CHAPTER 153

CHAPTER 153
The trees leaned in, whispering.

Emerald didn't know how long she'd been walking. The wind wrapped around her flesh in a warm hug. Behind her, the muffled sound of the butler had faded…. he'd spoken no more than a handful of words to someone outside the cabin, just enough to send shivers down her spine.

Council. Bloodline. Lena.

She shouldn't have overheard it. But how could she not?

Her naked feet crunched the pine needles, the forest thick and quiet. Joel wasn't back yet. That somehow made it worse. Or better. She didn't know.

All she knew was something deep inside her would not lie still. Something called to her.

The air grew cold.

She paused at a twisted tree that appeared to have been twisted in pain, and the wind grew louder, the way the unseen voices seemed to sound. Emerald turned her head away.

Nothing.

Then everything changed.

The forest fell quiet. Quiet as could be. The kind of quiet that crawled down your spine, like nature bated her breath.

She blinked…. and the trees vanished.

She was in a place she'd never been but somehow knew. Black rock. An altar. The moon, blood-red, hung like a blight in the air.

Chains clanked. She whirled…. and her stomach dropped.

Lena.

But not the Lena of her memories. This Lena was worn by time and anguish, her beautiful hair tangled, her face gaunt. Chains bound her wrists, holding her to the altar. Her eyes were vacant, shining with a dim, unearthly light.

Emerald moved closer.

"Lena?"

Lena's head snapped up. Her lips twisted…. not in a smile, but something worse.

"You came," Lena panted. "Took you long enough."

Emerald's windpipe shut down. "What… what is this? Where are we?"

"This is where truths rot," Lena snarled. "Where lies are buried with bones."

"Lena…. "

"Stop calling me that," Lena snapped. "You never knew me. Any of you. Not Joel. Not his beloved council. Not you."

Emerald felt as cold as a sheet of ice along her spine. "But… you're his mate. You were…. "

Lena's laughter froze her. It wasn't human. It echoed off the stone like a howl.

"You think this has something to do with love? You think Joel loved me?" she spat. "He never knew what I was. None of them did. Not until it was too late."

"Then what are you?" Emerald panted.

Lena's eyes flared. "A vessel. A curse. A prophecy. Choose a word, little mouse, they all suit."

The chains rattled as she leaned forward.

"They think they can bury power. That by killing the vessel, the magic dies with it." She grinned, teeth too sharp. "They were wrong."

Emerald stumbled back.

"You’re not real. This is a dream."

"Is it?" Lena whispered. "Look down."

Emerald did.

Symbols, hot red, branded themselves into her arms. Old runes. They pulsed in time with her heart, burning into the skin as if etched with flame. She shrieked and pulled up her arms, but the hurt did not stop…. it bloomed, like blood that spreads in water.

"You carry it now," Lena said quietly. "The rite. The bond. The dying that follows."

"No….

"You'll awaken it," Lena continued, her voice deadly low. "You'll bring the end. Just like I almost did."

Emerald looked up in tears. "Why me?"

Lena's eyes sparkled with tears. "Because he chose you."

A snarl emanated from the shadows, ancient and deep. The altar trembled. Lena's chains groaned taut.

"They're coming," she snarled. "You must run."

"But…. "

"Run!"

The vision disappeared.

Emerald collapsed to damp earth, her heart thrumming behind her ribs like a drum. Her arms trembled as she stared at her forearms.

The markings persisted…. fine, like bruised starlight.

She touched one lightly. It pulsed with life beneath her fingers.

The cabin door crashed open behind her.

"Emerald!" Joel's voice, raw, demanding.

She wheeled away from him as he rushed to her, kneeling in the dirt beside her. His eyes traversed her…. mud, scratches, the marks.

"What happened? Who did this?" he ordered.

She tried to sit up. Her head spun.

"I…. nothing. Fainted. It was probably just… low blood sugar."

Joel's eyes hardened. "Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying," she whispered.

His voice dropped. "Then why are you shaking like that?"

She did not answer. She could not. Lena, bound and furious, seared her mind.

Joel's hands went out to clinch her arms…. and hesitated.

He saw them.

The markings.

His eyes went wide and his grip went hard.

"Where did you get these?" he growled.

"I…. I don't know. I just woke up…. "

"Don't lie."

"I'm not!" she lashed, crying. "I don't know what this is. I don't know anything about any of it!"

Joel rose to his feet. His fists clenched at his sides. Fire in his chest burned…. rage, confusion, fear.

The council had cautioned him. Bloodlines. Prohibited rituals.

His mate….

He spun away from her, trying to think. The symbols. The prophecy. The whispers Lena murmured in slumber.

What if it wasn't complete?

"Joel…," Emerald said softly.

He didn't turn.

She struggled to stand up, wrapping a porch blanket around her waist. Her voice was small.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

He looked over his shoulder. His eyes softened…. for a moment…. but then the fences went back up.

"I went for a walk."

"What?"

"This morning. I wanted to take a walk."

She glared. "In the woods?"
She knew that she had caught him on his lie and didn't want to talk about the meeting with the elders.

He nodded once more. "Needed air."

She glared at him. "You reek of pine and smoke. How long were you out there?"
Joel hesitated. "Long enough."

He said nothing of the vision which had appeared before he'd located her…. the glimpse of Lena's face among the trees, the scent of something old.

Emerald observed him. But she didn't press. Not just yet.

She turned and inspected her arms again and asked, "What do you think it means?"

He stepped closer to her, hugging the blanket more snugly around her shoulders.

"I don't know," he said quietly. "But we'll discover it."

She nodded.

He lied.