Chapter 157: The Silence that condemned her

"Cassian,"

His whole body felt like it had been hit by an earthquake, and he almost didn’t turn around because he was scared he might have only imagined it all.

Last night, Cassian had desperately searched for her body — or at least, the remnants of it. The fire had almost died down completely by the time they got there, and they had been searching ever since.

But they didn’t find anything.

They had also searched the surrounding forest, but they still couldn’t find her. He’d eventually told the guards to head back to the castle and take back their position and he would continue all on his own.

Because there’s no way he was leaving this place without confirming whether she was alive or dead.

His heart has been pounding ever since he got here. He had never felt more scared in his life before, especially if he ended up finding what remained of her.

They’d left Eclipse Crown for fear that Malachi would not be able to protect them, which was honestly a very valid reason. But his sister had made plans for their demise — and he was glad she had gotten what came to her.

He had warned her never to touch Della again.

But she refused.

She still believed he would keep protecting her, but there was almost a limit to things he couldn’t condone.

He might have this twisted affection toward her, but he wasn’t stupid like Leopold.

And he wasn’t gullible.

With everything said and done inside the Hall of Ashes, he was now expecting Malachi to declare war on Nightveil and IronRidge Pack. And that would be a decision that Cassian would have to face.

Because he was involved.

He could have stopped all this right from the Sovereign Moon Ceremony night and told everyone that Selene and Beatrice were the real perpetrators, but he had chosen to remain silent about that... giving them more opportunity to do even worse.

Della would still be alive by now if not for that decision. The blame was on him.

So when he had returned to the middle of the burnt-down storage house, looking around desperately and trying to see if he would notice or catch something that would lead to her and had heard her voice behind him...his world stopped.

He turned around instantly, and there she was standing just a few feet away from him. He wondered how she had walked up to him without even giving the smallest hint that she was close by, and his wolf didn’t even notice, either.

But the moment he saw her, he finally understood.

She looked nothing like the woman she used to be.

Her eyes weren’t blinking.

They were staring at him, but still staring right through him.

Her skin was very pale, like she had been drained of blood and everything else that once made her warm.

"Cassian," She called again.

"D...della?" He had so many things to say.

He wanted to fall on his knees and plead for her forgiveness. He knew she knew for a long time that he had witnessed what really happened that night and was protecting his sister, and she had never really held it against him.

But still—

Not that it had all come down to this- that his silence had made her pay the ultimate price; how could he still pretend that she was ok? Especially seeing her in this form. This... terrifyingly distant and calm.

"Annelise," She stated, unblinking, "Where is she?"

"What?!"

"Annelise," She repeated, then she pointed in the direction of the Eclipse Crown Castle, toward the Eastern side, a little farther behind the tall stone walls where he had come across her body a few days ago, "I found your scent there when I went to retrieve her body. Do you have it?"

She found his scent?

He’d concealed the whole thing.

How was she able to still sniff him out?

Had she...fully awakened?! That was the only explanation for this. And it might also explain how she was able to survive all the damage, since there was not a single one on her body left

"I—" He eventually nodded since words were obviously failing him again.

"Where is it?!" She asked.

"Buried,"

"Where?!"

"At the Healer’s grave. A few miles away from here,"

"Does Moira know?"

"I haven’t been able to tell her just yet," Cassian replied.

"Understood," She said and turned around.

Just like that. She started to walk away.

"Wait!" He extended a hand toward her, like he was trying to grab her, "Where are you going? What happened to you? How did you—"

"Your sister," She said, cutting him off as she stopped walking.

Cassian waited breathlessly.

"I will kill her," Della continued, "I will murder her. I will end her... slowly... enjoyably... like she did to me,"

Cassian didn’t say a word.

But now he had confirmed something.

Della had died, and what had come back to life wasn’t the same person who had been killed.

"You can protect her if you wish. I will not stop you. It’s normal to protect your siblings. If Lian ever did something wrong, I would still take his side, so I would not hold that against you. But I will warn you—" She turned back a little, flashing him a sharp, deathly look, "If you try and stop me, I will kill you too. So if you know what’s best for you, and your Pack, you will stay out of my way,"

Cassian wasn’t even going to argue. Della was obviously very powerful now, and Selene would get what was coming to her whether he liked it or not.

"Where will you go?" He asked softly, "Eclipse Crown?"

Why the hell would she go there?!

"No,"

"Then where would you live?"

Della looked down at herself again. She was still as naked as a newborn. She was thinking about going back to that human town and staying there while she mapped out her plans, but the last thing she wanted to do was scare them.

She wasn’t the same person as before.

She didn’t want to look at them with her void-looking gaze and have them step away from her.

When she didn’t answer, Cassian slowly approached her.

There was caution in his eyes, as if he was making sure that she wouldn’t suddenly turn around and twist his head off.

Once he was close enough, he took off his heavy robe and draped it over her shoulders. The warmth from it enveloped her, but it was quickly snuffed by the cold that clung to her skin.

"I will not stand in your way," He said to her, his gaze lingering on her neck.

The collar was gone, and what was left was the mark it had left around her neck.

"And I will not tell anyone you’re still alive...I swear on this," He glanced back at the wreckage around him, and devastation crawled up his throat once again.

He could imagine as much as he could, what had happened to her here... but he knew his imagination would never do reality justice.

His hand clenched into tight fists around him, and he badly needed someone to kill right now. Someone to rip apart just to get this...rage out of his boiling blood.

And he never thought he would ever say this... but maybe Selene did deserve to die now.

The woman was never going to change.

He might have fallen for her because she was so adamant and never gave up on what she wanted even if it meant using twisted methods... but hurting an innocent woman this badly?! That’s unspeakable of her.

Cassian also blamed himself.

He would spend the rest of his life regretting why he had kept silent that night, and he didn’t know if anything he would ever do would make up for that.

"How about you take my invite now and come to Nightveil?" He asked.