Chapter 105 - What He Wants
Athena didn't wait for morning.
She found Silas in the dim light before dawn, her breath still uneven from the memory that hadn't faded when she woke.
He sat up immediately when he saw her face.
"What happened?"
She shook her head slowly, trying to gather the pieces into something she could say out loud.
"I remembered," she whispered.
Silas stood and crossed to her in two steps, hands settling gently at her arms.
"Tell me."
Athena swallowed.
"My mother... she wasn't just healing wolves. She was guarding something."
Silas's expression sharpened.
"Guarding what?"
"I don't know," she admitted. "But I remember my father kneeling with a map and saying something about the heart."
Silas's brows drew together.
"The heart?"
She nodded faintly.
"And my brother," she continued, her voice tightening. "He said it must never fall into mage hands."
Silence stretched between them as the pieces settled.
Athena's eyes lifted to his.
"Victor didn't just take me because I was powerful."
Silas's jaw tightened.
"He took you because you are the key."
Her chest tightened painfully as the realization solidified.
"He didn't come back for me," she said.
"He came back for whatever that was."
Silas exhaled slowly, mind racing.
"The Goldenthorn line didn't just rule," he said quietly. "They protected something."
Athena nodded.
"And only someone from that bloodline could reach it."
Silas's eyes locked onto hers.
"He needs you to open something."