Chapter 59
Elariya
“Shadows of Uncertainty”
Ileaned my head against the wall, my gaze drifting past the window to the endless stretch of white sand.
The world outside looked like the remains of a realm long forgotten. Dunes rolled like waves beneath a sky that hadn’t seen daylight since yesterday, and thick clouds clung to the heavens, swirling around a pale, unmoving moon that cast everything in a sickly twilight.
A single tree stood in the distance, skeletal and bare, its twisted branches clawing at the frozen sky.
The view never changed. No sunrise. No warmth. No life. Only this barren wasteland that seemed as hollow as the ache in my chest.
This place was Wolfe’s safe house, hidden away in some forsaken corner of the realm. A sanctuary only he could reach. One it seemed none of us could leave.
He had transported us here with a mere wave of his hand—Bastian, Alaric, Garrick, Arielle, Sirril, and even the household staff.
Like Vyrenth Hollow, the house thrummed with protective wards and unbreakable enchantments. We had food, shelter, everything we needed to survive.
Everything except Wolfe.
And without him, none of it mattered. Every shield, every ward, every comfort felt hollow without the one person who bound it all together.
Through the bond, he’d told the others what had happened. I filled in the rest.
The guys were out looking for him, hoping he was somewhere in this vast wasteland. Sirril and Arielle remained with me.
Sirril did his best to cheer me up with food I couldn’t bear to eat. Arielle tried to…make me feel better. Less bad. Less guilty.
I’d been sitting on the floor by the window, contemplating. I hadn’t slept since we’d walked into this strange house situated in this netherworld.
Though it was dark outside, the time piece on the wall showed a new day had broken. Four more days until my next reset.
I closed my eyes, and for the millionth time, I blamed myself for how badly I’d messed everything up.
Messed up?
No. Creating a mess was what I did that night when I summoned the army of frogs and turned the furniture into animals. That was a mess.
This situation was nothing like that. The better way to put it was I fucked up.
I’d fucked everything up by exposing myself to the enemy, almost got myself kidnapped, and I’d hurt Wolfe deeply.
If only I had told someone about Zyrra sooner. Gods, if only.
I had so many opportunities to mention her. And the fact that things didn't quite add up should have been a giveaway that something wasn’t right. The biggest of all, though, was that no one talked about her.
I’d been around everyone long enough to have heard something about Zyrra. But there was nothing. Not even a whisper.
She was treated with the same silence reserved for the dead.
Because she was.
Blessed Mother. I still couldn’t believe it.
If only I’d spoken up, someone would have told me the truth.
And things still didn’t add up. Zyrra was a ghost. I’d been speaking to a ghost the whole time, but why did she need the ring?
And what was truly going on?
There were too many moving parts of the situation to keep track.
On the one hand, there was my father, who appeared to be working with the rebels. Then there was Zyrra, who broke into the house with the rebels to get me because I could track the ring—though our tracking spell hadn’t worked.
Everyone wanted the ring. Including my father, who had it. Except he had the unfortunate luck of being whisked away with it to only the Gods knew where.
More and more, it looked like Father had been initially working with these people and must have decided he wanted the ring for himself. Now they wanted it back, and I was more tangled in this disaster than I could ever have known.
The door to the bedroom opened. I opened my eyes quickly and sat up. Bastian and Arielle walked in, their faces still somber. Nevertheless, my hopes rose in anticipation that they had some news on Wolfe.
“Did you find him?” I asked.
Bastian walked ahead of Arielle and shook his head. He came over and crouched beside me. Arielle sat on the edge of the bed.
“I’m sorry. We can’t find him anywhere,” Bastian said with a gentle sigh. “He doesn’t seem to be in this… realm, and we can’t feel him through our bond.”
I couldn’t feel him, either. Not through the shackles nor desire.
“Why can’t we feel him?” My voice came out ragged.
“Because he doesn’t want to be found,” Arielle answered, cautiously. “The strongest bond to him was actually your shackle. We think Wolfe severed it.”
I felt even worse. And my heart broke all over again.
Wolfe wanted to be alone. That was understandable, but did that mean he’d stay away and maybe the next time I saw him, I wouldn’t even know his face?
My heart shattered every time the thought crossed my mind.
Then I felt selfish. Because this wasn’t about me.
It was about Wolfe’s heartache, loss, and grief.
“Elariya, we need to talk about the next steps.” Bastian’s voice carried a tentative edge I didn’t like.
“What do you mean?”
“Days ago, Wolfe left me with instructions on what to do if something happened to him.”
I shook my head hard. “No. He has to come back.”
“We’re still hoping for that,” he said gently, “but if he doesn’t return before your memory resets, it’s still best for you to go back to Stormfell.”
“I can’t leave.”
“Elariya…” His jaw tightened. “I know you’d want to stay and wait for him, but I don’t think that’s wise. Besides, it was his wish and I’m bound to follow it.”
Heat flared inside my chest. “Do you have to do everything he says?”
“On this occasion, yes. We took a blood oath. I am bound to protect you until my last breath.”
My heart stumbled. Wolfe did that? Bound his best friend to protect me?
“But, Bastian—”
“No.” His voice cut through mine, firm as steel.
“There’s no room for argument. I am the only one who matches him in strength and power.
That’s why I’m his second and why I’m the best person to protect you from what’s coming.
Arielle and I will take you back to Stormfell.
That will give you cover. The enemy won’t expect it.
We don’t know if they even realize the full extent of your curse, but we have to use every advantage we can. ”
“Then what?”
“The goal is still to find the ring. So, we’ll keep trying even if… Wolfe doesn’t return. He wants us to break your curse so you can have your life back. Even if he’s not in it.”
My chest caved, and that helpless feeling I loathed returned. Bastian’s gaze softened, but his words did not.
“In our search, we found a conduit out of this realm. But it only links to the route Wolfe intended us to use to reach Stormfell. Another safeguard he prepared. Since he tasked Arielle and me to take you through, we’re assuming the others are meant to remain here.”
The words hollowed me out, leaving nothing but raw ache in their wake. I pressed a hand to my chest as though I could hold myself together, as though that might keep Wolfe tethered to me when everyone else seemed ready to let go.
My vision blurred, the edges of the room darkening as the world recoiled with me. For a moment, I thought I might splinter apart right there on the floor, then a warm hand covered mine. Arielle had moved to my side.
“Breathe, Elariya,” she whispered, her hand warm over mine, steady as an anchor. “I’ve got you.” Then she lifted her gaze to Bastian. “I’ll take it from here.”
Bastian nodded and pushed to his feet. He and Arielle exchanged worried glances before he turned and left, closing the door behind him.
Arielle lowered next to me, guiding me to rest my head on her shoulder. As soon as I did, the tears I’d held back flowed from my soul.
I’d cried to myself earlier, but this was different. These tears were the sort that came when you were trapped and you didn’t know what to do.
“Oh, Elariya, I’m so sorry.” Arielle held me close. “I know it hurts.”
“I just wished I’d said something about Zyrra. I could have told you.” I cried, my shoulders shaking.
“I understand why you didn’t. She sounded very…convincing. Besides, there was so much going on. Too much. You even had to learn to trust us. That’s why she got to you and used you.”
I inched away so I could look at her. “Why would she be against Wolfe?”
Arielle shook her head. “There’s a lot about Wolfe’s family that we don’t speak of. But that’s a mystery to me. It may very well have something to do with how she died.”
“Was it the blight?”
A faraway look entered her eyes, and I knew there was more to the story that no one had said. “It was mostly the blight, but there’s more. More that isn’t mine to tell.”
“I should know, Arielle.”
“I couldn’t agree more. But I don’t have the right to tell you. Not this time,” she murmured, squeezing my hand. “Wolfe will tell you when he returns. I know he will.”
“That’s if he comes back. And if he ever speaks to me again.”
She surprised me with a smile. “He won’t blame you for this. I know he won’t. There’s not a lot you could do to him to make him mad at you.”
“This may be it, Arielle. The thing that makes him that mad at me. How can you be speaking to a ghost and not know? You’re supposed to feel something. My lack of magic made me that stupid.”
She sat up straighter. “In Bastian’s brief from Wolfe, he said you destroyed the rebels by aging them. I don’t know how you managed it, but that’s a high-level skill. So, stop saying you lack magic, Elariya. At this rate, you’ll outrank me before long.”
A chill raced through my veins. I held her gaze, knowing she wasn’t flattering me. She was stating fact.
“As for Zyrra…” she continued, her voice dipping. “I don’t think she was a ghost.”
My heart stuttered, then dropped hard. “What do you mean? She’s… dead.”
“Yes, but from what we’ve been told so far, she doesn’t sound like a normal ghost. As you said, you’d know you were speaking to one. You’d feel it. And there’s something else… the blight that infected her devours the soul. To be a ghost, you need a soul.”
Her words settled like a boulder in my chest. “So, what was she?”
“I don’t know, Elariya. There are strange forces at work here. Things not even I understand. All we can do is wait and see what time reveals.”
Prickles erupted across my skin, each one a warning.
Gods above. Everything was growing more confusing by the second.
And time…
Time was still my greatest enemy.