Chapter 213: The unraveling (ii)

Amara was waiting, her fingers curled against the arms of the chair as her teeth gritted against one another.

Ayla was supposed to be here hours ago.

Her patience was wearing thin...very thin.

A sharp knock sounded against the door.

"Come in." Amara muttered.

The door opened and a guard stepped inside.

"Alpha Ares has asked me to inform you that there will be a pause on the training for now."

Amara simply stared at him.

"A pause? What does that mean?" she rose from her seat. "He knows how important it is for Ayla to train herself."

"I am merely passing along his orders."

"Then I will go to him myself." Amara’s nostrils flared. "He seems to be forgetting what has happened this past week."

She did not wait for a response from the guard before brushing past him and storming through the palace corridors.

She was furious.

The nerve.

After everything she had done, everything she had arranged and all the time she had spent preparing for this moment. They were simply going to pause the training?

No.

She would not allow it.

Amara reached Ares’ study and knocked once. She pushed the door open without waiting for permission to come in.

Ares looked up from the papers spread across his desk, surprise flashing across his face then annoyance.

"Amara." he muttered dryly "What do you want?"

"A guard came to me with an order from you," she said. "To pause the training with Ayla."

"Yes. Is there a problem?"

"Ares..."

"Alpha," he cut her off. "Or my lord, if you please."

Amara paused.

She was older than his bloodline. She could have him dead before he could even think to form a thought.

She was tempted to remind him what she was but instead she inclined her head and nodded.

"My lord. I do not think I need to remind you of the gravity of Ayla’s condition."

"Yes, I am well aware of it." Ares responded. "And the pause is only temporary, so you need not get yourself worked up over it."

"I am not worked up." Amara’s eyes narrowed. "I am simply concerned."

"I am sure you are and I am sure Ayla can find other means to get rid of the excess energy she has while we consider other factors."

"Other factors?"

"Yes."

"Like what if I may ask?"

"The funeral." Ares said it simply, as if the word explained everything. "We will be having a full house. Soren might have been a traitor, but the people want to pay him homage, and I will not stop them. After that, you can bring up this conversation again."

Amara’s teeth ground together.

She felt the heat climb the back of her throat.

"Of course." she forced herself to nod.

"Is there anything else?" Ares asked.

"No, my lord."

"Great." Ares smiled "You may go."

Amara nodded and turned around.

Her hand had barely reached the door when Ares spoke again.

"Oh, and Amara." She stopped and turned around.

"Do not walk into my presence without express permission next time...you forget yourself."

For one terrible second, Amara imagined driving her hand straight through his chest.

She imagined his blood and his shocked expression as his lifeless body hit the floor but she smiled instead.

"Of course, I apologize."

"Good." Ares dismissed her with a wave of his hand.

Amara turned and walked out. The moment the door closed behind her, the smile on her face vanished.

Rage boiled through her veins.

How dare they...How dare they all.

She walked down the corridor, her hands trembling.

They had no idea...none of them.

Amara stopped at the end of the corridor, her breathing heavy.

Enough, she thought. She had waited long enough...too long.She had spent centuries waiting for the right moment and now that she finally had it, they were making her wait again.

No.

She would not wait any longer to transform the world...It was time.

The vessel might be weak but they would figure it out.

What could go wrong if the entire visage of the spell was not completed? What was a little incompleteness, measured against a thousand years of waiting?

Amara smiled to herself.

Ares would be the first to go.

...

Willow hesitated before entering the passageway.

She had been reluctant to return but she had had the dream again, the one with Alistair dead and her holding his lifeless body in her arms.

She could not shake the feeling that something was wrong and so she had waited and made sure Alistair would be out for the day.

He was making his rounds around the pack, speaking with the people and checking on matters throughout Emberfall.

She had waited until she was certain he was gone before she had come here.

Willow drew in a deep breath, feeling through the dark.

She could hear her own breathing and every small sound seemed amplified.

She kept walking until light appeared at the end of the passageway and she emerged into the garden.

Everything was exactly as it had been left.

The flowers, the trees and the horses.

She looked around slowly.

It was surprising that the magic that held this place together was still intact.

She had expected it to have faded after Lucius’ death.

Perhaps she had assumed that whatever power he had used to sustain the place would disappear with him.

Willow swallowed, her gaze moving toward the cave.

She knew she should leave but instead she started walking.

She climbed carefully, gripping the rocks as she made her way upward.

When she finally reached the mouth of the cave, she stopped, her heart pounding in

Her breath caught when she finally reached the mouth of the cave.

The body was still on the ground where they had left it but something was wrong.

Willow took a step closer, peering at the body.

There was no knife in its chest.

And even the clothes, it was new... she knew those clothes, she had seen them before.

"No."

She stepped closer, her hands trembling.

That body was lying in almost the exact same position as Alistair had been in her dream.

Willow’s skin crawled and her stomach dropped.

She had seen this... she had seen him like this.

"No." She rushed into the cave then stopped as if just remembering that the invisible barrier that had prevented them from stepping inside before was gone.

She was inside the cave, looking down at the body of Alistair.

She stumbled forward, dropping to her knees.

"Alistair?" she whimpered, her hands reaching for him.

He was cold.

"No." Her breathing became ragged. "No, no, no."

Her scream tore through the cave.

Screams tore out of her, scream upon scream, tearing her throat raw. She screamed his name over and over again.

He was dead.

Alistair was dead...just like the dream.

She pressed her forehead against his.

"Please." Her voice cracked. "Please wake up."

Her entire body shook as she clutched him.

Her dream had not been a dream...it had been a warning.

She had known...some part of her had known but then... If Alistair was here...Then who had she been with?

Who had been sleeping beside her? Who had been touching her?

"Oh, for fuck’s sake." A voice came from behind her. "Aren’t you one curious little cunt."

Willow’s entire body went rigid.

She slowly turned around, her eyes widening.

"Miranda?" her mouth fell open "What...what is..."

Miranda tilted her head, a snide smile on her face.

"Hello, Willow."

Willow scrambled to her feet.

"What have you done?" Willow screamed at her.

She looked down at Alistair’s body then back at Miranda, her breathing becoming frantic.

"You...you killed him." her chest heaved. "You killed Alistair..."

The look on Miranda’s face was all the proof Willow needed to know she was right.

Something inside her snapped.

"You fucking bitch!"

Willow lunged for her, a scream tearing from her throat.

"Dormi." Miranda muttered, flicking her wrist.

A strange warmth rushed through Willow’s body and she crumpled to the ground.