them, living off of the unspoken lies.

Joel slung the satchel across his shoulder and walked on. "I want you to stay inside. Don't take walks on the borders."

She raised an eyebrow. "Why would I?"

Whatever you do, don't. The harshness in his voice softened a beat later. "Please."

She sighed and went to the kitchen table where her half-finished cup of tea had had more than enough time to go cold. She drank it anyway. "You always say 'please' when you're lying."

Joel's jaw clenched

Before he had said a word, the butler had knocked softly and entered. "Alpha, the guards are in place. Should I post two on the back trail too?"

"Yes. Double rotation. No gaps." Joel faced the older man and spoke in a hushed tone. "Report everything. Even your dreams."

The butler inclined his head. "Yes, sir."

Joel returned to Emerald more slowly this time, as though turning too fast would shatter something delicate forming between them. “I will come back. I swear it."

She forced herself to smile, but it didn’t fully reach her eyes. "I didn't make any promises."

They held each other's eyes for an uncertain second. Then he moved in close enough for his lips to brush against her temple as if to remind her…. but remind him more…. what they were trying to be. It hung suspended in the air. Soft and awkward and incomplete.

He stepped back and she did not move. "Safe journey," she said.

He walked out in silence.

The door shut behind him with a click and his absence was felt at once. Emerald stayed seated for a bit. The tea was bitter. She was unable to taste it anyway.

The tall trees towered above in columns of sunlight. Joel's boots crunched through dry and crackling pine needles as he made his way to the car at the trees' edge. One of his guards handed him the remote for the ignition with the slightest of nods. Joel did not say anything. He was already miles away…. ripping through threads of war and of prophecy and of the one he dare not speak: fear.

"One of the guards spoke up hesitantly." "Alpha," he said. "The southern treeline. we have movement last night. We can't identify it. Some.glow in the dark."

Joel hesitated. "

Dog, we trust. But.

Incorrect

It had lantern-like eyes. There was no smell.

Joel remained silent. He got into the car and shut the door.

Inside the cabin, Emerald remained at the window. She had not left her position since Joel had stepped out. She had her hands on the sill. The trees in the woods swung in the wind as if nothing was coming, as if the ground itself had not called out Lena's name in her slumber again and again.

The butler entered softly behind her. "Would you like some breakfast, miss?"

She did not turn her head.

A walk later on.

I will consider it.

He bowed and stepped back silently.

Alone again, Emerald wandered about the cabin in a haze. She ran her hand along the mantelpiece and paused on the half-burned candle. She lit it absent-mindedly. The flame sprang high, higher than normal for just one fleeting second.

She relocated to the other wall where the mirror was.

Her face appeared back…. too pale, too immobile. Then, at her back, for an instant, shadow moved.

She twirled

There is nobody.

Her breathing caught.

The butler was silent again, somewhere in the house. She went down to the kitchen and opened the cabinet…. and paused. Stuck between two jars was one flower in bloom.

Red as blood. Thick and velvet flowers.

No vase. No soil. Just flowering there, alive against all odds.

She reached out, hesitant.

The moment her fingers brushed against it, there was an echoing whisper: "Do not allow them to wake it."

She recoiled. Her heart was pounding.

"Lena?" she whispered. "What are you trying to say?"

A cold draft swept across her skin even though she had no open window.

The living room's candle was blazing out of control.

She returned to it, eyeing the flame fighting against something unseen.

Outside, well beyond the trees, something was moving. She felt it. Not saw it…. but felt it.

Observation

Waiting.

She put her arms around herself and turned back to the window.

The candle produced an abrupt hiss. and was extinguished.

no breath. no wind.

Gone also.

She stared at the smoldering wick. She whispered softly, her voice trembling,

They're here now, aren't they?

Emerald crept across the cabin, candle in hand. Dusk descended on the windows, and the rooms were bathed in purple light. Creaks of the floorboards sounded like footfalls. She paused in front of the guest room door. a room not used and one Joel rarely stepped across. The door was open, as if beckoning her in.

Her heart racing, she entered. Dust danced in the light from the candles. In the center was an extremely old mirror in a tarnished silver frame. It hung on the wall in front of her, half-concealed by a moth-eaten curtain.

She recalled the day she had gazed into it and seen nothing. but felt something behind her. The atmosphere was heavy with anticipation.

She set the candle on the nearby table and the flame danced in the draught. "Hello?" she called out softly, her voice strained.

Her own reflection looked back at her. She smoothed her hair with her hand; her image hesitated for an instant before mimicking her action. She also blinked. "You're late."

No answer.

She leaned in nearer. Candlelight flickered across her face and highlighted dark circles under her eyes.

"Who are you?" she asked.

The photo smiled…. but it was Lena's smile: lopsided and vacant, like the fall of a mask. "I'm what you would become."

Emerald's breath caught. "That's not funny."

The eyes of the reflection grew dark. "Funny?" it exclaimed in her voice then back and forth between her voice and Lena's whisper. "You find this funny?" Emerald pulled back. The frame creaked. She grasped the post to balance herself. You're twisting my face, she snarled.