Chapter 103

Elizabeth

“She’s awake.”

The creature’s words hung in the air.

No one moved.

No one breathed.

I stared at it, my pulse hammering.

I didn’t understand.

I had seen a girl who looked like me.

A girl who called herself the first Door.

That didn’t mean she was awake.

It didn’t mean anything.

Right?

“Stop talking in riddles,” Damon said.

The creature looked at him, amused.

“You really don’t know.”

Damon’s expression didn’t change.

“I know enough.”

“No.” It smiled. “You know pieces.”

Silence.

Then Adam stepped forward.

“Then explain.”

The creature laughed softly.

“I don’t work for you.”

Lucien sighed.

“Can we kill it? I feel like we’ve reached the point where killing it is reasonable.”

“No,” Aurelia said quickly.

Everyone looked at her.

She swallowed.

“If you kill it, you’ll lose information.”

Lucien looked offended.

“You make a good point. I dislike that.”

The creature’s eyes remained fixed on me.

“The first Door has reached her.”

I frowned.

“Why?”

It tilted its head.

“Because she can.”

That wasn’t helpful.

At all.

Aurelia finally spoke.

“The Doors are connected.”

Everyone looked at her.

She took a breath.

“Not physically. Through memory.”

I remembered the girl’s face.

The sadness in her eyes.

The strange feeling that I’d lost someone I had never met.

My stomach tightened.

“You’ve seen her before?” I asked.

Aurelia shook her head.

“No.”

“Then how do you know?”

Her eyes softened.

“Because Arian wrote about it.”

At the mention of Arian, everyone grew quiet.

Aurelia looked at me.

“The first Door created the bond.”

Silence.

“She knew one day another Door would exist.”

I blinked.

“Another… me?”

“No.”

She shook her head.

“Another vessel.”

The word felt better.

Less strange.

I could handle vessel.

I could not handle having ancient versions of myself running around in visions.

The creature suddenly smiled.

“You’re afraid.”

I looked at it.

“No, I’m confused.”

“No.” Its gold eyes gleamed. “You’re afraid.”

I hated that it was right.

I crossed my arms.

“I don’t even know what’s happening.”

“You will.”

That wasn’t comforting.

At all.

Suddenly, another sound echoed beneath the house.

Not a howl.

A thud.

Deep.

Powerful.

The floor trembled.

Everyone froze.

Lucien looked down.

“I officially hate tonight.”

The thud came again.

The lights flickered.

Then—

Silence.

Damon’s gaze sharpened.

“That’s closer.”

Nobody argued.

Because it was.

The sound no longer seemed to come from somewhere beneath New Orleans.

It felt…

Near.

Much too near.

Aurelia looked frightened.

“We don’t have enough time.”

“Time for what?” Adam asked.

She looked at him.

“To prepare.”

Prepare for what?

Before I could ask, the creature laughed.

“Oh, that’s adorable.”

Aurelia glared at it.

“You should be running.”

Silence.

“You should all be running.”

Damon stepped forward.

“We’re not running.”

The creature studied him.

Then smiled.

“Yes. I can see that.”

It almost sounded impressed.

Then it looked at me.

“You should leave this city.”

I blinked.

“What?”

“Leave.”

Silence.

“Tonight.”

I stared.

Was the ancient monster giving me travel advice?

Lucien looked equally confused.

“I’m sorry, has it switched sides?”

The creature ignored him.

Its eyes never left mine.

“If you stay, they will come.”

“Who?”

“The ones who remember.”

I was getting very tired of people saying things like that.

Aurelia suddenly went pale.

“No.”

The creature smiled.

“Oh yes.”

She looked at me.

“We need to leave.”

Damon immediately turned to her.

“No.”

Her head snapped toward him.

“No?”

“No one is taking her anywhere.”

The room went still.

I looked at him.

He wasn’t looking at me.

He was looking at Aurelia.

Every line of his body was tense.

Protective.

Possessive.

Very Klaus-like.

Aurelia crossed her arms.

“They’re looking for the Door.”

“And they won’t find her.”

“They already have.”

Silence.

Damon’s jaw tightened.

I suddenly had the uncomfortable feeling they were talking about me like I wasn’t standing right there.

I cleared my throat.

Nobody looked at me.

Rude.

“I think I should get a vote.”

Instantly, four people answered.

“No.”

I blinked.

Excuse me?

Lucien looked sympathetic.

“Honestly, I don’t think you do.”

I glared at him.

He smiled.

Then another thud shook the mansion.

This time, a picture frame crashed to the floor.

Glass shattered.

I jumped.

Damon looked toward the hallway.

The mark on my hand warmed.

Then—

A whisper.

So soft I almost didn’t hear it.

Elizabeth.

I froze.

No one else reacted.

I swallowed.

The voice came again.

Elizabeth.

No.

Absolutely not.

I knew that voice.

The first Door.

I looked around.

Nobody else had heard.

The whisper came again.

Library.

I frowned.

Library?

“Elizabeth?”

Damon’s voice.

I looked up.

He was watching me.

“What?”

“You went pale.”

“Oh.”

Excellent.

I laughed nervously.

“I think I’m hearing voices.”

Silence.

Nobody looked reassured.

Aurelia looked alarmed.

“Whose voice?”

I hesitated.

“The first Door.”

Nobody moved.

Then Lucien muttered,

“I miss when our problems were vampires.”

The whisper came again.

Library.

I looked toward the staircase.

The mark on my hand warmed again.

It wasn’t painful.

It felt…

Insistent.

“She wants me to go to the library.”

Silence.

“No,” Damon said.

I looked at him.

“You didn’t even think about it.”

“I don’t need to.”

Aurelia looked torn.

“Actually…”

Everyone looked at her.

She swallowed.

“I think she should go.”

Damon stared.

“You cannot be serious.”

“If the first Door is reaching her, there may be a reason.”

“No.”

Aurelia sighed.

“You really do argue like a king.”

Lucien looked delighted.

“He does!”

Damon ignored him.

I looked toward the staircase.

The whisper came again.

Please.

Please.

The word stopped me.

Before, the first Door had sounded sad.

Now…

She sounded afraid.

I looked at Damon.

“I think she needs help.”

Silence.

His eyes searched my face.

He didn’t like this.

At all.

Neither did I.

But something inside me knew.

I had to go.

Finally, he sighed.

I recognized that sigh.

It was his “I’ve already lost this argument” sigh.

“You are incredibly difficult.”

I smiled weakly.

“So I’ve been told.”

For one brief second, amusement flickered across his face.

Then it disappeared.

“I’m coming with you.”

I blinked.

“I never said you couldn’t.”

“I know.”

A pause.

“I don’t trust mysterious voices.”

Fair.

Very fair.

Adam straightened.

“I’ll stay here.”

Tristan nodded.

“So will I.”

Lucien looked offended.

“Why do I never get assigned interesting jobs?”

“You aren’t responsible enough,” Adam replied.

Lucien looked wounded.

“I am occasionally responsible.”

No one responded.

“Rude.”

I almost laughed.

The whisper came one last time.

Hurry.

The warmth in my hand faded.

I looked toward the staircase.

The library.

Something was waiting there.

Something connected to the first Door.

And somehow…

I knew it had been waiting for a very long time.

Damon stepped beside me.

“Stay behind me.”

I looked at him.

“You know, you say that a lot.”

He glanced at me.

“You ignore it a lot.”

Fair.

Together, we started toward the staircase.

The entrance hall grew quiet behind us.

I could feel everyone’s eyes following us.

The library doors stood open at the end of the dark hallway upstairs.

Moonlight spilled across the floor.

Everything was still.

Silent.

Waiting.

I stopped.

A strange feeling settled over me.

Like standing on the edge of something important.

Beside me, Damon became very still.

I looked at him.

“What?”

His silver eyes remained fixed on the library.

For the first time that night—

He looked surprised.

Then he said quietly,

“We closed those doors.”