Chapter 101
Elizabeth
The howl seemed to come from everywhere.
Beneath the mansion.
Beneath the streets.
Beneath New Orleans itself.
It was ancient.
Inhuman.
And somehow… familiar.
The mark on my hand pulsed painfully.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
I pressed my hand against it.
The creature smiled.
“You hear it.”
Not a question.
A statement.
I hated that.
The wind pouring through the open doors grew colder, whipping papers and shattered glass across the entrance hall.
Damon’s expression had gone deadly still.
The kind of stillness that came right before violence.
“What opened?” Adam asked, his voice calm despite the fact that an ancient creature had just invaded the mansion.
The creature’s gold eyes shifted to him.
“The first gate.”
Silence.
I frowned.
“First gate?”
No one answered.
Wonderful.
Again.
The creature looked delighted by our confusion.
“There are always gates.”
Aurelia took a sharp breath.
“No.”
The creature turned to her.
“Did you truly believe one prison door could hold an entire realm?”
My stomach dropped.
No.
No, absolutely not.
I looked at Aurelia.
She had gone pale.
Actually pale.
“You knew?” I asked.
She didn’t look at me.
That was answer enough.
“Oh my God.”
Lucien sighed.
“I really miss the days when our problems were limited to murderous vampires.”
“I don’t think we ever had those days,” Tristan said.
“Don’t ruin my nostalgia.”
The howl echoed again.
Closer this time.
The entire mansion trembled.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
The creature smiled wider.
“It’s beginning.”
Damon stepped forward.
“What is beginning?”
The creature’s gaze shifted to him.
“The return.”
Silence.
Then—
“Of what?”
The creature’s smile slowly faded.
“Everything.”
The room became very quiet.
Because somehow that answer was worse.
Much worse.
The mark on my hand suddenly burned.
I gasped.
The room around me blurred.
No.
No, no, no.
Not now.
I knew what was happening.
Another vision.
I hated visions.
Darkness swallowed me.
Then—
Stone.
Cold black stone.
I was standing somewhere unfamiliar.
A corridor stretched before me.
Its walls were covered in glowing symbols.
At the end of the corridor stood the red door.
Again.
Always the red door.
But this time—
It was different.
A crack ran down its center.
Tiny.
Barely noticeable.
Yet somehow terrifying.
The howl came again.
Only now I knew where it was coming from.
Behind the door.
My breath caught.
Something moved beyond it.
A shadow.
Large.
Far too large.
Then a voice spoke.
Not the creature from the mansion.
Not the thing that had called me the Key.
Someone else.
A woman.
Ancient.
Sad.
“You are late.”
I froze.
“Who are you?”
Silence.
Then—
“The last one was late too.”
My heart stopped.
Last one.
Last what?
“The last Key?” I whispered.
A soft laugh.
“No.”
The voice sounded impossibly tired.
“The last Door.”
The corridor seemed to tilt.
No.
No.
I didn’t like that word.
Door.
Not Key.
Door.
I looked toward the crack.
“What’s behind it?”
The voice didn’t answer.
Then finally—
“War.”
The single word echoed through the darkness.
“Between who?”
Silence.
Then—
“Everyone.”
The crack in the red door widened.
A fraction.
A tiny fraction.
But enough.
Enough for something to look through.
An eye.
Gold.
Ancient.
Watching me.
I couldn’t breathe.
“You shouldn’t be here,” I whispered.
The eye blinked.
The woman sighed.
“No.”
The corridor shook.
The eye remained fixed on me.
Then—
It smiled.
I don’t know how.
Eyes shouldn’t smile.
Yet somehow it did.
The voice suddenly became urgent.
“Wake up.”
The symbols on the walls flashed.
“Wake up.”
The crack widened again.
The eye moved closer.
“Elizabeth.”
Its voice.
Not the woman’s.
The thing behind the door.
The eye.
“Wake up.”
Everything shattered.
I gasped.
The entrance hall snapped back into focus.
I nearly stumbled.
Damon caught my arm.
His hand was warm.
Steady.
“Elizabeth.”
I blinked.
Everyone was staring at me.
Wonderful.
Again.
“I had a vision.”
I really needed a different sentence.
At this point it was practically my catchphrase.
The creature smiled.
“I know.”
I glared at it.
Which was probably unwise.
Damon noticed.
His hand tightened slightly on my arm.
“What did you see?” he asked.
I swallowed.
“The door.”
Nobody looked surprised.
“Again.”
Still no surprise.
“But there was…” I hesitated.
How did I explain smiling eyes?
“There was an eye.”
The creature laughed softly.
Aurelia looked horrified.
“What did it say?”
I looked at her.
Then at Damon.
Then back.
“It called me the Door.”
Silence.
The creature’s smile widened.
I hated that.
Then I said quietly,
“And there was someone else.”
That got everyone’s attention.
“A woman.”
Aurelia went completely still.
I noticed immediately.
“She said…” I frowned, trying to remember.
“The last one was late.”
Silence.
Then—
“The last Door.”
Aurelia closed her eyes.
No one spoke.
Not even Lucien.
Which was deeply concerning.
I looked between them.
“Okay. I feel like everyone else understands something that I don’t.”
Still silence.
I threw my hands up.
“Again!”
Adam looked troubled.
Tristan looked pale.
Lucien looked like he was trying to joke and failing.
And Damon…
Damon looked furious.
Not at me.
Not even at the creature.
At the situation.
I knew that expression.
The creature laughed.
“You truly haven’t told her.”
Damon’s gaze snapped to it.
“Be quiet.”
“No.”
Its gold eyes shifted to me.
“The Door is reborn in every age.”
I didn’t move.
“In every age, someone is created to contain the prison.”
Silence.
“And when the prison weakens…”
No.
I didn’t want to hear the rest.
“…the Door begins to remember.”
The mark on my hand burned.
Visions.
Memories.
The temple.
The red door.
I suddenly felt sick.
The creature’s smile softened.
Almost pitying.
“You think these are visions.”
Silence.
“They aren’t.”
No.
No.
“They’re memories.”
The room went still.
I forgot how to breathe.
Because—
No.
No.
That wasn’t possible.
I had never been there.
Never.
The creature’s voice dropped.
“The Door remembers every age.”
Silence.
“The Doors that came before.”
My knees nearly gave out.
Damon caught my arm more firmly.
I barely noticed.
Every previous Door.
Every person.
Every life.
I remembered them?
No.
I couldn’t.
I didn’t.
Right?
The mark burned.
A flash hit me.
Stone.
Blood roses.
Screaming.
War.
A woman crying.
A city burning.
Then—
Gone.
I gasped.
The room returned.
My heart hammered painfully.
Damon looked at me.
“Elizabeth.”
I couldn’t speak.
Because for one horrible second—
I had smelled smoke.
Felt heat.
Heard screams.
As if I’d really been there.
No.
No.
No.
The creature watched me carefully.
“It’s starting.”
Aurelia stepped forward.
“Stop.”
“It doesn’t matter if I stop.”
Silence.
“She’s remembering.”
The howl sounded again.
Louder.
Nearer.
The mansion shook violently.
This time a crack appeared in the floor.
Everyone stepped back.
Dust rose into the air.
The creature looked delighted.
Then—
It looked at me.
Directly at me.
And smiled.
“The first gate has opened.”
Silence.
“Now they’ll start looking for you.”
I swallowed.
“Who?”
Its gold eyes gleamed.
“The others.”
I hated those words.
Then it added—
“And this time…”
The smile widened.
“…they remember you too.”
The room went completely silent.