“She helped me after Augustus,” Ophelia continues. “She made me feel… seen. Like I wasn’t crazy. She understood. But she hates vampires, too. She said… she said we could reshape things."
Juliet’s expression hardens. "What was her name?"
Ophelia’s head shakes violently. "I don’t know. I swear—I don’t remember what she looks like, or where we met. She changed it every time."
“That doesn’t even make sense,” Sysco says, annoyed.
Ophelia’s eyes rip to meet his. “I know. It was pretty fucking trippy. I can’t even remember how I tracked her down. It’s like she can pluck the details from your brain in real time. Her name, her face, where she’s going to be. She scrubs it as she goes.”
My stomach turns. "So how do we track down someone we can’t even name?"
Silence.
Roman turns toward Ophelia, his vivid blue eyes fixed intensely. "You need to try again. Harder. Push deeper. If we can’t find this woman to help you undo this, it has to be you. Find another path."
I glance back at the monitor. Ares is still pacing, more erratic now. Blood smears the ground at his feet.
Ophelia swallows hard and nods. She keeps a wary eye on every one of us as she steps forward. I almost feel bad for her. She’s the only human in this space. She’s surrounded by six vampires, plus the one locked up. But she’s fucked up enough, I can’t summon the sympathy.
She walks up to the door of the vault and lays her hands against it. “Ares,” she calls softly.
On the monitor, I see his head jerks toward her voice. With a roar, he slams his entire body against the door. It rattles, makes a horrendous ruckus, but it holds.
“Ares, you have to stop this,” Ophelia says.
I notice the air feels colder. Sharper.
“These are your friends,” she says, and the sound of her voice is a little different. Something prickles on my skin. “You don’t want to kill them. You don’t need to kill them. And I need you to stop hurting yourself.”
On the screen, Ares stills in the middle of the vault. He’s breathing hard, deep, ragged. He does not look calm or himself. But he is still, at least.
I look back at the others. Sysco looks so damn hopeful that he’s about to get his best friend back. Harry is cool and observant. Juliet bites at her thumbnail nervously. But Roman’s eyes flick over to James. James stares at Ophelia with so much hatred it chills me.
What the hell is going on?
“Keep going, you selfish bitch,” James snarls, his tone low.
Every vampire in the room looks back at him.
“Keep. Going,” James says again.
Ophelia squeezes her eyes closed and swallows hard.
I want to yank James’s throat out and throttle him. I think it’s working, but he’s just threatening her. What fucking good does that do right now?
“Ares,” Ophelia says once more, flattening her palms against the hard surface of the door. “It’s over. You have to stop. Let what I told you to do go.”
The temperature of the room drops further. Something prickles along the back of my neck.
On the monitor, I see Ares close his eyes.
Holy shit. I think it’s working. I want to encourage Ophelia, to tell her to keep going, but I don’t dare break her concentration.
“You’re free, Ares,” Ophelia says, and her voice sounds different. It resonates, almost like a bell. It pierces my ears. I feel it down to my core. “Do what you will.”
Something pulses through the air, and on the monitor, I see Ares drop to his hands and knees. I’m holding my breath as I watch him, as I search him for any signs of a change. He just stays there for several long moments, taking in a slow, ragged breaths, and then another, smoother one.
And finally, he lifts his head.
