Lilith was dreaming.
She knew she was dreaming because the world around her was painted in shades of silver and grey that did not exist in real life, and because the air tasted like smoke and lavender and something ancient she could not name. She was walking through a forest she had never seen before, where the trees grew so tall their branches disappeared into mist and their roots twisted across the ground like sleeping serpents.
Come to me, child.
The voice was a whisper that wrapped around her ribs and pulled. Female. Old. Familiar in a way that made her chest ache even though she had never heard it before in her life.
You have been asleep too long. It is time to wake up.
Lilith tried to stop walking but her legs would not obey her. They kept moving forward through the silver forest, one step after another, her bare feet silent against moss that glowed faintly beneath her. She tried to speak, to ask who was calling her, but her mouth would not open and her tongue felt heavy and useless behind her teeth.
Do not fight me. You will only make this harder. Come to me and I will show you what you are. What you have always been.
The trees began to thin and Lilith could see light ahead, cold and white and wrong. The voice grew stronger with every step she took toward it, and somewhere deep in the back of her mind a small part of her was screaming....screaming that this was not right, that she needed to wake up, that something terrible was waiting for her in that light.
But the voice drowned everything else out.
Almost there. Just a little further now. Come to me, Lilith Morvaine. Come home.
Lilith’s eyes flew open.
She was staring at the ceiling of her bedroom, at the familiar cracks in the plaster and the shadows cast by moonlight filtering through her curtains. Her heart was racing and her skin was covered in cold sweat, and for a moment she just lay there trying to remember how to breathe.
A dream. It was just a dream.
She closed her eyes and tried to settle back into sleep, but something felt wrong. The air in her room was too cold. Too still. And there was a pressure building behind her eyes, a pulling sensation in her chest that made her want to move even though she was exhausted.
Get up.
Lilith’s eyes opened again.
She sat up slowly, mechanically, her movements stiff and wrong like her body was being controlled by invisible strings. Her feet found the floor and she stood, swaying slightly, her nightgown hanging loose around her legs.
The room was dark. The estate was quiet. Everything was exactly as it should be.
But Lilith was not in control of her own body.
She walked toward her bedroom door, her arms hanging at her sides, her face completely blank. Her hand reached out and turned the handle and the door swung open silently.
The hallway beyond was empty and dark.
Lilith stepped into it and started walking.
Her bare feet made no sound against the cold stone floor as she moved through the corridor.
She walked past Nicholas’s room and felt a faint tug from the bond, warm and steady like it was trying to pull her back, trying to wake her up. But something else was pulling harder. Something older and stronger and absolutely relentless.
Keep walking. Do not stop. You are almost there.
Lilith’s legs obeyed without hesitation.
She walked past Sebastian’s room where she had fallen asleep against his chest just hours before, talking about childhoods and memories and futures they might have if the curse broke. She walked past Lucian’s room and turned toward the main staircase.
The stairs stretched down into darkness and Lilith descended them slowly, one hand trailing along the bannister but not gripping it, not using it for balance. Just touching it as she passed like a ghost.
The main hall was vast and empty at this hour. Moonlight streamed through the tall windows and painted everything in shades of blue and silver, Lilith walked through it without seeing any of it. Her eyes were open but unfocused, staring straight ahead at something only she could perceive.
She crossed the hall and turned toward the side entrance, the one that led out to the gardens and the training yard and the forest beyond. The door was closed but her hand found the handle and turned it, pushed it open, and she stepped out into the night.
The cold air should have shocked her awake. Should have made her gasp and shiver and realize what she was doing. But it did not touch her. She just kept walking, her nightgown billowing around her legs, her hair loose and tangled down her back, her bare feet stepping onto the frost-covered grass without feeling it.
The grounds were silent.
No guards patrolled this section at night.....they were all posted at the main gates and the perimeter, watching for threats coming from outside the territory. They were not watching for someone walking out from inside.
Lilith walked past the gardens where she had sat with Sera and talked about pack life and acceptance. She walked past the training yard where she had watched Lucian beat a dummy to splinters rather than look at her. She walked past the kennels and the stables and the storage buildings, and nothing stirred her awake as she passed.
The estate grew smaller behind her with every step she took.
And then she reached the tree line.
The forest loomed in front of her, dark and vast and impenetrable, and for just a moment....just one single heartbeat...the part of Lilith that was still aware, still screaming beneath the trance, surged forward and tried to make her stop.
No. No no no do not go in there. Turn around. Go back. Wake up. WAKE UP.
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