Chapter 32 THE COUNCIL OF SHADOWS
When the sun hit the rug, Dorian was already up.
The vulnerable, needy man from the night before was gone. In his place stood the "Warden," shoulders tense, face pale as chalk, buttoning his shirt all the way to his throat. Serra sat up among the scattered pillows on the floor. The seal on Dorian’s chest was calm—the nightly contact had worked—but the storm in his eyes hadn't settled.
"Get dressed," Dorian said. His voice was as hard and sharp as shattering glass. He wouldn't look at her. "Valeria and the others are waiting in the safe room under the library."
Serra stood, tying the sash of her silk robe tight. She pushed aside the hurt blooming in her chest. "Dorian, about last night..."
"Last night was a mistake," Dorian cut her off. He finally turned to her, and Serra saw the raw terror in his eyes. "You read the journal. 'Occurs through union.' I thought I was soothing you, soothing myself... but maybe I was just... feeding it."
He reached a hand out to her but stopped in mid-air, not touching. His fingers trembled. Then he clenched his hand into a fist and dropped it.
"I shouldn't have touched you. I shouldn't have pulled you onto that rug. If that seed moved even an inch closer to you..."
"It didn't," Serra said stubbornly. "I'm fine. You're fine. The seal is calm. This is a victory, Dorian. Why are you trying to turn it into a defeat?"
"Because victories don't feel this sweet," Dorian rasped. "Come on. Kael is waiting."
(THE WAR ROOM: WOUNDED WOLVES)
The safe room under the library smelled of cigarette smoke and stale coffee.
Valeria stood at the head of the table, an unlit cigarette in her hand, staring at maps. Lukas was hunched over his laptop in a corner. And Kael...
Kael was in a wheelchair. His chest was wrapped in thick bandages, his face pale, but that stubborn glint in his eyes was intact. He grimaced when he saw Dorian.
"If you give me that 'my poor brother' look, I swear I will throw this chair at your head," Kael growled.
Dorian’s lips quirked slightly, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. He placed a hand on his brother's uninjured shoulder. "Seeing you in that chair is better than seeing you dead."
Serra walked to the other end of the table and placed her father's leather-bound journal on top of the maps.
"Vespera was right," Serra said, not mincing words. "It's not a curse. It's a parasite. The Void Seed."
The room went silent. Lukas looked up from his screen. Valeria put her cigarette down.
"My father's notes," Serra continued. "The seed feeds on the Carrier's emotions. And the only way to extract it... is to transfer it to another willing vessel."
"So Dorian is an incubator?" Valeria asked, her voice trembling.
"It seems so," Dorian said, his voice dull. "And Vespera's masters are waiting for that seed to mature."
"Speaking of masters," Lukas interrupted, his voice excited but fearful. He turned his screen toward them. "I analyzed the Obsidian Mirror. I traced the frequency Vespera was signaling."
"Where is it coming from?" Kael asked, wincing as he tried to sit up straighter. "Beyond the border? The Shadow Lands?"
Lukas shook his head. His face was sheet white. "No. The signal isn't coming from outside. It's coming from underground. About three hundred meters directly beneath the palace foundations."
Everyone in the room froze.
"What do you mean?" Dorian asked.
"The enemy isn't at the gate, Alpha," Lukas said. "The enemy is literally under our feet. The palace was built on top of them."
(THE HORROR IN THE DUNGEON)
Just then, the communication device in Valeria's pocket began to wail with a piercing siren.
"The dungeon!" Valeria shouted, checking the screen. "The biometric sensors in Vespera's cell... Heartbeat stopped."
"Did she commit suicide?" Serra asked.
"No," Valeria said, horrified. "The heartbeat didn't stop... it was erased. The sensors are detecting zero organic matter in the cell."
Dorian didn't wait. He bolted from the room. Serra and Valeria ran after him. Kael slammed his hands on the wheels of his chair, cursing as he tried to follow.
When they reached the dungeons, the air was freezing. The smell of mildew was gone, replaced by a nose-burning scent of burnt ozone and rotting flesh.
The guards in front of Vespera's cell were on the floor. Not dead; just slumped in a deep, unnatural sleep.
Dorian broke the seal on the cell door and threw it open.
The sight inside made Serra’s stomach lurch.
Vespera was there. Or what was left of her.
She was hanging from the wall, but her body was... empty. It was as if someone had inserted a straw and sucked out every drop of blood, every organ, every fluid of life. All that remained was a crumpled, grey sack of skin and bones. There was no blood on the floor. Not a drop.
And on the wall right behind Vespera, a message was burned into the stone. It was still smoking.
"THE DOOR OPENS FROM THE INSIDE."
(THE SECOND CARRIER)
Dorian stumbled back. His back hit the bars. His eyes were locked on Vespera’s desiccated husk.
"This..." Dorian gasped. His hand went to his chest, to his own seal. "This death... this isn't normal. This is the seed feeding."
Serra took a step toward him. "Dorian?"
"Stay back!" Dorian shouted. His voice echoed in the dungeon. Serra flinched.
Dorian pointed at Vespera. "Don't you see, Serra? They didn't kill her. They ate her. And the thing that did this isn't a monster from the outside."
Dorian looked at his own chest in horror, then at the writing on the wall.
"The door opens from the inside..." Dorian whispered. "The Void Weavers might be below. But the key to open the door is up here."
He fixed his eyes on Serra. "There is someone else in the palace carrying the same thing I am. A Second Carrier. And that person just ate Vespera for lunch."
Serra understood Dorian's fear. When Dorian saw Vespera, he saw his own future. But worse, there was a hungry monster roaming the palace, one that wasn't sealed like Dorian.
And that monster had just caught the scent of Serra's blood.