That was her name
THAT WAS HER NAME
Celine
We fly far away from Silverlake City, an hour north of Hemlock Haven. A small mountain range punctuates the thick, wintry woods. I feel uneasy, being this far from the city. It’s much too quiet out here.
“Here it is,” Oana says.
We’ve come to a clearing at the foot of a tall mountain. At its base, the mountain fans out, leaving an opening like a deep cavern. It’s impossible to see from the air. You would have to know exactly how to find it.
It makes sense. The entrance to the Cave is a closely guarded secret, known only to the elite members of the Triple Council. The most notorious magical prison in North America holds all of the enemies of the Hecate coven. Hecate witches consider themselves too noble to kill their enemies, so they leave them to a torturous eternity instead. Witches, vampires, shifters, even mermaids, all doomed to spend the rest of their existence in a rotting, underground hell.
I’d rather die in battle, any day.
“I’ll keep watch,” I say firmly. Tudor and Oana don’t argue with me. They immediately disappear into the invisible opening in the mountain.
The night is overcast and heavy. We’re far enough north that the ground and trees are covered in a blanket of fresh snow. I’m glad I’m not affected by the cold. In moments like these, I can almost remember how the chill seeps into your bones .
As the minutes tick by, I start to wish I had gone with my Creator and our ally into the Cave. The stark quiet of the forest is unsettling. My mind starts to wander.
I should tell Tudor about Amara. If he finds out that I knew about the Hecate coven’s spy and didn’t tell him, it will be very bad for me. I know how ruthless he can be. If I’m lucky, he’ll torture me. If I’m unlucky…I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes good on his threat to stake one of my sisters.
And yet, I can’t bring myself to reveal it to him. I can barely believe that it’s true.
But I suppose it makes sense. Amara never could have truly cared for me. Never thought that I could be redeemed. She only wanted to get close to me. That’s why she never wanted me to bite her.
A sickly, hot feeling rises in my stomach. All that time…she thought I was a monster.
But then…why did she allow me to bite her? Ask for it, even?
And in that moment…I felt…
No. I can’t let myself think about it.
And yet the questions keep nagging me…
Why didn’t Amara kill me? She had so many opportunities to stake me. Private moments where she easily could have disposed of me and no one would have been the wiser. Perhaps she was concerned it would be traced back to the Hecate coven? That Tudor would find out and be provoked?
Yes. That must have been it.
But then…
A rustling in the trees breaks me out of my thoughts. Immediately, I prepare for an attack. I feel the red rise in my eyes and the magic swirl inside me.
Amara’s magic.
The power she shared with me.
I’ve never fed from such a powerful witch before, certainly never a Hecate witch. Her light energy magic feels amazing, completely unlike anything I’ve experienced before. For a moment, my feet leave the snowy, hard ground. My limbs feel light, tingling with the promise of power.
But it’s not the witches .
No, it’s just a bird. A small hawk. He sets down on the ground in front of me, shaking his wings in agitation. Something about him is animated, human-like. To my surprise, he speaks.
“Celine C?té,” he says, with a shake of his tawny head.
I stare at him in wonder. He must be a witch’s familiar, like Amrita’s owl.
“Thank Hecate I found you,” he continues. “It’s Amara, she’s been captured!”
This throws me completely off guard. “Captured? How?”
“Cedric Ducharme. Him and his guard kidnapped her last night. They took her back to Lazarus’s headquarters.”
Fury rises in my chest, but I push it down. I can’t respond like that. She isn’t my Amara. She betrayed me. Those feelings have no place anymore.
I scowl at the hawk. “That’s none of my concern. Why don’t you go tell your precious High Priestess to rescue her?”
The familiar hangs his head. “I did. You know Lavinia Nox. She’s focused on defending Hemlock Haven. And even if she had the resources to send her witches to Silverlake City, they don’t know how to handle Cedric, or the vampire mafia.”
He’s right. The witches are powerful, but they’ll be at a disadvantage against Lazarus in his own territory.
My voice vibrates deeply in the still winter air. “How could the Hecate witches abandon one of their own? It’s dishonourable…”
“Lavinia is blinded by her feud with your Creator. She won’t be distracted by anything else. She said Amara could take care of herself. That she’s one of the strongest fighters among the witches.”
He flies up in the air, hovering closer to me. His voice takes on a sharp, desperate edge. “But Lavinia didn’t see Amara when she was captured. She was weakened, and Cedric managed to surprise her.”
There’s a flicker of guilt in my stomach. She was weakened because I drank from her. Her power flows through my veins now, leaving her helpless.
Why would Cedric take her? Could he have known she’s a witch? Lazarus’s gang has no feud with the witches.
But no…of course. My brother’s words come back to me now. He said he would take what I loved most. And it was no secret that Am ara and I were intimate, that I was closer to her than I’ve ever been to a living human…to anyone . He must have taken her to get back at me.
My chest aches and I turn away from the bird, processing this new information.
I try to be logical…but all I can do is picture Amara, alone, tied up in Lazarus’s mansion headquarters, at the mercy of Cedric and his gang. She was weak after I drank from her, and then I kicked her out of the hotel in the middle of the night. It’s enough to weaken even a powerful witch.
An icy fear runs through me. What might Cedric do to her? Especially if he knows how much I care for her. He wouldn’t simply kill her. He’s a sadist, and Lazarus is even worse.
There’s a sound, from deep under the mountain. Many footsteps echo through the stone. Tudor and Oana will return any moment, possibly with the Arundel wolves.
I don’t have time to chase after some witch spy who betrayed me. I owe her nothing. I have to stand with my Creator. To abandon him would be my certain ruin.
“Go back to your Hecate witches,” I tell the hawk bitterly. “There’s nothing I can do for her.”
“I called upon you for a reason, Celine…”
“What reason is that?”
He narrows his sharp, beady eyes.
“How do you think I found you, in these dark woods, when even Lavinia can’t discern your plans? I am a gift from Hecate, and she sent me to find you, to bring you this message.”
A light snow has begun to fall. He ruffles the snowflakes from his wings.
“Only you can save Amara, Celine.”
My voice is quiet, but clear. “And why would I do that?”
“Because…she trusts you, Celine. I have no idea why, but she does.”
I watch the snow fall upon the hard forest floor. It’s so beautiful. Untouched. Pure.
I was like that once. But not anymore. I can’t escape the things that have happened to me. I can’t forget the things I’ve done.
But she knew that. She knew that, and yet …
“Celine!” Tudor’s voice rings through the clearing. It startles the hawk, who gives me one final look before disappearing into the thick woods.
Tudor and Oana emerge from the opening in the mountain, followed by a crew of bedraggled wolf shifters, all in their human forms. Tudor is practically glowing with anticipation, eager to finally strike the first blow against the witches. Oana looks similarly inspired, her signature red cape blowing elegantly behind her. Even the shifters, despite their long imprisonment, seem engaged and ready to fight, their limbs itching to shift.
I recognize Leander Arundel, the Alpha of the pack. He stands fiercely by my Creator. “The Arundel wolves owe you a great debt, Tudor Thornblade. And we will fight to the last wolf. This battle means more to us than you could imagine. My two young pups are at Elmwood, and my niece. We’re all they have left. My sister was killed during the conflict with the panther shifters. I’ll never forget her sacrifice.”
“I recall the battle,” Tudor says, with a curt nod. But he has no genuine remorse in his voice. No true understanding of loyalty. He only cares about whoever is aligned with his own interests. Still, he tilts his head toward the grieving wolf shifter, feigning compassion. “We’ll head south now, toward the academy. To break out your young, and to avenge Sophie Arundel.”
Sophie.
The name rings like a shot in my ears. For a moment, the world blurs before my eyes. Did I imagine the name? Did Tudor even say it?
I shake my head, as if to clear the memory from my mind. “Sophie…”
The wolves shift into their animal forms, and disappear into the woods. Tudor and Oana prepare themselves to follow.
But I stay rooted to the spot.
“Celine,” Tudor snaps, pulling the hood of his cape around his face. “Come. We have far to go, and the night won’t last forever.”
“,” I whisper, my voice thick.
“Who’s name? Celine, we don’t have time for this,” Tudor says angrily. “My patience with you is wearing thin…”
“My sister. Her name was Sophie. Sophie C?té. ”
“Don’t be ridiculous. None of your sisters are named-”
“Not your progeny,” I snap, anger rooting in my bones. “My biological sister. The one I had before I was turned. Her name was Sophie. Her name was Sophie, and she had brown eyes, like the bark of the maple trees behind our house. Brown eyes just like mine…before they changed…I almost forgot…”
Dizziness overwhelms me, and I stagger backward. My foot sinks into the crisp, white snow. It crunches under my boot. Trying to get my bearings, I look up at the vast mountain in front of us.
The mountain is old. It must have born witness to countless unspeakable events. And yet, it’s still standing. Still standing, and made new…by the freshly fallen snow.
“I’m not coming with you.”
“ What did you say?” Tudor hisses.
“You heard me. I’m going back to Silverlake City. This is your fight, not mine.”
My Creator brims with fury. “You will not defy me, Celine. You are my progeny. You belong to me. ”
“Not anymore.”
Tudor’s eyes shine red in the thick darkness of the forest. “You will sincerely regret this. You’ll come crawling back to me soon enough. I created you with my own blood. And blood is thicker than water.”
“I don’t care ,” I reply. “I should have left you long ago, but I was a coward. I’m not making that mistake again.”
Before I can think, before I can weigh the consequences of the biggest decision I’ve ever made, I rise into the air. My resolve lifts me up, carrying me through the clear night sky.
Back to Silverlake City.