Chapter 43: The summoner
“Lock the doors,” Maya whispered the moment they stumbled back into her house.
Everyone was panting, covered in dirt and sweat. Lyra’s hands shook as she bolted the windows. Jack dropped onto the couch, clutching his chest. Damien just stood in the middle of the room, staring blankly.
Maya shut the last window and turned toward them. “No one goes out tonight. Not even for air.”
“What was that thing?” Lyra asked, still catching her breath. “It had Peter’s face, but its voice..” she stopped, shivering. “It wasn’t him.”
Maya nodded. “It’s not Peter anymore. The Revenant Wolf takes the memory and the soul of the dead and twists it.”
Jack frowned. “So basically, a demon wearing Peter’s skin.”
“Something like that,” Maya said softly. “But this one was summoned. Which means someone wanted this to happen.”
Damien finally spoke, his voice low. “Someone brought him back to punish me.”
Maya looked at him carefully. “You don’t know that yet.”
Damien clenched his fists. “He said it, he looked straight at me, Maya. This is my fault.”
“No,” she said firmly. “You didn’t summon that thing. But we can find out who did.”
Lyra stood, still trembling. “And how are we supposed to do that? Ask the forest nicely?”
Maya walked to her desk and pulled out the ancient book again. Its cover looked darker now, almost alive. She opened to the page with the ritual symbols and the drawing of the Revenant Wolf.
“These marks,” she said, pointing to the carvings they saw on the tree. “They aren’t random. They’re part of an old spell. But there’s something else hidden under the ink.”
She placed her palm over the page and whispered a small incantation. The room filled with a faint golden light and slowly, another symbol began to appear on the paper.
A small circle with three lines crossing through it, like a sun breaking apart.
Jack squinted. “What’s that supposed to be?”
Maya’s face went pale. “It’s the mark of the Summoner’s Line. Only people born from certain families can use that kind of spell.”
Lyra stepped closer. “You mean witches?”
“Not just witches,” Maya said. “Witches bound by blood to the dead.”
Damien frowned. “Wait, but no one in this town practices blood magic anymore.”
Maya’s eyes lifted slowly to meet his. “That’s what we thought.”
The room went quiet for a long moment. The fire in the corner burned low, and the sound of the wind pressed against the windows like whispers.
Finally, Jack broke the silence. “So… what now? We wait till the thing knocks again?”
Maya ignored him and began flipping through the pages, faster now. She stopped when she reached a section filled with hand-drawn family crests.
“There,” she said, tapping one of them. “The symbol belongs to one family, the Valen line.”
Lyra blinked. “Valen? As in… Cole Valen?”
Damien’s stomach dropped. “That’s impossible. Cole helped me during the ritual. He’s my friend.”
Maya didn’t look up. “Or he’s been using you.”
The words hit Damien harder than he expected. Cole, the one who risked everything to help him become human again. The one who swore he wanted to protect him from his wolf side.
Damien shook his head. “No. Cole wouldn’t—”
But then a memory flashed in his mind.
Cole’s wrist. That strange symbol tattooed near his pulse ,a circle with three lines.
His blood ran cold.
“Maya…” Damien whispered. “He has that mark. The same one.”
Everyone froze.
Lyra’s mouth fell open. “You’re serious?”
Damien nodded. “I saw it when he helped me during the ritual. I thought it was just a tattoo.”
Maya slammed the book shut. “Then it’s him. He summoned Peter. He’s the one keeping the curse alive.”
Jack cursed under his breath. “We trusted that guy!”
Lyra paced back and forth. “Wait, but why would he help Damien if he’s behind all this?”
Maya’s eyes darkened. “Maybe that’s the point. He made Damien believe the ritual would turn him human, but what if it was really to take his wolf away to weaken him?”
Damien felt his chest tighten. “He said he wanted to save me…”
Maya touched his shoulder gently. “He wanted to control you. Without your wolf, you’re vulnerable. You can’t fight the Revenant now.”
Lyra bit her lip. “So what do we do? Confront him?”
“No,” Maya said quickly. “Not yet. We need proof. And we need to know what he’s planning next.”
Jack stood and grabbed his jacket. “Proof? Forget proof. He has a monster working for him!”
Maya glared at him. “And if we go after him unprepared, we’ll be next. Sit down.”
Jack hesitated but obeyed. The room fell silent again.
Damien stared at the floor, his mind spinning. He thought of Cole’s calm voice, his kind smile, the way he’d said “trust me.” All of it felt poisoned now.
He whispered, “Maybe I should go alone. Talk to him. Find out the truth.”
Maya’s head snapped up. “Absolutely not.”
“If I go, he won’t suspect anything,” Damien said. “He still thinks I trust him.”
Lyra shook her head. “No way, Damien. He summoned Peter, he’ll kill you next.”
Damien looked up, eyes burning with quiet anger. “He already took my wolf. What else can he take?”
Maya’s expression softened with fear. “Your life,” she said.
The night grew colder. Outside, a distant howl echoed through the trees but it wasn’t Peter’s voice this time. It was deeper. Hungrier.
Jack turned to the window. “Tell me that’s not what I think it is.”
Maya froze, then whispered, “It’s spreading already.”
Lyra grabbed her weapon. “More of them?”
Maya nodded slowly. “Whoever Cole is working with, they’re creating an army.”
Damien clenched his jaw. “Then I’ll end it. I’ll end him.”
Maya stepped in front of him. “No. You’ll die if you face him now. We need to restore your wolf before you even try.”
He looked at her, lost. “How?”
Maya hesitated then opened the book again and turned to the last page. It was blank. Then, as her hand touched it, faint words appeared, glowing red:
> “To return what was taken, blood must answer blood.”
Lyra frowned. “What does that mean?”
Maya’s face hardened. “It means Damien can’t get his wolf back unless he kills the one who stole it.”
The words hung in the air like thunder.
Damien’s heart pounded as the truth sank in.
He’d have to kill Cole.
The boy who’d once saved him.
Maya closed the book slowly. “Get some rest. Tomorrow, we plan how to stop him.”
But Damien didn’t move. He stared out the window, where the moon glowed faintly through the clouds. His reflection looked back at him , human, fragile, and empty.
He whispered to himself, “If blood’s the price, then I’ll pay it.”