The nightmare was the worst kind the kind that felt completely real until it didn’t.
Ethan and Jake were there, both of them already gone from this world, standing in front of with empty eyes and stiff, chanical movents, like sothing wearing their faces. A voice ca out of them that didn’t belong to either of them cold and hollow, the kind that lived in the back of horror films. Elena, why didn’t you help ?
"Ethan it wasn’t my fault, I swear it wasn’t "
I tried to run. My body broke apart instead, crumbling piece by piece before I could take a single step. And then the man with the glasses was there not whole, just his head, floating in slow circles around , blood trailing from every edge. Elena. My death was so tragic. Give back my life.
"No!"
I snapped awake so hard I nearly fell off the bed. Lewis was beside instantly he had been dozing in the chair nearby and was on his feet before I’d even fully opened my eyes.
"Elena. It’s okay. I’m right here. You’re safe."
I threw myself into his arms before he finished the sentence, cold sweat soaking through my clothes, my hands gripping his arm like it was the only solid thing left. "Carl there was a head "
"It’s been handled," he said quietly, his hand moving through my hair in slow, steady strokes. "Captain Tucker took care of everything. It’s gone. You don’t have to think about it."
"Who sent it?"
"Theo caught the man he was dressed as a delivery driver. He admitted soone hired him to bring the package to the house. I’ve already spoken to property managent. Everything gets checked before it cos anywhere near us from now on."
The word package alone made my skin crawl. I knew, logically, that it was just a box. But every ti I closed my eyes, that face was right there pale and frost-crusted and staring up at as the blood began to run.
I shoved Lewis aside and ran.
I barely made it to the bathroom before everything ca up. I’d only had a small bowl of cereal, so there was almost nothing to bring up, which made it worse just dry heaving, my body insisting on purging sothing that wasn’t there anymore, my stomach cramping painfully with every attempt. I ended up on the floor, back against the cabinet, spitting up bile and crying without aning to, tears running down my face simply because my body had run out of other options.
Lewis was right behind . He knelt down without saying anything, rubbed slow circles on my back, and pressed a cup of warm water into my hands when the worst of it passed.
When I finally looked up, Whitney was standing in the doorway.
I was too wrung out to even be surprised. "I’m fine," I managed, pulling myself upright on the edge of the tub. "What are you doing here?"
"Lewis brought ."
Lewis lifted and carried back to bed, settling beside and holding my hand with that particular careful steadiness he had the kind that didn’t draw attention to itself. "Can you eat sothing?"
I looked at him. I probably looked terrible. "I don’t want to eat."
"Elena." His voice was gentle but firm. "There’s a baby in there. You have to."
He wiped the cold sweat from my forehead with a warm towel, then stood. "You two talk. I’ll make sothing." He looked at one more ti before going, clearly unwilling to trust anyone else to produce sothing I’d actually be willing to put in my mouth.
Whitney sat beside and handed the water. "Drink this first." She paused, then said, "On the way over, Lewis told they still haven’t confird whether the target was or the Morrigans. That’s why he ca for ."
I turned the cup in my hands. "When I first heard about the death, I thought maybe it was Vito "
"It wasn’t him," Whitney said, cutting off. Too fast. She heard herself and pulled back slightly. "He’s not what we assud. He doesn’t carry that kind of rage against the Morrigans anymore. What happened he sees it as the past. He was raised from the ti he was small to believe revenge was the only path available to him. He didn’t choose that. He had no power to stop what was already moving." She steadied herself. "Even if my heart had been healthy that night, Elena you still would have died. Wisteria’s need for revenge against you was sothing else entirely. Vito didn’t act directly, but he knew everything that was happening. When my condition worsened, he was the one who suggested using your heart. That was unforgivable."
She paused, then continued more quietly. "But after your rebirth, he had no intention of hurting you again. He let you go more than once. He was exhausted by all of it the hatred had eaten through him for so long but he couldn’t find the exit. Things had already gone wrong, and all he could do was keep going in the direction they were already moving. He knew his future was closed. That’s why he beca so desperate about marrying . Soone like that doesn’t go hunting for more blood. If he’d wanted you dead, he would have done it on Rosbel Island."
I let all of that settle. I understood the logic of it. What surprised was that Whitney was the one laying it out so carefully.
"You still care about him," I said.
It wasn’t a question. She paused before answering. "It doesn’t matter, Elena. We couldn’t be together even before. And now he’s gone." She shifted slightly. "Whoever killed that man it wasn’t the Blackwells. They wouldn’t take soone’s life just because that person tried to make contact with them. That’s not how they operated."
"Then who? Soone killing at random and mailing the head directly to ?"
Whitney shook her head slowly. "The thod feels like it ca from the organization. The way it was done that precision, that deliberateness. But Vito kept away from all of it. He made sure I never knew details." She looked at her hands. "Once, I walked into a room by accident and saw sothing I was never supposed to see. I couldn’t sleep for three days after. I still can’t eat at because of it."
I thought of sothing. "Have you ever t Luther? Before any of this?"
"Not in person. But I know he’s been trying to get close to intentionally. Vito told once that the more careful soone is about hiding themselves, the more dangerous they tend to be."
Whitney reached over and took my hand, holding it firmly. "Elena yesterday morning, before school, I felt like soone was following . I told myself I was being paranoid. But then that man ended up dead that sa night, so I wasn’t." She looked at carefully. "What I can’t understand is why soone who seems to be watching would send the head to you."
"A warning," I said.
"From the Commander and his wife?"
"Yes. There had to be a spy among the Blackwells’ people on Rosbel Island, feeding information back to her the whole ti. She knows her secrets are exposed now. She knows both the Blackwells and the Morrigans have turned their focus toward her. So she moved against the Blackwells first, and now she’s sending us a ssage back off, or this is what cos next."
Whitney went still. "Then they already know who you really are."
"They’ve known for a while. But they’re careful. They won’t risk pushing the Hales and us into open conflict that kind of war destroys everyone. Killing outright would bring the full weight of the Hale pack down on them. This was just ant to frighten us. To make us hesitate."
Whitney pulled into a hug without warning, holding on tight. "Elena "
I wrapped my arms around her and held on. "I’m okay. If they truly wanted dead, I’d already be dead. The warning tells they’re afraid afraid of what happens if they actually pull that trigger." I pulled back and looked at her seriously. "What worries more is you. If they suspect you know things things about the organization that Vito let slip over the years they might decide you’re a risk they can’t afford to leave walking around."
"Lewis probably thought the sa thing," she said softly. "That’s why he ca for so quickly."
"Move in with ," I said. "Don’t go back to school. Not yet."
She nodded. Then her expression shifted into sothing heavier, sothing she’d clearly been turning over for a while before deciding to say it.
"Alright. But Elena " She hesitated, pressing her lips together. "Do you think there’s any chance that Wisteria might still be alive?"
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