Chapter 24
Alice
Darian keeps his word. While he’s determined not to sleep apart from me, aside from holding me at night, he keeps his hands to himself.
Mira is the happiest of us all. It’s cute, but I didn’t realize she would transform so quickly into a daddy’s girl. She wants him to do everything with her. As I lean against the door jamb of her bedroom, I shake my head, wondering whether I should be amused or jealous. My daughter is sitting in front of her small vanity while Darian runs a brush through her hair, looking terrified.
“If you can’t do it, just let me know,” I offer to him.
“No! Daddy has to do this!” Mira protests, and my lips curve. “Go ahead, Daddy.”
He beams with pride, his previous fear all but forgotten. “It’s just braiding hair. How hard can it be?”
“I sure wish I had your level of confidence,” I snicker.
Watching him try to braid Mira’s hair is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Darian hasn’t the first clue which section of hair goes where, but he’s determined to try.
I can hear the kettle whistling on the stove. Before I leave them alone, I ask, “Mira, honey, are you sure?”
“Daddy’s doing a good job.” Mira doesn’t sound very certain as she looks in the mirror at her normally silky hair standing up on end.
I don’t know how Darian went from “Dad” to “Daddy” within the span of a week, but he’s on cloud nine and so is Mira. It’s a strange adjustment for me to have another person living in my home, one with whom I have to share my daughter.
“Alright, then.” I shrug. “I’m going to get breakfast started.”
“Wait, Mom?” Mira shoots me a pleading look now, clearly horrified by whatever Darian has done to her.
“I think it looks good,” Darian says in satisfaction.
Taking pity on my daughter, I enter the room and nudge him aside. “Don’t quit your day job. Go start the eggs. I’ll”—I study the unnatural way in which Mira’s hair is sticking out—“do something about whatever this is.”
“It looks cute!” Darian protests as I push him out of the room. “Mira?”
My daughter looks down at her hands.
It takes me half an hour to untangle her hair. “Daddy isn’t going to be good at everything, you know. But he’ll learn.”
Mira watches me in the mirror as I braid her hair. “Do I really not have to go to school anymore?”
“Well, for a couple of months. Then you’ll go to a new school, one where you can learn all sorts of things.”
“Really?” She tilts her head back to look at me. “Uncle Jimmy said we’ll be moving.”
I curse Jimmy and his big mouth under my breath. Darian and I have been trying to take things slowly for Mira’s sake, to let her adjust to each new step before we inform her of the next one. I wasn’t planning on telling Mira about the move until the divorce from Willow is finalized.
“Is that true, Mom?”
“Yes, we will be moving,” I tell her hesitantly. “But not yet.”
“Oh.”
She picks up a pin to hand to me, and I happen to see the edge of a piece of paper folded carefully under her teddy bear. After putting the final touches on her hair, I pick up the paper. “What’s this?”
“No!”
Mira tries to snatch it from me, but it’s too late. I’ve already opened it to reveal a drawing of a lake. Normally, it wouldn’t raise any alarm bells, but the setting is far too familiar. As are the people she has drawn.
My blood runs cold. “Mira, what is this?” She tries to take the paper back, but I hold it out of her reach. My voice turns harsh. “Mira, I asked you a question!”
It’s the lake where I saw the witches, the one where the dark witches had been supposedly buried, where Darian and I met for the second time.
“Why do you have this picture?” I demand. When she presses her lips together, refusing to answer, I find myself yelling. “Mira!”
She flinches, and I hear footsteps. Darian enters the room, frowning. “What’s going on? Why’re you shouting at her?”
Trembling, I hold out the drawing to him.
For a moment, he doesn’t seem to comprehend what he’s seeing, and then his brows knit together. “This is the lake where we… Do you have a photo of it that she has seen? And who are—”
“There’s no photo,” I say grimly, my heart pounding in sick fear. “Mira, tell me the truth. What is this place? Why did you draw it?”
I see the tears well up in her eyes, and Darian immediately moves to protect her. “Maybe she dreamt it. You don’t have to be so hard on her.”
“Yes, I do,” I say tightly. “We don’t have secrets in this house. And she knows it.”
“I’m not supposed to tell!” she wails.
“You’re—”
“Let me.” Darian stands between us, his voice low. “Whatever is freaking you out, scolding her is just going to make things worse.”
My whole body is shaking, and I realize he’s right. I know my daughter; she won’t talk until she’s ready. And from the look on her face, she certainly won’t say another word to me right now.
Leaving her room, I try to even out my breathing. I need to calm down. I need to think.
I look at the picture again. There’s no mistaking it. My daughter drew the witches in the lake.
My memory of that dive has become clearer over the years. Mira has drawn the witches in the same position I remember seeing them. I sink onto the couch in the living room, shaking my head slowly in confusion. There is no way Mira could have seen or even heard about this lake or the witches. Even Mary doesn’t know anything about them.
When I hear the sound of a door opening, I raise my head. Darian soon enters the living room, holding a stack of papers. He sets them down in front of me on the coffee table. “There were more.”
I rifle through the drawings, one by one, my heart rate increasing with each image.
“Alice, you’re going to have to tell me what’s so special about these pictures. All Mira will say is that her friend showed her these things, and she drew them.”
“What friend?” I ask, lifting my head sharply.
“I don’t know. The pictures, Alice?” Darian presses, his voice tense.
I can’t sound hysterical. “These are the dark witches in the lake, lying in the same formation I saw them in. In this next drawing, they are standing. In this one, they’re swimming to the surface. And here”—I lay out the last picture—“this one is different. There are more figures in this one.”
“They’re the bad people.” A sniffle comes from the hallway. Mira is standing there, her eyes red from crying. “My friend said those are the bad witches.”
“Bad witches?” I get to my feet. “You mean dark witches?”
“No! The dark witches are the good ones!”
She’s getting all worked up again, so I approach her slowly, my tone gentle now. “Mira, you need to tell me about these drawings. Who showed these things to you?”
“The lady in my dreams. She said she was your friend. She said she was my friend, too.”
“Which lady?”
“This one.” She points at a long-haired figure she drew. I try not to react. The witch she’s pointing at is the one who grabbed my hand underwater. “She said the bad witches are going to hurt me. They’re going to complete the circle. She showed it to me.”
Darian exchanges a look with me. “What did she show you?” he asks Mira.
“The lake. The good witches came out of it, and Mom was there. They helped Mom save me. Then, the bad witches took me. And you were there, Daddy. You were yelling at Mom to go with me, and you were hurt.”
“Slow down.” I guide Mira to the couch before asking, “Did you dream all this? Did you dream about this lake and this”—I hesitate—“and this witch?”
Mira shakes her head. “She’s my friend. She said she tried to talk to you, but the bad witches did something to you, and now she can’t.”
“So, you dreamt about this woman?”
“No!” Mira looks frustrated. “She’s always there. At night, she sits with me and tells me stories till I go to sleep. She showed me the lake in my dream, though.”
A picture is being painted for me, one that makes my blood curdle. “How has she been getting into the apartment? I always lock your window.”
I’m halfway across the room to go check. I need to be sure. The idea that a dark witch has been breaking into my home all these years, with access to Mira, is too much to bear. My wolf is snarling, but Mira grabs my hand. “Mom! She has always been there!”
“Let me check.” Darian hurries to her bedroom and I follow, Mira attached to me. After sniffing around, he shakes his head. “No scent of an outsider. Maybe she just has an overactive imagination.”
But we both know he doesn’t believe that. I can see it in his eyes.
“What’s really so odd about these drawings, though?” Darian asks slowly, trying to calm us both down. “It seems unlikely, but maybe someone told her, and she imagined—”
“I told you I saw the bodies of the witches in the lake, didn’t I?” I reply in a hushed voice, not wanting Mira to hear.
“No, Alice, I went into that lake. I had to get an underwater flower for the white witches, for my father’s treatment, remember? I checked. There were no bodies.”
“There were bodies in the lake, Darian!” I whisper to him urgently. “They were lying at the bottom in the exact way Mira has drawn them. And the one she’s describing is the one who opened her eyes and grabbed my wrist. The mark on my ankle appeared after that incident. I never imagined any of it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he demands.
“I did!” I explode. “But you didn’t believe me. Not back then. And now—Look, I don’t know what’s happening, but”—I look at Mira, my heart pounding—“she’s not safe. You know she’s not. It was bad enough that the white witches were looking for me, but dark witches? I didn’t even know there were any left!”
“Let’s have this conversation away from our daughter. Mira, stay in your room.”
“What about the park?!” our daughter complains. “You said we were going—”
“We will,” I tell her, “but your father and I have something to discuss first.”
Sitting out in the living room, our heated discussion continues. “Look, I’m not sure, but this could be some sort of prophecy!”
I stare at Darian. “A prophecy? You really think she saw all this in a dream?”
“It’s very likely,” he murmurs. “Unfortunately, the white witches removed all books related to dark witches from the royal library, so I have nothing to check to verify—aside from going to them for help, and I can’t trust them.”
“So, we have no way of knowing?” My heart sinks. “What about some other library? Surely it can’t be that all information about the dark witches was stored in the royal palace.”
Darian winces. “The white witches also removed every book from individual pack archives. The information that exists now is very limited and generic. The palace was the only place that kept full records. There’s a chance we could ask the other wolf kingdoms for assistance, but with how far-reaching the control of the white witches’ coven has gotten, I doubt we will be able to keep the matter quiet. No.” He gets to his feet, pacing now. “The only way is to find the royal archive keeper. She is said to be a dark witch. She would know.”
“The who?”
“The royal family has a separate archive,” Darian explains. “One we have maintained in secret for generations. The keeper of the archive is a dark witch. She may be able to help us.”
“A dark witch? I thought all dark witches were evil.”
“Apparently, this one the royal family trusted.” Darian runs his fingers through his hair, frustrated. “I’ve been trying to get in touch with her. There are certain points of contact where I am supposed to be able to drop a letter and she will appear in front of me, but so far she hasn’t shown up. I’ll drop another letter.” He looks at me and then sighs. “It will be okay, Alice. Whatever Mira saw, or whoever she saw, has not hurt her in all these years. I doubt she’s in any danger.”
“You can’t know that.” I let out a shaky breath. “I don’t know, Darian. Prophecy or not, why didn’t she tell me? She always tells me everything. Do you think I’m a bad mother? Have I given her reason not to trust me? I’ve never scolded her, not like other parents do their children. I’ve always tried to understand her. For her to hide something so big…” I trail off, my heart tightening in misery and fear.
Darian comes to sit down beside me. “This is how children are. Secrets are fun. I don’t think she kept it from you because she was scared or didn’t trust you. She was probably just enjoying the novelty of having a friend with whom to share a secret. It had nothing to do with you.” He covers my hand with his. “We will deal with this. Together. Nothing is going to happen to our daughter.”
I give him a tense look. “I sure hope you’re right.”
“I’ll go talk to Mira,” Darian says. Before he leaves, though, he looks at the pictures on the table. He shuffles them around, putting them in the order they were intended to be in. The witches rise up from the water. They swim to the surface. There is a battle going on. They join the battle. Three figures, two of which I can presume to be me and Mira. The third one may be Darian. I’m just speculating, from what Mira has said.
My daughter has never shown any signs of being able to use dark magic. She had the mark on her ankle when she was born. Initially, I was terrified, but over the years, I began to think that it was simply that: a mark. But now? The ability to see a prophecy? Is that even typical of dark witches?
I don’t know what to do. This is not a problem I can resolve using logic. I don’t know how long this witch has been appearing in my daughter’s dreams. Mira says she has always been there, but the girl is so young. How long is “always”?
If the white witches find out about this…
“She said she tried to talk to you, but the bad witches did something to you, and now she can’t.”
Suddenly, Mira’s words come back to me. The bad witches did something to me? Is she referring to the white witches? I have no fondness for them, but according to history, they were on the side of good. But what if they weren’t?
This whole thing seems ridiculous. I’m probably just grasping at straws.
I sink back into the couch and stare at the ceiling. Why is this happening to us? And how can I protect Mira from a threat I can’t even see?
*****
It’s Darian who insists that we take Mira to the park.
I linger for a while before reluctantly leaving for work. Jimmy, Mary, and Darian are all there, so I know Mira will be safe, yet my heart flutters in unease at the idea of not being able to watch her. At least I know she’s with Darian.
With a heavy heart, I leave them and head to my car. The drive to the office is one filled with anxiety. I keep glancing at my phone, expecting it to ring at any given moment. When I arrive, I text Darian my work number, Holly’s number, and the main office number, even though I’m sure he already has them.
I have a pile of cases to work on, but I wonder if I should apply for a couple of days’ leave. It just doesn’t seem right to be sitting in my office working when my daughter is most likely being harassed by a dark witch and hunted by white witches.
I hear a knock on the door around lunchtime. It’s Katherine.
“I have to leave early today, Katherine,” I tell her quickly. “If we have a meeting scheduled, I’ll have to cancel.”
“That’s not it.” She closes the door behind her. “There’s someone here to see you.”
I blink in surprise. “A client?” Why is Katherine telling me this? Where’s my assistant, Holly?
“I don’t think so.” She sounds a little on edge, a troubled look in her eyes. “I have an appointment here with Harry, and I was coming in the building when I saw her. She was in the lobby, demanding to see you, but the receptionist wouldn’t let her through. She was causing quite a scene downstairs, so I thought I’d come and warn you. She doesn’t seem quite right in the head.”
I frown, trying to recall somebody I might have pissed off recently. “Did you catch her name?”
She shakes her head. “I wouldn’t have bothered you with it, but she seems to know you quite well, and I don’t want her ambushing you on your way out. She’s dressed really classy, Alice. Like she’s the first lady or something. Real diamonds. But the woman has crazy eyes. I don’t mess around with crazy.”
I pause, an itch forming in the back of my brain. “What does she look like?”
“Blonde, quite attractive. She—”
Her sentence gets cuts off when we hear Holly’s voice call out in alarm. “Ma’am! Ma’am, you can’t go in there!”
The door to my office bursts open, and my eyes fall upon a beautiful woman with red-rimmed eyes that have a demented fury glistening in them. My heart nearly seizes when I recognize her.
“Willow,” I breathe in shock.
I have just risen out of my seat when she storms in, raising her hand, claws extended. Without missing a beat, she slashes them down my face, scoring the flesh of my left cheek. I stumble back in pain and shock as Katherine lets out a bellow of anger and Holly screams.
Willow isn’t done yet. Her claws dripping with my blood, she darts her hand forward with incredible force, aiming it right at my chest, where my heart is. I grab her wrist and twist it. As she cries out in pain and surprise, I shove her backward, unsheathing my own claws and ordering, “Holly! Close the door and lock it!”
I see Katherine’s eyes on my claws, but I have no choice. Willow is out for blood, and I’m not about to let her shed any more of mine.
Holly obeys me, and I hear the lock click before I snarl. “You made a big mistake coming here, Willow.”
“You home-wrecking bitch! I should’ve known he wasn’t going to let go of you that easily. I’m going to kill you. I going to rip out your heart and shove it down his throat!”
I don’t say anything, and when she comes at me again, I kick her in the chest, sending her sideways. Willow never was much of a fighter. She had always been physically stronger than me, but that was because my wolf spirit was latent at that point. However, when my wolf awoke, I began to teach myself how to fight, with the help of both self-defense classes and sessions with Mary.
I let Willow see the wolf in my eyes, and she stumbles to a halt in complete disbelief. “You have a wolf spirit now?”
“I’ve always had it,” I sneer at her. “Your little trap seven years ago backfired. The shock of the sealing spell woke up my wolf spirit.”
She stares at me, stunned, and then her shock turns into vicious anger. “So, that’s why he’s leaving me?! You fucking whore! Have you been spreading your legs for him?!”
Willow’s next attack comes quickly, but I sidestep her lunge at me and watch her stumble toward the ground. She regains her balance just in time and comes at me again. She manages to dig her claws in my shoulder and tears the muscle before I punch her in the nose and send her flying. She crashes into my desk, where my laptop and other belongings fall to the floor.
My eyes widen fractionally when I see the photo frame still standing. I dart toward it, but Willow has already grabbed it and is staring at it, her nose bleeding. I snatch it from her, but when she turns to look at me, her eyes are filled with an intense rage.
“His child? You bore his fucking bastard child?!”
I should have known she’d be able to put two and two together.
“I’ll kill it. I’ll kill that little whelp and skin it alive while you watch. You dare betray your queen?!”
“Queen?” I spit out, enraged by her threat toward my daughter. “Last I heard, you had been served divorce papers. And you don’t exactly wear Darian’s mating mark. Face it, Willow. You thought you won, but you never did. Darian was mine from the day I met him.”
“You are full of shit!” She smiles menacingly, her face bright red. “He could never want something like you!”
“But he does.” I smirk at her. “He wants me and our daughter. You were never his choice. Did you and your father think that if you blackmailed him, you could get your way? You’ve never gotten into his heart or his bed. It doesn’t matter how beautiful you are. All he sees is the ugliness inside you, and that will never change.”
“How dare you!” She rushes at me again, and this time I don’t avoid her attack, grabbing her by the back of her neck instead.
I finally shout at Katherine, “Call Darian!”
As my friend fumbles with her phone, pale-faced, Willow decides she wants me dead. She pushes me off and shifts into her wolf form. Holly’s frightened scream has me cursing silently.
I shouldn’t reveal my wolf form, but if I don’t shift, Willow is going to do some real damage to me.
She is on the warpath. I jump out of her way, but when she doesn’t stop and aims for my assistant, I have no choice.
I run toward Holly, letting the change wash over me. I feel my clothes absorbing into my skin. Holly’s screams stop as I jump on Willow’s back, pushing her sideways into my cabinets. I can hear Katherine speaking frantically into the phone, but my ears are roaring as Willow tries to bite into my neck.
I snap my teeth at her, unwilling to take her life. It would be so easy, but the problems her death would cause me later on would be too difficult to deal with. Her fangs sink into my leg, and I bite her shoulder. Her howl is echoing. I hear footsteps outside, people pounding on the door.
Holly’s mouth is open, but no sound comes out.
Willow is tearing at my flesh as if she’s determined to rip me to pieces. I put my paw on her neck, cutting off her air supply. The harder she bites, the more force I apply on her throat. Soon enough, her struggles die down, and she goes limp. I jump off her and shift back. I stagger forward, and Katherine catches me before I hit the ground.
“Is—Is she dead?” Holly asks before taking a look at me and shrieking, “Miss Lane!”
Blood from my injuries is soaking my shirt. Willow took out chunks of my flesh, and the damage, along with the loss of blood, has me sinking into Katherine’s arms. Seeing me like this has both my friend and my assistant panicking.
“Darian’s on his way!” Katherine tells me.
Holly grabs her phone. “I’ll call an ambulance!”
“N–No!” I breathe, struggling to get the word out.
Katherine echoes my sentiments. “We can’t take her to a hospital. If they find out about—” She jerks her head toward the unconscious Willow, who transformed back into her human form upon passing out.
Holly stiffens. “I’m dreaming,” she mutters.
I grit my teeth, trying to swallow this burning sensation. I know my body will heal, but it needs time. Plus, the kind of injuries Willow has caused require a healer’s touch. Darian will know what to do; I’m sure he’s bringing Mary.
My hands dig into Katherine’s arms when I hear the pounding outside. She seems to sense my fear and looks at Holly. “We have to get everyone away from the door. We can’t let them find out about Alice.”
Holly meets my gaze and then squares her shoulders. “Right. You look after Miss Lane, and I’ll deal with everyone else.”
She hurries over to the door, unlocks it, and slips out through a small crack, closing it firmly behind herself.
“Nobody can go in,” I hear her say. “Miss Lane and a client had an argument. They’re still talking.”
Then, there’s the voice of one of the paralegals who works on my floor. “That didn’t sound like an argument. I heard screaming. Somebody go get Mr. Asher.”
“Go ahead,” Holly says calmly. “You’ll only get yourself in trouble. Miss Lane has controlled the situation. If anybody tries to interfere, she’ll have your head.”
An uncomfortable silence, and then someone says awkwardly, “We were just worried. We heard things being thrown around.”
“The client got aggressive. Like that’s never happened before?” Holly sounds dismissive. “Miss Lane was merely negotiating a deal. The next person who knocks on her door will be fired. Now, clear out of the hallway, please, and stop making a scene.”
When we hear footsteps moving away, Katherine sighs in relief. Holly enters a few minutes later, then presses her hand to her heart. “I don’t know how I did that without breaking down. What do we do? Miss Lane doesn’t look so good.”
My breathing is shallow, and I can feel strange emotions that are not mine. Rage. Concern. Fear.
Are those Darian’s emotions?
My legs are going numb, and the pool of blood around me is growing. I try to breathe, which causes a new wave of indescribable agony, like knives piercing me with each intake of air.
This isn’t good. I’m not healing as I should, and I can feel myself growing weaker.
“M-Mary,” I gasp. “Call Mary.”
Katherine fumbles with her phone. “I am. Wait, I—”
All of a sudden, I hear a sharp thud outside.
Weakly, I turn my head to the left, and I see Darian standing on the narrow ledge outside my office window, looking wild-eyed.
Holly lets out a scream.