Chapter 131

AURORA

I stood in blackness. It wasn’t the soft darkness of night, or the kind that felt like it would shelter me from prying eyes. No, it was deeper than that. Like the darkness of being far beneath the earth. Like a place where light had never been, and never existed.

Aurora….

I shuddered and blinked, then realized the stone was in front of me. It was tall, with bands of inscriptions wrapped around it at about the height of my head.

Aurora…

The sound of my name came again. I felt like it was coming from the stone.

It’s time to set me free…

I shook my head. I’d heard this voice before, in the past, in other shadowy visions. It always seemed connected to who the Reeds wanted me to be—the woman I had been before I’d lost my memory and become Jackson’s unwanted wife.

Long, inky fingers wrapped around the edge of the stone. A figure leaned out as if peering at me. I couldn’t see anything of it but its shape—shadow on shadow.

It slid out from behind the stone. That was the only way I could describe its movement. It was too smooth to be a walk.

It moved to me, human-shaped but disappearing into a mass of shadowed coils on the ground, like billowing smoke.

“It’s time,” the figure said. For the first time in any of these visions, I could hear that its voice was deep and masculine, as sinuous and smooth as its movements.

I felt frozen, like my feet were stuck in a block of ice. My heart felt like a block of ice, as well. So cold, just beating threatened to shatter it.

It lifted its long-fingered hand to my face to caress it. As it did, chains clinked. I looked down and saw the shadow creature wore heavy manacles. They chained its hands together. Even heavier chains led back from each of its wrists to the bands of symbols on the stone.

As I watched, the symbols started to glow with red light, and so did the chains.

I shivered but couldn’t seem to pull away from the creature’s touch. “Who are you?”

“I am a prisoner,” its voice now seemed to sound both in the air and in my mind. “I’ve been kept here, bound to the stone.”

I didn’t understand. “A prisoner?”

Beyond him, as if buried deep inside the stone, there was a feeling that reminded me of cool, flowing water. Like my own magic. The ‘ic. It was there, trapped inside the stone. But the chains binding the creature made of shadows were wrapped around it, as well.

“Yes. In a way. But I’m also a guardian, bound to this stone for a thousand years to protect the relic. I’ve guided you all this time,” he whispered. His voice was beautiful. The shadows shifted and almost resolved into a man’s face, so perfect it made my breath catch. “I guided your mother, too.”

I’d been distracted by the relic, but now the guardian had my full attention. “You knew my mother?”

He nodded gravely. “She was my greatest follower. She gave up everything for me…and for you. So that you would be ready when the time came.”

Something felt off about his words, and I shook my head like I was trying to shoo away a fly that kept trying to land on my ear.

“Ready for what?”

“To be my mate, of course. I am the guardian, and you are destined to be the greatest Luna of all time.”

His fingers stroked my cheek. The touch of shadow chilled me to the bone and numbed my skin so much that I could almost believe his hands were warm.

“You are mine,” he said. “You were meant to be mine.”

His words stole into my mind like a slowly rising fog. Then his fingers tightened on my face. “But what is this? Bound to another?”

White flashed in the darkness—his teeth, sharp and white. He hooked a finger in the air over my chest, like he could see something there I couldn’t. Then I saw a silver thread caught on his finger. It looked as if it were tied somewhere inside my chest and led away into the distance.

“Interesting,” the guardian whispered. He looked at me with sympathetic eyes. “I could free you if you want. This Alpha, I can tell he’s not the one you want.”

Holden. I shuddered. “He made me… I don’t want him…”

The guardian moved behind me, grasped my shoulders, and whispered against the sensitive shell of my ear, “I know who you want. You are destined for me, but I’m not jealous. You can have as many playthings as you desire. Look.”

He swirled his hand, and Dane appeared in front of me. He was shirtless and bound. I saw a vision of myself approach him. I was wearing a dress that plunged in the back and front and spiked heels. His eyes followed me, hungry and filled with desire. But only desire. There was nothing else there—no caring, no love.

“You can have him if you want. You can have everything. Would you like your enemies, too? I will give you everything. I will lay the entire world at your feet.”

I saw Evelyn appear on the ground; her body so entirely wrapped in chains it was hard to see any of her. “She has hurt you more than most because of her selfishness. She has always been selfish, serving herself instead of the people she should.” The words sounded oddly bitter, as if she’d personally offended him.

The guardian, who was becoming more and more human every second, swirled around in front of me. “I can even give you your wolf back. All you have to do is choose me. What do you say?”