The black arrow quivered on the stone pillar.
Quiet swallowed the balcony.
Kael turned to Seraphina, sword in hand, crimson eyes following the dark beyond the walls of the estate.
Nope.
The stranger was gone, as if he had never been there.
“Stay here.
Seraphina grabbed his arm immediately.
“No.” His eyes went to her.
He isn’t here.
“You don’t know that. ”I know that’s exactly what he wants.
Kael frowned.
“What do you mean ?He shot one arrow.”
She gestured to the pillar.
Not to kill me.
He narrowed his eyes.
To get us.”
Seraphina nodded.
“If we leave the estate now, we’ll be chasing shadows and someone else will be moving within these walls.’
Kael lowered his sword slowly.
She was correct.
Once more.
He was more disturbed by the realization than he wanted to admit.
Most people responded to danger.
Seraphina had known it would be.
As if she’d done it all before.
The thought was so fast he didn’t even notice it.
Nearly.
Instead he moved towards the arrow.
A black feather fluttered lightly in the night breeze, tied under the iron tip.
He looked at the shaft, but did not touch it.
No crest.
“No maker’s mark.”
Seraphina knelt beside him.The balance is strange.
‘You know it?
I can tell good workmanship.
She didn’t say that she’d seen the same arrows buried in the bodies of warriors in her former life.
Some memories were still too dangerous to tell.
Kael carefully wrapped the arrow in a piece of cloth.
We’ll let the blacksmith take a look at it tomorrow.
“He won’t find anything.
“You sound pretty sure.” Whoever planned this would leave no trace behind.
Kael watched her thoughtfully.
“You’ve said things like that before.”
She met his gaze without flinching.
“People like this don’t make careless mistakes.
Before Kael could answer, the sound of quick footsteps came down the corridor behind them.
Liora came out onto the balcony, panting.
“My Lady!”
Seraphina turned at once.
“What happened?
“The healer sent you here .Is Mira up?
Liora nodded.
“She says she remembers something.
The infirmary smelled of herbs and burning candles.
Mira was propped up against a mountain of pillows, her face still pale, but not deathly pale.
You came.
I said I would, I said.
Kael stayed near the doorway, watching in silence.
The estate healer bowed.
I’ve regained my strength about an hour ago .Can she speak?
“” For a little while.
Seraphina pulled up a chair to the bed.
“No one will bother us. Mira nodded weakly. His voice came back to me. ”The man in the hood?
“Yes.” “So what?”
Mira closed her eyes.
“He never phoned Lady Maris.”
Seraphina propped herself on her elbows.
“What did he call her?
‘My Lady.’
Kael looked at Seraphina.
That was not unusual.
Many servants bore the same title.
Mira shook her head.
“That was not respectful.”
She tried to explain.
“It was… well……such as fidelity.”
Seraphina’s heart pounded.
No help.
A subordinate.
Somebody giving orders.
“Did Lady Maris speak to him?” “One time.
“What did she said?”
Mira frowned, trying to recall.
I didn’t catch everything.
“But I remember one sentence.
The room went quiet.
Mira looked at Seraphina.
“She said…”“The Luna can never join the Blood Moon Pack.”
Seraphina’s whole body went rigid.
The Blood Moon Pack.
No one in the Vale Estate should have known those words meant anything to her.
Not yet.
She forced herself to remain calm.
“You sure, though?”
Mira nodded resolutely.
“I have said it over in my mind ever since.”
Kael could hear Seraphina’s breathing shift just a little.
You know the name.
”
It wasn’t a question.
Seraphina looked at him.
I’ve heard stories.”
Another half truth.”The Blood Moon Pack disappeared years back.”
Kael crossed his arms.
“So why would Maris bring it up?
Seraphina didn’t reply straight away.
Because she knew already.
In her previous life…
It all started with the Blood Moon Pack.
If history was repeating itself before we knew it…
Then Maris was not just keeping a secret.
Her time was running out.
There was a soft knock on the infirmary door.
The captain walked in.
“Alpha.
“What is it?
And?” “Some kitchen maid is missing.”
Seraphina stood up.
Name.
.
.
“.“Nadia.”
Her mind ran through her memories.
Nadia.
In her first life she’d worked in the kitchens.
Quiet.
Forgetable.
Dead before the last slaughter.
“When did you see her last?” “This afternoon.
Kael’s face turned hard.
Search the estate once more.” “We already have .”No sign?” “None.
Seraphina walked to the window that looked out on the moonlit courtyard.
The maid is gone.
The servant who was poisoned.
The man in the hood.
The arrow.
They were none of them separate.
Someone was quietly getting rid of all the witnesses before they could talk.
She looked out over the sleeping grounds.
Then her eyes were at a window on the second floor.
Maris’s bedroom.
The curtains stirred.
A little bit.
As if someone had been watching the infirmary.
A shadowy figure could be seen behind the fabric.
Looking.
Wait.
The second Seraphina stared right at it…
The curtain fell slowly.
Seraphina lowered her voice to a whisper.
“She’s setting up her next move.”
Kael moved to her side.
“Then what is ours?” he asked, not taking his eyes from the darkened window. for the first time since I rose from the dead…
Seraphina answered without a moment’s hesitation .We stop responding.”
She turned towards him.
“And we make her think she’s winning.”
He looked at her a long moment.
Then, almost imperceptibly…
He nodded his head.
A cloaked figure lowered his spyglass in the shade of an ancient oak outside the walls of the estate.
A hint of a smile broke through beneath the hood .And so…
The stranger murmured, “They have come at last to the hunt.
The figure dipped a hand into a leather pouch and brought out a folded letter bearing a crimson wax seal.
The stranger threw it into a small fire without opening it.
The seal was gone.
Beneath the wax, a single emblem revealed.
Black crescent moon.
The same symbol was engraved inside the silver ring.