Chapter 113
Chapter 113
Elizabeth
By the time we returned to the Elvadores’ mansion, dawn had begun to stain the horizon with pale shades of gold and lavender.
No one spoke during the drive back.
For once, even Lucien remained quiet.
The image of the abandoned church refused to leave my mind. The kneeling civilians. The voice that knew my name. The impossible doorway hanging over the Mississippi River before it had faded with the first touch of daylight—as though the sunrise itself had forced it back into hiding.
The silence inside the mansion felt heavier than usual.
Adam loosened the cuffs of his charcoal suit as he walked into the library. “Nobody leaves the estate today.”
Lucien sighed dramatically as he collapsed onto one of the leather sofas.
“I’ve been awake for twenty-three hours. If another ancient prophecy appears before breakfast, I’m filing a formal complaint.”
“I’ll make sure the supernatural council receives it,” Tristan replied dryly.
Lucien pointed at him.
“See? That’s exactly why you’re my favorite.”
“I’m your only brother you haven’t insulted today.”
“I’ve still got time.”
Normally I would have smiled.
Today I couldn’t.
I wandered toward the fireplace, wrapping my arms around myself. My thoughts refused to settle.
The voice…
It hadn’t sounded cruel.
That was what frightened me.
It hadn’t threatened me.
It had invited me.
Come home.
Those words kept replaying inside my head.
Home wasn’t New Orleans.
Home wasn’t even this world.
So why had hearing it made my chest ache?
“You look exhausted.”
I looked up.
Adam had crossed the room without making a sound. Up close, he looked exactly as he always did—perfectly composed. His dark hair was neatly brushed back despite the long night, and there wasn’t a wrinkle in his tailored suit.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many impossible things happen in one night,” I admitted.
His expression softened slightly.
“You’ll get used to that.”
“I don’t think I want to.”
“No.”
A faint smile crossed his face.
“I suppose not.”
For a moment neither of us spoke.
The fire crackled softly between us.
“I keep thinking about what that voice said,” I confessed quietly.
Adam rested one hand on the mantel.
“Don’t.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
“Because that’s exactly what it wants.”
His answer surprised me.
“It doesn’t always have to force someone,” he continued. “Sometimes it simply gives them something they desperately want.”
His words lingered in my mind.
Before I could ask what he meant, footsteps echoed through the hallway.
Damon.
He walked into the library carrying two mugs of coffee.
Without saying a word, he placed one beside me.
I blinked.
“Oh.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
“I… wasn’t expecting that.”
“You look like you need it.”
“I probably do.”
Our fingers brushed as I accepted the mug.
It lasted less than a second.
Just enough for warmth to spread through my hand.
I quickly looked down at the coffee, pretending to be very interested in it.
Across the room, Lucien watched the entire exchange.
He looked positively delighted.
Adam noticed too.
Without even looking up from the book he’d picked up, he calmly said, “Lucien.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were about to.”
Lucien grinned.
“I absolutely was.”
Damon shot him a warning look.
Lucien wisely decided coffee was suddenly fascinating.
I hid a smile behind my mug.
The front doors burst open.
Everyone looked up.
One of the estate guards hurried inside, breathing heavily.
“Alpha.”
Damon immediately became all business.
“What happened?”
“We found another body.”
The room fell silent.
My smile disappeared.
The guard swallowed.
“It was found near Jackson Square.”
Adam’s expression hardened.
“Human?”
“Yes.”
A knot formed in my stomach.
Damon set his coffee down untouched.
“Show me.”
The guard hesitated.
“There’s… something else.”
No one interrupted him.
“The victim wasn’t attacked.”
“What do you mean?” Adam asked.
The guard looked unsettled.
“There wasn’t a wound on the body.”
Lucien frowned.
“Then how did they die?”
The man shook his head.
“We don’t know.”
He reached into his pocket and unfolded a photograph before handing it to Damon.
Damon studied it for several long seconds.
His expression didn’t change.
Which somehow worried me even more.
He handed the photograph to Adam.
Adam’s jaw tightened almost immediately.
Without thinking, I stepped closer.
“What is it?”
Adam hesitated before passing me the picture.
I looked down.
A young man lay peacefully on the ground beneath an oak tree.
There wasn’t a single injury.
No blood.
No bruises.
Nothing.
Except…
Something had been carved into the stone beside him.
Not into his body.
Into the pavement.
An ancient symbol.
I froze.
Because I’d seen it before.
It was the same symbol that had appeared above the church.
The same shape that had begun spreading across my hand.
I looked up slowly.
“I know this symbol.”
Every eye turned toward me.
“I’ve seen it three times now.”
The room became deadly quiet.
Adam took the photograph back.
“The church.”
I nodded.
“And my mark.”
Damon was already thinking several steps ahead.
“Where exactly was the body found?”
“Less than a block from the Bennett Library,” the guard answered.
My heart skipped.
The Bennett Library.
Vanessa’s family owned it.
The realization struck all of us at the same time.
Adam spoke first.
“That isn’t a coincidence.”
“No,” Damon agreed.
“It isn’t.”
He walked to the large map of New Orleans hanging on the library wall.
Using a pencil, he marked three places.
The abandoned church.
Jackson Square.
The Bennett Library.
Then he stared at the map for nearly a minute.
No one interrupted him.
Finally, he drew three lines connecting the locations.
A triangle.
The center of that triangle…
…wasn’t the Elvadores’ mansion.
It wasn’t the church.
It wasn’t the river.
It was Tulane University.
My university.
The room became unnervingly still.
Lucien stood up for the first time that morning.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Damon’s silver eyes lifted to meet mine.
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
“They’re not choosing victims at random anymore.”
A chill crawled down my spine.
I thought about my classes.
The crowded hallways.
Vanessa.
Chloe.
Nicholas.
Hundreds of ordinary students who had absolutely no idea that something ancient was moving beneath their city.
I tightened my grip on the coffee mug.
“They’re building something.”
Adam looked at the map again before quietly finishing my thought.
“And whatever they’re building…”
His eyes settled on the university at the center of the triangle.
“…starts tonight.”