Chapter 61 Ghost from the Past
Lyra's POV
"That's impossible." Kaelen's voice is hollow. "She's dead. I watched her die."
Seraphine smiles through the window. "You watched me appear to die. There's a difference, my love."
Through our bond, I feel Kaelen's world crumbling. Four hundred years of grief. Four hundred years of guilt. All based on a lie.
"Get away from the window," I grab his arm, pulling him back. "It's a trap."
"Of course it's a trap," Seraphine calls out. "But that doesn't make it less real. I'm alive, Kaelen. And I've spent four centuries waiting for you to wake up and realize what you lost."
Stella stirs on the mattress, her red eyes opening. "Lyra? Where—"
"Shh." I kneel beside her. "We're in trouble. Again."
"Story of our lives," she whispers, and despite everything, I almost smile. That's my sister. Still fighting. Still sarcastic even while turning into a vampire.
Cole peers through another window. "We're completely surrounded. At least three hundred vampires. Maybe more."
"The First sent them," Kaelen says quietly. "And Seraphine. He's been planning this for centuries."
"How is she alive?" I demand.
"I don't know." His mercury eyes are haunted. "The bond should have killed her when it broke. Unless—"
"Unless the bond never broke," Seraphine interrupts. Her voice is everywhere, like she's standing right beside us. "Unless someone very powerful preserved me in stasis until the right moment. Until you finally marked another woman and I could use that jealousy to fuel my return."
Through the bond, I feel Kaelen's horror. "You've been conscious this whole time? Watching? Waiting?"
"Four hundred years of watching you grieve. Watching you build walls. Watching you become the Winter Prince." Her voice turns sharp. "And then watching you mark a blood donor. A human. Someone beneath you in every way."
Anger flares in my chest. "I'm not beneath anyone."
"Aren't you?" Seraphine's laugh is cruel. "You sell your blood to survive. You live in poverty. You couldn't even keep your mother alive. What makes you think you deserve a vampire prince?"
The words hit every insecurity I've ever had. But then I feel Kaelen's hand find mine.
"She deserves me," he says firmly, "because she sees me. Not the prince. Not the power. Just me. Which is more than you ever did."
Silence.
Then Seraphine's voice returns, colder than before. "You have one minute to come outside, Kaelen. Alone. Or I burn this building and everyone in it."
"Don't," I grip his hand tighter. "Don't you dare go out there."
"I have to." His eyes meet mine. "She'll kill you. Kill Stella. I can't let that happen."
"And I can't let you sacrifice yourself!" My voice breaks. "Not for her. Not for anyone."
Cole suddenly grabs our arms. "Stop arguing and look."
He points to the back wall. Where there should be solid brick, there's now a shimmering portal. Green light pulsing.
"Mira," Cole breathes. "She's still alive. She's giving us a way out."
"Thirty seconds!" Seraphine shouts.
Kaelen grabs Stella, lifting her gently despite her vampire strength. "Everyone through. Now."
"But Mira—" Cole starts.
"Is buying us time! Don't waste it!"
We dive through the portal.
Everything spins. Colors blur. My stomach lurches.
Then we're falling through cold night air, landing hard on dirt and grass.
I push myself up, gasping. We're outside the city. Way outside. I can see the glittering lights in the distance, miles away.
"Where are we?" I ask.
"The boundary," Kaelen says, helping me stand. "The edge of Council jurisdiction."
We're at the top of a hill. Behind us, the city with all its danger. Ahead, dark forest stretching endlessly.
"Once we cross into the forest, we're outside Council authority," Kaelen explains. "But also outside my protection. The wilds are dangerous. Full of things that hunt. Things worse than vampires."
I look at the forest. Then back at the city where Seraphine waits. Where the First is gathering his army. Where Mom's body lies somewhere, transformed into something that betrayed us.
"We don't have a choice," I say.
Kaelen nods grimly. "No. We don't."
The sky is lightening. Dawn is coming. We have maybe ten minutes before sunlight.
"Can you make it?" I ask Kaelen. "The sun—"
"I'll manage." But through the bond, I feel his pain. The approaching daylight already burning his vampire blood.
We start walking toward the tree line. Stella leans heavily on me, fighting her vampire hunger with every step.
We're almost to the forest when I hear it.
Howling.
Not wolves. Something else. Something that makes my blood run cold.
"What is that?" I whisper.
Kaelen's face goes pale. "Hellhounds. The First must have sent them ahead."
Through the trees, I see shapes moving. Massive. Four-legged. Eyes glowing red.
"Run!" Kaelen shouts.
We crash into the forest just as the first hellhound breaks through the tree line behind us.
Branches whip my face. Roots try to trip me. Stella's vampire speed helps her keep up, but I'm purely human. Slowing us down.
"Go!" I scream at Kaelen. "Take Stella and go!"
"Never!" He grabs my hand, pulling me forward.
The hellhounds are getting closer. I can hear their breathing. Smell their sulfur stench.
We burst into a clearing.
And stop dead.
Standing in the center, waiting for us, is someone I never expected to see.
Dad.
Not a ghost this time. Solid. Real. Alive.
"Hello, sweetheart," he says to me. "We need to talk about your mother. And why she's not the villain you think she is."
Behind us, the hellhounds surround the clearing.
We're trapped between my supposedly dead father and monsters that want to tear us apart.
And through our bond, I feel Kaelen's shock.
Because he recognizes my father.
"You," Kaelen whispers. "You're the one who killed Seraphine four hundred years ago."
Dad smiles sadly. "Yes. Because she was never your fiancée, Kaelen. She was your sister. And the bond between you was killing you both."
The world tilts.
Nothing makes sense anymore.
Nothing is what it seems.
And the convergence is only twelve hours away.