Chapter 62

Elena

There is no question in my mind as to who was responsible for starting the fire that morning.

Natalie.

Natalie, who conveniently arrived home that afternoon, was confused as to what had happened. She swore she had been gone the night before at her old friend Dara’s house. I would need to confirm that alibi before trusting anything else she said.

“Oh Elena,” she said, trying to play the consoling older sister, “that must have been so horrifying! I cannot even imagine, while you were sleeping and so vulnerable!”

“I’m just glad she got out,” Killian said, his arm around me. He had more or less kept in physical contact with me all day long. I was too weary to mention it, and felt the situation warranted a little extra PDA from Alpha and Luna.

“Of course, thank the goddess!” Natalie was really laying it on, her concern over me so loud and public. No one could say she didn’t care for her sister’s safety and well-being. “But all your things must be ruined! What a shame.”

I kept my face smooth, though inside I was thinking of plucking out her eyelashes.

“Only objects, things,” I said, laying on my own character of the serene victim who has risen from the ashes with newfound wisdom. “A lesson is non-possessiveness.”

That made Natalie squirm, and I couldn’t help but smile. Keeping my eyes on my pseudo-sister, I nuzzled my head into Killian’s chest. He reacted with surprise and delight, pulling me closer to him.

“My Luna is not only brave but wise as well,” he said, kissing the top of my head. I was putting on a show for Natalie, but couldn’t help enjoying the act for myself. “We can replace anything you need, a whole new wardrobe and books for the shelves.”

“Just no more candles, dear sisters,” Natalie added, trying to joke around in spite of it being slightly inappropriate. “You’ve got to be more careful, next time it could be your bed that goes up in flames.”

She turned and walked away, and I felt the residual effect of her off-handed threat against me. And after she was gone something else struck me, but I decided not to tell Killian right away.

No one had told Natalie that the candle started the fire. She knew about it anyway.

I spent the night in another guest room, small and cramped but at least on the first floor and far away from Natalie. Killian didn’t push for me to spend the night with him, and played up my need to rest and recover on my own.

The next day, Killian was called away on campaign business. Luckily, no one pushed for me to come, and Natalie wouldn’t be in attendance either. Kana believed it would be good for the Alpha to appear on his own for a bit, until the spotlight on the family burnt out.

I was grateful to stay home for many reasons, only one being the opportunity to stay out of the public eye. The other involved the task I had to complete.

Somehow my bedroom was not just a black pit of despair when I was allowed back into it. The windows were gone and the walls around them completely black, but the other side of the room still held onto its decadent wallpaper. The wardrobe was charred on the outside but not fully burned through, but everything inside was damp and reeked of smoke. A few pieces might be salvable, but mostly it would need to be tossed out or repurposed as cleaning rags.

I felt calm as I looked around the room, seeing the swirls of ashy papers in the air, the sodden fabric where houses had continually sprayed water. Maybe it was my previous experience with time travel and alternate realities, but in that moment I was completely dissociated from the loss of these things, and only itched to prove how it was done.

Before I left the room, I opened a small drawer in the wardrobe and pulled out my mother’s necklace, clasping it around my neck. The other contents of the draw looked mangled and still carried some heat, but this piece of woven metal was cool to the touch and seemed to shine brighter in comparison to the dust and debris of the room around it.

Leaving my old room behind, I spent the afternoon wandering about the house and discreetly collecting things. I was like a crow finding shiny objects and bringing them back to some secret trove to look upon them.

The duffel bag was in a hall closet, where I also found a cozy sweater and a pair of my old boots that were still in good shape. I visited bathrooms in search of simple medical supplies, only taking a few things from each room so as not to draw attention to the lack. I visited the cook in the kitchen, and after making up an errand I wanted her to run. I rummaged through the cellar and found some portable snacks and a large water bottle. Thankfully I found some good sticks of charcoal that I could use to filter water if I was desperate.

After compiling a new bag of necessities, I hid it back in the closet in the hallway. Then I went into Killian’s bedroom where I knew I would not be followed or observed. Thankful that I could transfer information so quickly into a new phone, I pulled the numbers Jaxon had given me. On the page they looked meaningless, but I knew the weight they could carry. Focusing on the top row, I dialed the phone then waited.

“Hello?” I said to an echo chamber. “This is Luna Elena of Waning Moon. I think I have something that belongs to you.”

Then I typed a message to the same recipient and hit send.

In less than a minute a response came, but from a different blocked number. The coordinates matched. A meeting was set.

I went back to the kitchen. I could kill time waiting for Killian with the distraction of food preparation.

“Make anything you want,” the cook told me, “here’s my menu, if you want to coordinate. I’m just glad to see you back.”

I was surprised, she had never shown much interest in me beyond pleasing the Luna.

“That’s kind of you to say,” I told her, cringing inwardly at what I was planning.

“Really, the fact that you even care what goes on in here…” the cook said, trailing off.

“I try to stay informed, I guess,” I was trying to follow her thought pattern, currently. “As any Luna should.”

“Well, not any Luna would, clearly,” she said, and it wasn’t hard to guess that she was thinking of Natalie.

Amandine came in, looking sullen. “Now, child,” the cook said to her, “don’t be bringing that melancholy in here. You didn’t even know him.”

My eras perked up, but I didn’t yet chime in.

“I know, but it’s just so horrible, and it’s all anyone can talk about,” the young maid responded, her head dropping into her hands and she sunk onto a stool by the fireplace. “Do you think we’re in danger, that someone else could, could…”

She started to breathe quickly, and had to calm herself down before she had the air to speak.

“I think it was a bad man who got the bad ending that was coming to him,” the cook said, wrapping a bow around whatever mysterious thing had happened. “A sign from the goddess to follow her path of light, not darkness and evil-minded things.”

Amandine whimpered in the corner, trying to understand the cruel reality of existence.

“Can someone tell me what happened? Is someone ill?”

“No, Luna, unfortunately it’s worse than that,” the cook said solemnly, “and while I don’t like the scope of the victim, I do know that you maybe had a softer spot for them.”

I gave her a confused look.

“A prisoner died last night,” she told me, “it seems it went unnoticed due to the fire here, so they aren’t sure if the system was tampered with and the hit came from outside. Quite a coincidence for all these things happening to us.”

My mouth dropped open. I didn’t believe in coincidences.

“Who was it?”

“I’m sorry to be the one to tell you,” said the cook, “but it was that one you’d been meeting with. That Graham fellow.”

Graham was killed?

“How?” My voice cracked on the word.

“Poison, Luna,” the cook said. “The man was poisoned.”