Chapter 209

“I understand enough,” he says, his voice unyielding. “I’ve lost enough. I’m not losing you too.”

Before I could further argue with him, the air shifts around us, and the mist starts to take form, sharpening by the second. Shapes are taking form and morphing into figures… twisted mockeries of people from Dane’s past.

A woman with golden hair stands at the edge of the mist, her face twisted in a mask of pain. Beside her, a young boy clutches her hand, his eyes wide in fear.

“No,” Dane whispers, his voice breaking.

The figures step closer; their forms are twisted and unnatural. The boy’s face screws up, his mouth open in a silent scream.

“Dane, what are they?” I ask, my voice shaking.

“They’re my fears,” he says, his body stiff with tension. “My failures.”

The visions lash out, their movements weird but deliberate. Dane raises his arms in defense, his movements are quick but strained.

“You couldn’t save us,” the woman says, her voice sad and weak. “You let us die.”

The boy moves closer, his small hands outstretched to Dane. “You promised,” he says, the tone too steady. “You said you’d take care of us.”

Dane stumbled backward, his skin pale.

“Dane!” I yell, raising the pendant high. For a second its glow cuts through, forcing the illusions to shatter.

Lirien’s voice cuts through the fog, imperative. “The grove feeds on guilt and fear. He is open to it here. He cannot stay.”

Dane shakes his head. Heavy breathing escapes from his lips as he growls, “I won’t leave her.”

“You’re not helping her,” Lirien snaps, its form shimmering with irritability. “Your presence only makes the grove that much stronger. Leave before you are both devoured.”

“Dane,” I tried again, my words shaking. “Listen to Lirien. You have to leave, or it will destroy you.”

“I w…won’t be able to,” he responds, his words breaking. “I won’t let it take me away from you.”

The grove raves on, furor doubled, and more join the horde – wolves – twisted monstrous forms, their eyes aglow with malice.

The glow of the pendant reduced, my hands shaking as the bursts increased further life from its depths.

“I’ll hold them off,” Dane says suddenly. An edge has crept into his voice now, his body firm, though a quick flicker reveals his hand.

“You have got to finish this, Aurora. You are all that you can.”

“No!” I snap, catching his arm. “I won’t leave you behind.”

“You don’t have a choice,” he says, his voice low and even. “This is bigger than us. Bigger than me.”

I blink through my tears but shake my head. “We do this together. No matter what.”

The illusions close in, their distorted faces leering as they circle us. Dane stands beside me, his body tense and ready to fight.

“Then let’s finish it,” he says to me.

We forge ahead in concert. With every use, the light in the pendant gutters, the illusions threatening to break through.

Dane lashes out at the figures with brutal efficiency, desperation driving his movements.

The mist grows thinner with our passage; a clearing opens up before us, and there, at the middle of the grove, is its center tree – its roots twisting, running with corruption.

“We’re almost there,” I say, and my voice is tight with determination.

The roots seem to sense our approach, twisting violently as dark branches rise from the ground. Lirien appears again, its form flickering.

“The tree will not wait. You must decide.”

We fight our way through the final few roots; its corrupted energy whiplashing out as though it were a living thing.

The pendant flared brighter once more, beating them off us long enough to reach the bottom of the tree.

The roots divided now, showing a heart pulsating bright in the center of it. Power hummed in the air. It was thick to such a degree my skin tingled with the energy.

Lirien’s voice fills my head, soft and insistent. “The time of choice has come, now, Luna. Will you revive the grove… or let it rot?”

I glaze at the heart, hypnotic in the core light, almost threatened by it. Dane reaches out and brushes his hand across mine. The touch grounds me.

“Aurora,” he says softly. “Whichever way, I’m with you.”

I shut my eyes momentarily, willing the anger inside me to calm. The glow of the heart pulses, each beat tugging me closer toward a decision I’m not prepared to make.

“Restore it,” I whisper. “Sacrifice it all, and it ends here.” It’s just too similar to me in my mind as far as cost is concerned. “What if I fail?” I whisper, turning to Lirien, whose shadowed form stands unstirring.

“You won’t,” Lirien says with such surety. “The grove has chosen you. The grove shall take your sacrifice.”

“There isn’t,” I say, my voice breaking.

“You’ve seen what this place can do. If I walk away, the pack suffers. The grove dies.” Dane steps closer, his voice raw. “And what about you? What happens to you, Aurora? Don’t you think you matter too?”

My chest tightens, tears filling my eyes. “This isn’t about me,” I say. “It’s about all of us.”

The roots rolled around the glowing heart, dark branches creeping closer as if sensing the weight of my hesitation.

“The choice cannot wait,” Lirien says. “Decide, Luna. Now.”

I step closer, and the heat from the glowing heart caresses my skin as if it were alive. Its light seems to intensify, demanding my attention, and tugging me closer.

Dane reaches for my arm, his touch light yet firm. “Aurora, wait… there’s still time to think this through.”

“There isn’t,” I answer, my voice shaking, yet set. “The grove won’t let us leave without a decision.”

The branches around my heart coil tighter, their agitation now violent in response to the thought in my mind.

It is as though all that air holds heavy in me with the weight of so many lives hanging in the balance, the pack’s, mine.

“Whatever happens,” I tell him, turning back to Dane, “promise—”

“Aurora, no.”

“Promise!” I scream over him, my voice drowning him in a sea of tears.

His hand falls, his face contorted in rage and misery. “I swear it,” he growls. His voice is barely audible.

I lean forward, toward the heart, and the pendant resting against my chest surges to life in soft golden light.

The minute my fingers make contact with the light, a low rumbling growl explodes from the grove behind him and I am paralyzed.

A monster steps out from behind the trees, green fire ablaze in his eyes.