Chapter 126
Elowen's POV
My hands were shaking when I grabbed Casper's face. His skin felt cold under my palms, and his amber eyes were swimming with tears that wouldn't stop falling.
"Those memories aren't real," I said again, forcing my voice to stay steady. "Casper, please. You have to believe me."
His hands came up to grip my wrists. Not hard. Just desperate. Like he was drowning and I was the only thing keeping him afloat.
"I can feel it, Elowen." His voice cracked. "I can taste the blood. I can hear Dad's voice begging me to stop. How can that be fake?"
Cassian moved closer, his ice-blue eyes scanning the destroyed ballroom. His nose twitched as he breathed in deep.
"Raven was here," Cassian said quietly. "His scent is everywhere. Metal. Incense. Blood."
A chill ran down my spine. The demon's smell clung to the air like smoke that wouldn't clear.
"Who's Raven?" Casper asked, looking between us.
I swallowed hard. "The man in the gray hoodie. The one who touched your head."
Casper's eyes went wide. "He said he was Dad's friend. He said he was helping me remember—"
"He lied." My voice came out harder than I meant. "He's a demon, Casper. A Duke of Hell. He can manipulate memories. Plant false ones in your head that feel completely real."
Casper stared at me like I'd just told him the sky was green.
"A demon," he repeated slowly. "You're saying a fucking demon messed with my brain?"
"Yes."
"That's insane."
"I know how it sounds." I kept my hands on his face, forcing him to look at me. "But I swear on everything I am, what you saw wasn't real. You didn't kill your father. Leo didn't kill anyone."
Something shifted in his expression. A tiny crack in the wall of his despair.
"Then who did?"
I glanced at Cassian. He gave me a small nod.
"There was someone else at the party," I said carefully. "A man in dark robes. He attacked Ethan first, then went after your dad. It happened so fast. No one could stop him."
Casper's jaw clenched. "Show me."
"What?"
"Show me." His amber eyes flashed gold for a second. "Through the bond. Let me see what really happened."
My stomach twisted. Showing him would mean reliving it myself. The blood. The screaming. Austin's body hitting the floor.
But he needed to know.
"Okay," I whispered. "But it's going to hurt."
"I don't care."
Juno stirred in my mind. "Are you sure about this? He's already broken. This might shatter him completely."
"He needs the truth," I thought back. "I can't let him believe he killed his own father."
I closed my eyes and reached for the bond connecting us. It pulsed warm and electric between my ribs, anchoring me to both brothers.
"Hold onto me," I said. "Both of you."
Cassian moved to stand behind Casper, placing one hand on his brother's shoulder. The twin bond between them flared bright and gold in my mind's eye.
I pulled the memory forward. The ballroom full of people. The music. Drake's taunting. Leo taking control of Casper's body and attacking Drake with the broken champagne glass.
Casper flinched as he felt what I'd felt—the terror, the helplessness, watching Leo hurt Drake while everyone screamed.
Then came the part I didn't want to show him.
The man in the dark robes appearing from nowhere. His face hidden. His movements too fast to be human. He grabbed Ethan first, knife flashing silver in the chandelier light. Ethan went down hard, blood spreading across his shirt.
Casper gasped. His hands tightened on my wrists.
Then the robed figure turned toward Austin. Your father tried to shift but couldn't. The champagne. The drug Drake had put in it. It kept everyone's wolves locked away.
Austin stumbled backward. Raised his hands. Tried to say something.
The blade went through his chest. Clean. Precise. Right through the heart.
I felt Casper's anguish explode through the bond like a bomb going off. His pain was so sharp it made my own chest seize up.
The memory faded. We were back in the ruined ballroom, all three of us breathing hard.
Casper's face was wet with tears. "I didn't do it."
"No," I said firmly. "You didn't."
"But Leo—he hurt Drake. He would've killed him if—"
"Drake deserved it," Cassian cut in, his voice cold. "After what he did to you. To Elowen. He's lucky Leo didn't rip his throat out."
Casper shook his head slowly, like he was trying to clear water from his ears. "But I felt so guilty. Like I'd done something terrible. The memories were so real."
"That's what Raven does," I explained. "He gets inside your head and twists everything. Makes you doubt yourself. Makes you believe lies."
"Why?" Casper's amber eyes met mine, desperate for answers. "Why would he do that to me?"
I hesitated. This was the part I'd been dreading.
"Because someone hired him," Cassian said quietly. "Someone wanted to destroy us from the inside out."
Casper's expression went dark. "Who?"
"We don't know yet." I squeezed his hands. "But we're going to find out. I promise."
The lie tasted bitter on my tongue. I did know. Or at least I had strong suspicions. My mother. Drake. Maybe even Irene. But I couldn't dump all of that on Casper right now. Not when he was barely holding himself together.
Juno's voice whispered through my mind. "You should tell them about Selene. About the choice she gave you."
My breath caught. "Not now. They can't handle it."
"They deserve to know."
"I said not now!"
Juno went quiet, but I could feel her disapproval simmering beneath my skin.
Casper pulled one hand free and wiped at his face. "I need to see Mom. I need to tell her I didn't—"
"She knows," Cassian said quickly. Too quickly.
Casper's eyes narrowed. "How would she know? She was there. She saw Leo lose control. She thinks I killed Dad."
Cassian and I exchanged another look. This one said everything we couldn't put into words.
Their mother wasn’t exactly in a state to listen to reason right now.
"We'll talk to her," I said gently. "All of us together. But first we need to get out of this room. Raven could come back."
Casper glanced around the ballroom. At the blood on the floor. The shattered glass. The overturned tables.
"This is where it happened," he said quietly. "This is where I lost him."
My throat tightened. "I know."
"I should've been faster. Stronger. I should've protected him."
"Stop." I grabbed his face again, forcing him to look at me. "You couldn't have stopped it. None of us could. The drug in the champagne—it made everyone human. Even your dad."
"Someone poisoned us," Cassian added, his voice tight with barely controlled rage. "Someone planned this whole thing. They wanted chaos. They wanted our pack vulnerable."
Casper's jaw clenched. "Then we hunt them down. Every single person involved. And we make them pay."
The gold flash in his eyes told me Leo was listening. Agreeing.
"We will," I promised. "But right now, I need you both to listen to me. There's something else I have to tell you."
Cassian straightened. "What?"
I took a deep breath. My hands were still shaking. My heart was hammering so hard I thought it might crack a rib.
"When I was looking for you earlier, something happened. I was walking down the hallway and... time stopped."
Casper frowned. "What do you mean, stopped?"
"I mean everything froze. The air. The sound. Even my own breath. And then she appeared."
"She?" Cassian's voice dropped an octave. "Who appeared?"
"Selene." The name felt heavy on my tongue. "The Moon Goddess."