As soon as I fell asleep, I ca face to face with Helen. She looked so thin and pale, like she’d been starved and badly hurt since the last dream.
I still didn’t know if these were real interactions with her.
“My dearest Mila,” she said, holding shaky arms out to .
“Helen!” I ran to her and hugged her.
Her whole body was frail in my arms, and she felt like a stick figure or a scarecrow.
“Listen to , my darling. You are on the brink of facing great danger. Please, please be careful of the Alpha King,” she begged.
“Helen, where are you? I want to find you. I’ve learned a lot about magic and I can help you,” I insisted.
“It is too late for . Do not look for because you will not find and you need to focus on your own safety,” she insisted. Her voice was still firm despite her weakened body.
“No...”
“This is the last ti I will co to you in your dreams. Soon, I will take my last journey and join your mother,” she said, smiling weakly. Her lips were thin and pale.
“No!” I snapped. “Aunt Helen, we need more ti. I still have questions and need to know more about my past. And the artifact...”
“The artifact is your responsibility now. There is no more help I can offer you, Mila,” she said, touching my cheek gently.
“You can’t die! I only have two of the artifact parts and I’m not ready... not ready to lose my family,” I said, tears springing to my eyes.
Helen’s eyes filled with warmth and bittersweet sadness. She looked relieved and peaceful.
“My dear Mila, you have done so well. I am proud of you and your parents would be too,” she insisted. “I’m glad I got to know you, in what little ti we had.”
“This can’t be the end. You’re all the family I have left,” I told her, hugging her tighter. I was a little afraid I’d break her if I wasn’t careful but I couldn’t control my emotions.
“For better or for worse, my mission in this world is complete and my ti is up,” she told again, running her fingers through my hair.
I shook my head, clinging to her like a little child scared of a monster under my bed.
“As for the Blade of Souls, you’ve already found the majority of it. The rest, leave it up to the Moon Goddess. Have faith in your heart,” she told , pressing her hand to my chest.
My heart thudded against her palm.
“Listen to . I don’t have much ti left but I need you to know this. I made a mistake when I was young... I tried to interfere with the future. My mind was always so full of the future and I couldn’t let it happen...” she trailed off, coughing.
“What was going to happen? What did you see?” I asked urgently. It didn’t feel like she was going to answer my questions because she had sothing she wanted to say before dying but I had to ask.
“I tried to change fate and in the end, nothing changed... rather, what I did caused the future I was trying to prevent,” she told .
“I forgive you. You don’t need to worry about that now,” I assured.
“You can’t forgive . I’m a sinner and I should have died long ago,” she said in a raspy whisper.
“No! No, no. Please don’t leave ,” I begged, feeling like she was slipping away.
Mila smiled lightly at . “Child, you’ve grown up and you are not alone now. Your mate is a good man. I can leave in peace, knowing that.”
“I am alone. With you gone...”
“Don’t be sad, Mila, and don’t let hatred blind you. Let go of your past. Look to the future with your mate and your friends. When the ti is right, answers will co to you,” she said.
Helen’s body wavered and she disappeared in my arms.
“Helen!” I cried out.
I sat up in bed, my eyes filled with tears. I hugged myself and tried to steady my breathing. Was Helen really dead? Had I missed out on eting her in person?
Shaken, I couldn’t get back to sleep. I paced my room but I really didn’t want to be alone. I went to Soren’s room next door and knocked lightly.
Soren opened the door quickly. The light was on behind him. Apparently, he wasn’t sleeping either.
“I think Helen might be dead,” I whispered.
Soren’s face softened and he opened his bedroom door. I went in and he shut the door slowly.
“Were you dreaming of her again?” he asked.
I nodded. “Yes. She ca to say goodbye to ... she was dying in my arms and I couldn’t do anything to help her. I was useless!”
“It isn’t your fault, Mila,” Soren said gently. He rubbed my arms because I was still hugging myself.
“I think she’s been suffering and there was nothing...” I sighed and trailed off.
Soren hugged quickly and then stepped away. He turned from and paced a few steps, stroking his chin. Sothing was clearly on his mind.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Thomas... found so things...” Soren said slowly.
“So things about what?” I pressed chewing my bottom lip.
“He found a few things about Helen that we didn’t know before,” he clarified.
“Soren, please tell . I need to know. She’s family,” I insisted. I went over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
“Based on what we found out, Helen killed Norwind’s Luna. It was an accident, from what I understand, but Chandler was furious and hated Helen so much that when she disappeared along with the Blade of Souls, he had a witch curse Miltern pack, Helen’s pack,” he explained.
My jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe that Helen had killed soone, even accidentally. Was that the mistake she’d told about?
“She told that she made a mistake. Do you think that was it, killing Alpha Chandler’s Luna?” I asked.
Soren glanced over his shoulder at .
“I’m not sure...”
Sighing, I pulled away from Soren and started pacing around his room. I didn’t want to think that Helen had actually done sothing horrible enough to cause Poni pack to get wiped out because she killed Chandler’s luna and hid the Blade of Souls from him.
Shaking my head, I forced those thoughts away. Greed and selfishness destroyed my parents and their pack.
“My gut says that wasn’t what Helen was referring to. From what I’ve heard, her mistake was 12 to 14 years ago,” he told .
“From what you’ve heard?” I asked, arching an eyebrow.
Soren was old enough that he’d have a solid mory of events from 12 to 14 years ago. It was a strange way to phrase things.
“There was already a thinning population of witches at the ti. No one knows why. We tried to get more information but the clues have been hidden or cleaned up,” he continued.
I pursed my lips and narrowed my eyes slightly. Had Helen’s mistake led to the persecution of the witches. That made a lot more sense than Chandler’s luna.
And then there was the matter of how Soren was talking. He made it seem like he wasn’t around back then.
“Why are you looking at like that?” Soren asked, arching an eyebrow.
“The way you talk is curious... I’ve always thought you were rather observant, but you don’t have a grasp on what happened 12 to 14 years ago. You make it sound like you don’t know what happened back then,” I pointed out.
“Because I wasn’t here,” Soren said, shrugging.
“You an you weren’t in the rogue zone, or you were in a different area?” I asked, creasing my brow.
Soren sighed and looked thoughtfully at the ceiling. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to co up with an excuse or a way to evade my question.
“No, not in another area... I’m not from Egoren. I only arrived 12 years ago so I don’t know much about what was going on then or before then. I wasn’t well established yet,” he explained.
I tilted my head at him, putting my hands on my hips. “Huh?” I stared at him.
Soren smirked at . “You’re adorable when you are confused.”
“I don’t get it, Soren. How is it possible that you’re not from Egoren? There are no places outside of Egoren, or beyond, are there? I an, other than the islands but I heard no one could survive there...”
“My hotown is very, very far away. But that is a story for another day,” Soren asserted with a nod. “The point is, we couldn’t dig up more information than that. Whoever covered this truth up is highly influential, do you know who that might be?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. I really wanted to know more about Soren’s secret past but he changed the subject, clearly not interested in talking about it more. It wasn’t the right ti to press him about it.
Instead, I focused on Soren’s questions.
Helen’s warning ca back to .
“The Alpha King!” I blurted. “Helen asked to watch out for the Alpha King.
Soren frowned slightly and nodded.
“Dark King Sebastian... that would make sense...”
“It would?” I asked. I didn’t think that the Alpha King was a bad guy. Then again, I didn’t know much about him.
“If the Alpha King is the one who wanted to cover up the past, he certainly has the power to do so,” Soren explained.
“I imagine he would...”
“So, my question is, what did Helen do that made the Alpha King so mad he decided to kill all the witches? And she had to upset King Sebastian because Alpha Chandler wouldn’t have the power to condemn the witches,” he reminded .
I sighed and shrugged. “She didn’t tell . I got the feeling she didn’t want to find out because she thought I would hate her.”
I groaned and shook my head. Soren’s eyes followed and I could tell he was studying carefully.
“Mila, what do you want to do? Do you want to keep assembling the artifact?” he asked .
I t Soren’s gaze and bit my lower lip. Deep down, I didn’t even care about the artifact anymore. The only reason I still wanted it was because I couldn’t shake Helen’s warning about needing it to save Soren.
A large part of just wanted to forget about everything. I couldn’t forget about it! Too much had happened.
“Are you trying to get the artifact to avenge your parents?” he asked, pulling from my thoughts.
I shook my head. “If I ever ran into those responsible for killing my parents and pack, I’d do everything I could to make sure my parents are avenged. I’m not going to look for them, though.”
“That’s very wise of you,” Soren said, grinning.
“There were too many packs involved. It’s not like I can kill them all. Even if I did, my pack is gone and my parents won’t be brought back. There’s no point,” I added.
“You’ve changed. I like it,” Soren pointed out.
My cheeks ward but I ignored his complint. “As for the artifact, my parents died because of it. If anything, I want to destroy it after all the trouble it’s caused!
“Then why are you still looking for the artifact pieces?” he asked, creasing his brow.
“I’m not going to lie to you, Soren, but I can’t answer that. So, please, don’t ask again,” I muttered, looking down at the floor.
Smiling, Soren reached for . He pulled into his arms and rubbed my back. I lted into him.
“You know, my offer still stands. If you don’t want to deal with all of that anymore, then co stay with . It might not be a lavish lifestyle or comfortable mansion, but it is enough to keep you safe,” he told .
I smiled and my heart swelled. I nuzzled against Soren and let him wrap in his warmth.
He said exactly what I wanted to hear!
I slipped my arms around him and hugged him back, enjoying the peace between us as he held .
There was still the issue of Soren being from so other place outside of Egoren.
“Soren... you’re not from here. Do you miss ho?”
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