Suddenly, his face comes into view.
Carter. I am holding Carter’s dead body as I scream. My heart breaks in my chest.
The scenery shifts rapidly, and I find myself at the Keepers of the Mist community. There stands my mother, her young figure vibrant, yet haunting, as she stands there. Her laughter rings like a warped melody as she delicately pours a dark brew into a mug, the liquid swirling.
Lying sprawled on the wooden floor of her house is… me, lifeless and still. A teacup sits in my hand, its brown liquid spilt on the floor, as a mixture of blood and foam comes out of my mouth.
My gaze shifts, fueled by a tempest of rage toward my mother—no, not my mother, but Octavia. She stands before me, a spectral figure cloaked in shadows, rendering me immobile as dread grips my heart. Around her neck, sits Adonis’ necklace.
Covering my ears, I implore the universe, “No, no, no!! This can’t be real! Suzanna, please! Help me escape this nightmare!” My voice trembles, a fragile plea against the relentless tide of despair.
“You stupid fool!” Octavia yells, her wicked laughter surrounding me. She twirls Adonis’ necklace in her hands. “I told you, Danika, they belong to me! I thank you, though…” She walks towards me, reaching out and touching my face. I try to turn my head, but she has me stuck in place.
Tears stream down my face. “If it weren’t for you chanting that spell, I wouldn’t have been able to return. So, as a token of my appreciation, I’ll kill you last. But only after you watch me take my mate back…”
Adonis.
“You fucking bitch!” I curse at her. “They are MY mates! What do you want from us?!” I demand answers from her.
She slaps me across the face.
I lick the blood from my lip and spit on her, trying to move every limb of my body so I can scratch her fucking eyes out.
I don’t move.
“So brave for a human…” she circles me. “Your mother was an excellent servant, bringing me your hair so I could make the perfect potion…” Octavia drinks something from a vial and then slams it on the ground. Glass shatters at my feet as she begins to morph. She shrinks down to my height and her black hair turns auburn.
What in the…
Suddenly, I am staring at myself.
My hair… Elaine must have snagged a strand when her fingers brushed against me.
A vivid flash of memory sweeps over me. I can see it so clearly: after she touched me, I instinctively pulled back, creating a moment of tension between us. That’s when she took a strand of hair from me. Then, with a casual flick, she tucked her hands into her pockets, keeping the strand safe and concealed.
My eyes widen in realization as the connections snap together in my mind.
Suddenly, without warning, I’m yanked from this deep recollection and thrust back into the woods alongside Suzanna.
“You see, Dani,” she says softly, her voice a melodic whisper against the backdrop of nature, “this is you, not me. I merely guide you, but within your veins flows the very essence of power.”
As her words linger in the air, I watch as Suzanna begins to fade, her form becoming translucent like morning mist. “No! Wait! Please,” I plead, an urgent desperation clawing at my chest. I reach out, my fingers stretching toward her, yet they slip through her arm as if she were nothing but a wisp of smoke.
“You are not lost, Danika. The answers are within. Remember, when you are most vulnerable, you may shed your blood and break the curse where it all began. All is not as it seems….”
Suzanna is gone. Just like that, she has vanished into the shadows.
I call for her, my voice echoing in the quiet, each plea growing more desperate than the last. My entire body begins to tremble, an electric jolt of fear coursing through me as I hear my name, faint yet insistent, drift through the night. I glance around, but the air is thick with silence and emptiness.
“Dani!”
“Killian?” I cry out, my heart racing as I search for any sign of him.
Suddenly, my eyes snap open, and I find myself surrounded by Killian, Dax, and Adonis, their worried faces looming above me in the shadows of my room.
Confusion swirling in my mind, I’m propped against Dax’s warm chest. The walls, cloaked in darkness, seem to close around me, and I realize it’s the middle of the night.
“Gods, Dani! Are you okay?” Dax says as he rubs my back.
