Chapter 22 The Mirror Mother
The ghost Alpha’s hand was a block of ice around my neck. I couldn't breathe. My vision began to spot with black dots. I looked at Xavier’s father, the man who was supposed to be a hero, and saw only a cold, blue hollow.
"Kill the wolf," the ghost whispered again. His voice was my own voice. It was high and sharp, like a glass shard. "Kill Xavier, or the boys will burn."
Malphas laughed from the shadows. He was holding the bowl of Leo's light, drinking it like wine. "The Mirror Gene is a beautiful thing, Elara. While you were playing at being a mother, the Agency was making a better version of you. Faster. Stronger. And she doesn't have a heart to break."
I gripped the ghost’s wrist. My fingers passed right through his arm like smoke. I couldn't fight a spirit with my hands. I looked at Leo, tied to the pillar. His eyes were half-closed. He was fading.
Focus, Elara, I told myself. The locket.
I squeezed Mark’s silver locket in my left hand. I didn't think about the pain in my throat. I thought about the way Xavier looked at me when we first met. I thought about the first time Leo called me "Mommy." I took all that love and mixed it with the cold revenge burning in my gut.
A blast of silver-black energy exploded from my chest.
The ghost Alpha screamed. The sound was like a thousand windows breaking at once. He vanished into a cloud of blue mist. I fell to the floor, gasping for air, rubbing my bruised neck.
"You're wasting your time!" Malphas shouted. He threw the empty bowl at the floor. "The Dark Elara is already at the lake. She has the acid. She has the cage. And your Alpha is too weak to fight a woman who looks exactly like his mate!"
I stood up, my legs shaking. I ran to the pillar and ripped the chains off Leo. He fell into my arms, his body as light as a feather.
"Mommy?" he whispered. His white light was just a tiny spark now. "Is it over?"
"Not yet, baby," I said, kissing his forehead. "But it's going to be. I promise."
I looked at the obsidian walls of the tower. There was no door out. The portal had closed. We were stuck in the Shadow Realm while Xavier was being murdered in the world above.
"Mark!" I yelled. "Mark, help me!"
My first husband stepped out from behind a stone pillar. He looked at Leo, then at me. His grip on the axe was tight. "The tower is sealed, Elara. Malphas locked the dimensions. Even if I kill him, we can't get out."
"Then don't kill him," I said. I looked at the locket. "Use the silver. If we hit the center of the tower together, we can rip a hole in the sky."
"It will kill us both," Mark said.
"I don't care," I snapped. "My husband is dying. My son is dying. If I have to blow up this whole world to save them, I will!"
Mark looked at me for a long time. Then, he gave a small, sad smile. "You always were stubborn."
He raised his axe. I raised my hand, the locket glowing like the sun. We both aimed for the black crystal in the middle of the floor, the heart of the tower.
"NO!" Malphas screamed, lunging at us.
We hit the crystal at the same time.
The world turned white. The sound was so loud I couldn't hear my own scream. I felt myself being pulled apart, my skin stretching as I was dragged through the air.
Then, splash.
I hit the water. It was warm. It was real. I kicked toward the surface, holding Leo tight. We burst into the air, gasping. We were back at the lake.
I looked toward the shore. My heart stopped.
There were two of me.
One Elara was standing on the sand, wearing my clothes and holding a silver remote. The other Elara, the real one, the true me, was in the water.
Xavier was in the cage. It was hanging over a vat of bubbling green acid. He was looking at the Elara on the shore with wide, confused eyes.
"Elara, stop!" Xavier yelled. "Why are you doing this? What’s wrong with you?"
The Dark Elara smiled. She had a scar on her cheek that I didn't have. "I'm just following orders, Alpha. And the order is to clear the board."
She moved her finger toward the button.
"STOP!" I screamed from the water.
The Dark Elara froze. She turned her head and looked at me. Her eyes weren't hazel. They were solid, glowing red.
"Oh," the Dark Elara whispered. "The original came home. This should be fun."
She didn't press the button for the acid. Instead, she pressed a different button.
The cage didn't drop. It exploded.
Xavier was thrown into the trees, his body covered in fire.
The Dark Elara pulled a long, silver sword from her back. She didn't look at Xavier. She looked at me.
"There can only be one Queen, Elara," she said.
She ran across the water, her feet barely touching the surface. She was moving faster than any wolf. Before I could even draw my breath, she was in front of me, the sword aimed right at my heart.
"Mommy, look out!" Leo screamed.
But it was too late. The sword went through my shoulder, pinning me to a tree underwater.
The dark Elara leaned in close, her face inches from mine. "Don't worry. I'll take good care of the boys. They won't even know you're gone."
Then, she pulled a second needle from her belt. It wasn't silver. It was filled with a bright, glowing black liquid.
"Say hello to the Void for me," she whispered.
She jammed the needle into my neck.
Suddenly, my skin didn't glow silver. It began to turn into scales. Real, hard, black scales. My fingernails grew into claws. My teeth sharpened.
I wasn't dying. I was shifting.
But I wasn't shifting into a wolf.
I let out a roar that sent a wave of water ten feet high. I grabbed the Dark Elara’s throat with my new claws and squeezed until her neck snapped.
I threw her body aside and turned toward the shore.
Xavier was standing up, his clothes burnt off, his eyes wide with horror. He wasn't looking at the dead Elara.
He was looking at me.
"Elara?" he whispered. "What... what are you?"
I looked down at my hands. They weren't hands anymore. They were talons.
"I'm the revenge," I said. My voice was a deep, gravelly growl.
Behind Xavier, the bushes parted. A dozen more Elaras stepped out. All of them had red eyes. All of them had silver swords.
"The Hive has a thousand mothers," the Elaras said in unison. "How many can you kill before you tire?"
One of the Elaras held up a small, crying baby. It was my fifth child. The one they stole.
"Kill us," Elara said, "and the baby dies with us."