bChapter /bb187 /b

    Eryx POV

    I kiss her and leave her in the med bay and walk out with my father. He leads me through to the war room, and the guards are standing around watching us.

    “We need to find out who gave Rnd magic and how,” my father says.

    “There’s only one ce that sort of magic cane from,” my mother says as she steps into the iroom/i.

    “Which is?” I ask.

    “The Hollowed Queen.”

    The room falls silent. I read about that. The Hollowed Queen was hung for her work, it failed of course, she was powerful

    and reappeared in other people. For hundreds of years she used her magic to evade death.

    She was said to be the strongest witch there was, she had the power of all the witches.

    “Impossible, she’s dead.” My father looks at her.

    bD /b

    “In our world, witches never say dead, not truly.” She walks closer. “And the queen of them? Guarenteed someone figured out a way to bring her back.”

    That’s… no.

    “We need to consider other options as well,” my father says.

    “You doubt me?” My mother looks at him, and waits.

    “I’m simply saying we have to be sure, which means, we can’t focus on one thing. We need to know everything.”

    He’s right, but then again, so is she. “How would someone bring back the Hollow Queen?” I ask.

    “Bringing something and someone back that strong, it takes a lot, and blood. They wouldn’t exactly need magic themselves that’s strong just a source to strong magic, blood of someone powerful, and in a way, ask for help that means

    shees back.”

    “There’s nowhere with that power, except here,” my father says.

    I look toward the window and push their voices out of my mind as I stare into the hollow. That appeared, overtime it grew and got stronger. Rogues used to reside out there, but we extended our border to keep it protected.

    “The Hollow,” I whisper.

    “What?” My father looks at me.

    “The Hollow. Why did it suddenly show up? We searched, for a person, a physical being, what if we missed what was actually summoned there?”

    b09:58 /bThu b31 /bbJul /bGT MI

    I feel someone next to me and instantly know it’s my mother. “We looked for a person.”

    “This is stupid, I highly doubt anyone in our pack would summon a crazy witch who tortured witches to gain more power!” My fathers shout is loud but I’m not sure he’s right.

    The silence that follows my father’s outburst isn’t quiet. It’s like a pulse of energy and tension, a breath being held that no one is willing to be the first to release. Turning away from the window I nce between everyone.

    The power in them is immense, everyone has their own powers, and standing here now, they are at odds because no one wants to be wrong and no one wants to believe it’s possible.

    My mother is calm and certain while my father is rooted in his logic and caution.

    I know that both can feel the weight of this just like I do, but I can’t ignore that voice that’s whispering in my head that bthe /bHollow is wrong, it’s not natural, it’s not unused magic from my father and mother killing her stepdad.

    “You’re assuming that someone in this pack is responsible for summoning her,” my father finally says, his tone sharp, and almost defensive. “I don’t like what that implies, Eryx.” I can see it in his eyes, the worry, the fear of what this meansb, /bof exactly what this all means.

    “I don’t like it either, it’s not like I said it because I thought it was a good thing,” I reply, keeping my voice steady. “But I also don’t believe the Hollow just appeared out of nowhere. We’ve always known magic lingers there. The trees won’t grow right, the animals avoid it, and our own wolves can’t shift properly if they get too close. That’s not natural, and it’s only gotten worse since thest moon.” He knows that I’m right, maybe it’s not, maybe I am wrong but it’s worth investigating iso /iwe can be sure we know exactly what we’re about to face.

    My father drags a hand over his face, frustration written in every line of his expression. “We med the rogue dens,” he mutters. “We said it was the dark magic they were using in their rituals. The blood sacrifice pits we found in the outer woods. We never considered it could be a summoning.” That’s a fact, we saw a sacrifice area, blood, everything, we just assumed it was the rogues. Now we know it might have been the rogues, sure, but they weren’t just doing stupid rituals like always, they were summoning something, but why?

    “Because it shouldn’t be possible, and it made no sense,” I say. “But what if it is possible? What if the Hollowed Queen isn’t dead, like everyone keeps saying, but sealed? Contained, and someone in our pack or near it found a way to open the door?” A seal doesn’tst forever, it’s not unbreakable, and that means someone else could have done this.

    My mother finally speaks again, her voice cool but steady. “There are old spells. Forbidden ones, they were buried deep enough to be forgotten by most, but not all. Helena told me about them. Some witches kept records in blood rather than ink, so they wouldn’t burn. If someone found even a fraction of that power and made a deal-” She stops, letting the implication hang there, letting us hear the weight of the words.

    “Then it’s possible that the Hollowed Queen is using Rnd as a vessel,” I finish. “He’s a host for her magic. That would

    ells like he’d exin how he managed to stand against me like that. It would show why he was able to counter studied them for years. That wasn’t natural, it wasn’t wolf magic. It was something else, something uarker.”

    My father walks slowly to the far end of the table and stares at one of the older maps. I know that he hates this idea, hates that we are right, and honestly, I don’t me him for it. The ink on the map is faded, the edges curled, but it shows the earliestyout of our territory, before the Hollow was even marked. Before we knew we needed to fear it. Now, it’s part of our territory, we can’t avoid it, we can’t run and hide. We let it in.

    214

    b0958 /bbThu /bb31 /bbJ /b?ub: /b

    “Let’s say you’re right,” he says without looking at me. “Let’s say someone summoned her binto /bthe Hollow, and she hav Rnd his power in return for something. What does she want now? Why is she still lingeringb? /bbWhy /bbhasn’t /bshe already began to destruction she wants, or was this simply a summon that didn’t give her the power?b” /b

    “She’s not done,” my mother says softly. “She’s never done. Power for her isn’t a means to an end. bIt’s /bthe beginning of a cycle. She hated the witches, yes, but she would never wish their magic to die, which it has. She creates monsters band /bthen uses the fear they generate to draw in more. She feeds on pain, and she teaches others to do the same. Rnd is bjust /bthe first and while it’s only one person, I can guarantee there will be more.”

    Thatnds like a hammer in my chest. I turn to face her fully. “If there are others- That means… I don’t want bto /bbthink /babout that, I don’t want to consider it.

    “Then we’re already behind,” she finishes. “And if April’s father had anything to do with this, if he traded his bdaughter /bfor power, or struck a deal to see you dead and his pack protected, then he’s already made his move. We’re toote, we bcan’t /bstop his move, he’s made it.”

    We can only protect ourselves and April and hope for the best, that’s what she’s saying.

    My father finally looks up, his eyes hard. “Then we need to move faster. I want names right now of anyone who’s been near the Hollow unsupervised. Anyone who’s left the territory and returned changed. I want records pulled. Patrol logs. Border reports. I don’t care who it is, how little they seem suspicious, I want the names.”

    “We need to question the witches in the southern sector,” my mother adds. “They’ve always warned that something stirs beneath the Hollow. They might know more than they’ve told us. Maybe now we know and believe them they will be more open?”

    “I’ll speak to them myself,” I say, already heading toward the door. “But I want something else too. If the Queen’s essence is in the Hollow, we need to seal it before she can push through another vessel. We need to ban every person from our pack from going into it, no one is allowed.”

    “Don’t go near it alone,” my father warns. “I get that you’re strong, Eryx, but you’re not invincible. That ce could tear. your mind apart if she gets into your head. You don’t go in there alone anymore.”

    “I’ll take Garrick,” I reply. “And Killian. We’ll go in with containment runes, and ensure that we’re cloaked.”

    My mother watches me carefully. “You’re not going to find peace by burning everything down. I get you want revenge for what happened to April, but this won’t bring it.”

    “No,” I say, pausing with my hand on the door. “But I’ll find her. I’ll find the thing that gave Rnd his power. And I’ll end

    it.”

    I have to. Behind the room is already erupting into actions. I can hear my father giving out ordersb, /bdispatching guards to search the records and to cross–reference any sightings near the Hollow. My mother’s speaking softly to two of the witches who we already have here, their eyes are wide and nervous. It’s like they already know the btruth/b.

    I don’t need to hear the rest, I know how this goes.

    I step into the hallway and walk fast. My mind is already running ahead of me. If the Hollowed Queen bis /bbtruly /bback, bor if /bshe’s even trying toe back… We’ve got issues as we’re not just facing a war between the wolves and bour /bbpacks /banymore. We’re staring down at something far older and worse.

    b3/4 /b

    b09:58 /bbTh? /b31 b30 /b

    Ju

    Then there’s April’s mark, her body, and her very soul, what if that was used to draw bsomeone /blike bthat /binto the work? I’m not just fighting for her future, I won’t let the Hollow take her from me, not now or ever.

    It’s a risk though, she’s linked to Rnd now and there’s nothing to stop the Hollow from pulling her in band /busing her for

    bhis /brevenge.

    AD

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