CHAPTER 175: THE TRANCE...

Kael

"I’ve been trying to get close to the circle of the children from the Core packs. Publicly introducing myself as Kael’s girlfriend is giving me an edge. He’s popular and the girls like him. As for the Student President, Marcus Webb, I’m trying to get close to him like you asked."

"The Webb family controls half the werewolf world’s banking system," my master said thoughtfully. "Access to their networks would be valuable."

"That’s the problem. The revelation about Charis has created chaos at the school. Marcus discovered that his close friend Eamon was actually Charis Greye in disguise, and he’s not handling it well. He’s become unstable, making it harder to access him."

"Then we need a different approach. To keep Raven on a leash, we need something we can hold as leverage against her. So we need to have a hold onto something, too."

"What do you suggest?" Sandra asked.

"The Thatcher boy. His father’s connections could be useful. And the Riggs boy - having someone with powers from the North is also a big leverage, since we have an idea of what Isolde wants to do with the Greye girl, we’d use her as bait when the time’s right and seek out support from Thatcher and Riggs."

"That could work. Both of them seem devoted to the girl. If we control her, we control them."

"And if Kael continues to be a problem?" Sandra asked.

My master’s voice turned cold. "I hate that Kael had to change now, of all times. I wish he didn’t, honestly, but since he did, I’ll have to handle him on my own terms. And we still need him to carry out his assignment in Ravenshore but a few adjustments to his assignment parameters should bring him back in line."

"What kind of adjustments?" Sandra asked again.

"Nothing permanent. Just enough to remind him where his loyalties should lie."

The conversation was interrupted by the sound of footsteps on gravel outside. I pressed closer to the window, trying to see what was happening.

"That should be the transport team," my master said. "Everyone, take your positions. Remember - this operation is critical. Failure is not an option."

I heard chairs scraping and footsteps as the agents prepared to leave. I needed to get away before they came outside and discovered me. That’s how I had followed their trail and arrived at Isolde’s house, where I had also run into Slater.

One thing that bothered me more than anything was the fact that Isolde was keeping Charis for something, and from how confident my master sounded, Charis meant a big deal to Isolde. If he had dirt on Charis, Isolde would behave well, and he was going to use Slater and Rhett as fall-back plans in case Isolde went wild.

It was a good plan, and I wasn’t surprised, knowing how meticulous my boss can be, it didn’t come as a surprise at all.

I was so deep in thought that I didn’t hear footsteps until it was close to me. I opened my eyes and turned my head, snapping out of my thoughts. Isolde stood at the edge of the terrace with the wide-brimmed hat she always wore.

"Good morning, Kael," she said quietly. "I didn’t think I would find you here. You like you didn’t sleep," she said. "Are you alright?"

I turned my head away from her, stifling a sigh before I rose to my feet, dusting the bottom of my trousers. Something about her felt uneasy: I didn’t know how to explain it, but it was just there.

"I’m fine, just came out to enjoy the breeze. I head back inside now."

I bowed slightly to her and was about to brush past her when she called out my name, gently making me turn. We were almost neck and neck with each other, practically staring into each other’s eyes. I took a step back and stared pointedly at her.

"I’ve made breakfast, and the others should be in the dining room too. You should eat something; food will put you in a good mood."

"I’ll pass, I don’t eat breakfast," I made to move again.

"Kael!" she called out for me the second time, and this time she reached out and touched me. The instant I felt her hand touch my shoulder, a strange heat curled around me. I felt my vision blur, and the ground under my feet shook.

I tried to take a step back but I couldn’t move, as my vision darkened, I saw Isolde’s face looming over mine, was that a smirk on her face? Her lips were moving; she was saying something.

The edges of my vision were blackening. I tried to keep my eyes open, but it wasn’t working and then, silence!

When I opened my eyes, I was no longer standing in the garden. I was somewhere else entirely - a place that felt both familiar and terrifying. The air was thick, and the ground was damp.

A corridor opened in front of me, and I noticed the narrow hall had lower arches with water seeping from the ceiling. I knew this place. I had never been here, but I knew it somehow.

I followed the corridor, walking deeper into the darkness that seemed to clear up the more I moved towards it. When I got to the bend, there was a door there. It was made of heavy wood banded with black iron.

When I got closer to the door, it opened without me reaching for it.

The door opened to a room which was darker than the corridor. A lantern hung by a hook in the corner of the room, swinging idly. I heard the sound of chains; it was as if someone was dragging them, and they were coming in my direction.

I stood there until she came into view. It was the woman from my dreams.

She hung from chains attached to the stone ceiling, with her feet barely touching the ground. Her dark hair fell around her face in tangled waves, and her clothes were torn and dirty. But it was her eyes that held me - eyes that looked exactly like mine.

She lifted her face and smiled at me, the kind of smile that you give someone before you break the terrible news to them.

"Kael," she whispered, her voice echoing off the stone walls. "So late."

I tried to move toward her, but my feet felt like they were stuck in thick mud. "Who are you?"

"You know who I am," she said, and blood began to drip from her eyes like tears. "You’ve always known. Deep in your heart, you remember."

"I don’t remember anything," I said desperately. "I don’t know what happened to me before now. I have no recollection of my childhood before I started working with my master."

She smiled painfully. "Oh, Kael. You run from the dark, then you run toward it. You have your father’s girth and your mother’s eyes."

"What does that mean? Who are you?" I asked.

She smiled again. "You know."

"If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking you," I cried out. "Just tell me, please. No more riddles."

She swallowed, heard before tipping her head, and something in the movement tugged at a memory not of her face but of hands, and a familiar scent reached me. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to remember the smell.

My eyes snapped open when I finally remembered where the scent had come from. The scent belonged to Headmistress Vale.

"The organisation didn’t find you," she said, and now blood was flowing from her nose and mouth too. "They took you. They stole you when you were just a baby."

The chains holding her began to glow red hot, burning her skin, but she didn’t scream. Instead, she smiled that terrible smile I’d seen in my nightmares.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You’re a special boy, Kael. You’ve always been special, and they’ll do anything to have you in their possession so you can be sold to the highest bidder."

"What do you mean?" I cried out again, hating the frustration building inside of me. "Where are you? Where is this place? Can I get you out?"

"You were not abandoned. They’ll try to make you think you were, but you weren’t. They’re all lies. I fought for you every day until the day I died. And even now, even like this, I’m still fighting for you."

"Why are you showing me this?" I asked.

"Because it’s time for you to know the truth about who you are. About where you came from. About the woman who gave you life."

She looked directly at me, and I saw something familiar in her eyes—something I’d seen before, but not in dreams.

"Raina," she whispered. "She knows. She’s always known. Ask her about the baby they took from the underground cells. Ask her about the woman who died trying to protect her child."

"What?" I gasped. "What are you talking about?"

"Listen to me, Kael. Soon, your path will become clearer. They will offer you three names for one sin. Refuse the names or the sin will own you."

I frowned. "I don’t understand. That’s gibberish. I told you to stop speaking to me in riddles. Who did this to you? Who are they?"

"Class of Raven," she murmured. Her voice was fading away. "Raven is many mouths. But everything that happened to you and to me was caused by them."

"Stop it," I said to the woman. "Please, stop. Just tell me in plain words. I am not smart enough to know, please." I cried.

"Find the door, Kael," she said again. "Give the girl her own choice even if it hurts you."

"Which girl?" I asked, but the room was already reeling. The vision began to fade as the stone walls crumbled around me.

"Ask Raina."