AMELIA
My eyes shoot open as I bolt upright, gasping for air. My heart pounds against my ribs, confusion, and panic swirling through me. Where am I? How am I alive?
Before I can take in my surroundings, the door bursts open. “Amelia,” a familiar voice breathes, and tears spring to my eyes. Caleb rushes to my side, and I throw my arms open, desperate to feel him, to know this is real.
“I’ve missed you, sis,” he whispers into my hair as he crushes me to his chest. I can only sob in reply, my whole body shaking with the force of my emotions.
“I’ve missed you too,” I manage after a long moment, my fingers digging into his back, anchoring myself to him. His scent fills my nose like the sweetest perfume. Even if this is a dream, it’s the most beautiful one I could imagine.
Another figure appears in the doorway. “You’re awake,” Alissa cries, hurrying over to enfold me in her embrace.
“Yes, surprisingly,” I chuckle wetly, a thousand questions burning on my tongue. But for now, I just want to bask in their presence, in the miracle of holding them again.
“Amelia!” Lily’s shriek precedes her as she barrels into the room. Caleb must have mind-linked the others because soon, my family is pouring in, surrounding me with their love and tears. I even meet Caleb and Alissa’s daughter, a tiny, perfect bundle of joy. Lily’s parents and her siblings too. I cry until I’m hollow, overwhelmed by the impossibility of it all.
Just when I think I can’t take any more, two more figures limp into the room. I freeze, my heart stuttering in my chest.
“Hello, princess,” Dad rasps, leaning heavily on his cane. Fresh tears blur my vision as I shake my head in disbelief.
“Stop crying, honey,” Mom soothes, making her way slowly to my side, Dad shuffling along behind her.
“You’re alive,” I choke out, the words mangled by my hitching breaths.
“Yes, baby girl.” Mom cups my face in her hands, and my eyes flutter shut at the achingly familiar touch. I want to deny it, to protect myself from waking to a world where they’re gone. But I would know the feel of my mother’s skin anywhere, even in death.
I pull her close, burying my face in her neck. Another hand, large and calloused, comes to rest on my back. Dad. A broken sound escapes me as I reach out blindly, dragging him into our embrace.
“How?” I ask when I can finally bear to let them go. I scoot back on the bed, tugging them down to sit with me. I need to understand to make sense of the impossible.
Caleb exchanges a loaded glance with Alissa, and suddenly, a shimmering shield springs up around the room. Whatever he’s about to say, he doesn’t want it overheard.
“It’s actually quite simple,” he begins, his tone carefully neutral. “Alissa used your blood and Mom’s to revive you guys. She arrived on the scene and acted on instinct, harnessing black magic to bring you guys back. It was easier since you were all lying in each other’s blood.”
“I know we’ll all die someday,” Alissa says softly, “but I couldn’t let that be your guys’ day. Not like that.”
“Thank you,” Mom breathes, reaching out to squeeze Alissa’s hand. Dad and I echo her, gratitude thick in our voices.
But even as relief washes through me, a shard of ice lodges in my heart. I remember that day with brutal clarity, remember the role I played in our destruction.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, my head dropping under the weight of my shame.
“It’s not your fault, honey.” Mom tips my chin up, forcing me to meet her eyes.
“But it is.” Self-loathing curdles in my gut as I recall my choices, my blindness.
“No, it’s not,” Caleb says fiercely. “The only one to blame is that bastard, not you.”
At the mention of Nickolas, the ice in my heart spreads, jagged and cold. He’s gone. I should be glad, should rejoice that my family’s murderer has faced justice. But I can’t. Despite everything, despite the unforgivable betrayal, I loved him.
I fell in love with him, and he played me for a fool. The pain of it crashes over me anew, stealing my breath. How could I have been so naive, so stupid? To think he could have truly cared for me…
It’s a lesson I won’t soon forget, carved into my very bones. Never again will I let myself be so deceived, so vulnerable.
Never again.
***
I wipe the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand, my muscles still burning from the intense training session with Caleb. The memory of what happened last time is seared into my mind, a constant reminder of how much training I still need and how far I have to push myself. It’s a welcome distraction from thoughts of *him*, the one person I can’t bear to dwell on.
It’s been a month since we returned home, a month since his death freed my family from hiding. We’ve thrown ourselves into rebuilding our nation, a daunting task that feels like trying to hold back the tide with our bare hands.
I step into my room and freeze at the sight of Lily pacing the floor, her face pinched with worry. My heart lurches as I rush to her side, my hand instinctively going to her swollen belly. She’s so close to her due date, and the thought of something being wrong with the baby sends icy tendrils of fear down my spine.
“She’s fine, don’t worry,” Lily assures me, a strained smile on her lips.
I guide her to the bed, urging her to sit. “But something else is wrong?”
Lily takes a shaky breath. “Yes, unfortunately. I know this is the last thing you want to hear, but I think something’s happened to Eric.”
I blink, caught off guard. “Oh.”
“I know you probably don’t want to hear about the Lycan Kingdom after everything with Nickolas. But Eric is my mate, Amelia. I’m scared for him.”
I close my eyes, sucking a breath at the mention of that place, that name.
“Why do you think something’s wrong?” I ask, pulling my eyes one. Nickolas’s betrayal was his own; I can’t let it taint my view of Eric, not when he means so much to Lily.
Lily twists her hands in her lap. “There’s something that happened the day of the meeting that you don’t know about. The night Nickolas planned to meet Uncle Nathaniel before he came back from Uncle Leo’s, Eric went looking for him because he was running late. And while he was there, he called me.”
I lean forward, my brow furrowing. “What did he say?”
“He told me to leave, go to my parents, and not return to the Lycan Kingdom no matter what. He said to wait for him to come for me.” Her voice cracks. “It’s been a month, Amelia. I haven’t heard a word.”
Shock ripples through me. “Why am I just now hearing about this?” I demand, a flare of anger sparking in my chest.
Lily flinches. “You’d just woken up. The last thing you needed was to worry that something awful might have happened to my mate. And I kept hoping he’d just… show up.”
I deflate, the fight going out of me. “I get it. But still, you should have told me.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“Was that the last time you heard from him? Have you felt anything through your bond?” Marked mates can sense when the other dies the sudden severing of that vital connection.
“I can still feel him, but it’s muted somehow. Not enough. Amelia, I need you to help me find him. Please.”
And there it is, the real reason she’s here. I can’t blame her for turning to me; anyone else in the family would probably tell her to forget Eric and move on. But he was my friend, too.
Even if a small, bitter part of me whispers that he had to have known what Nickolas was planning, that he played me for a fool just like his best friend did. I shove those thoughts away. Lily swears he was in the dark, and I have to believe her. I have to believe in him.
I meet her pleading gaze, my heart heavy. Going back there, back to the place that haunts my nightmares… it feels like willingly walking into the lion’s den. But I can’t abandon her, can’t leave Eric to an unknown fate.
“Okay,” I say at last. “I’ll go look for him. Hopefully, everything’s alright, and this was all just a misunderstanding.”
Lily throws her arms around me, nearly crushing me in her embrace. “Thank you, Amelia. Thank you so much.”
I return the hug woodenly, my mind already racing ahead. I’ll have to lie to my family to come up with some excuse for why I need to return to the Lycan Kingdom. Even with Nickolas gone, even without a king on the throne, it’s still one of the most dangerous places in the world for our kind.
But I’ll do it. For Lily, for Eric, I’ll walk back into hell. I just pray I’m strong enough to claw my way out again.