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“You’re safe,” Magdalena hurried to say. “You’re safe.” She stroked Aura’s hair, some of it plastered to her forehead. “Sleep now. It’s alright. We’ve got you.” Aura drifted off easily and Magdalena lifted a tearful gaze to me. “She’s burning up,” she said. Then she stood, lifting the box with an ornate metal lid from the loveseat. She held it out to me, and I approached to take it. It was heavy, something clinking on the inside.

“There’s a note in there for you along with various other musings of her terrifyingly clever mind.”

I lifted the lid and opened a note addressed to me. In silence, I read through the note, and for the second time in mere moments, my world turned on its head.

Sylvan, if I don’t get to tell you this in person, I’m sorry. I studied your blood sample and discovered you don’t just have lycan blood, but human blood as well. I’m not sure if you know this. I guess I’m not the only lycan hybrid alive.

My blood wasn’t pure lycan? But half human? I thought back to Caleb’s comments. The statements here and there that I’d heard over the years. Bastard.

“Look at all the notes she’s left behind,” said Magdalena, her voice cutting off the descent of a spiral. “Because I have a feeling we’ll need to act soon.”

I glanced at her, my heart still thrumming fast and mind racing. There was sympathy in the vampire’s eyes, but urgency as well.

Frowning, I quickly read through all the notes. I couldn’t decipher one type of pain from the next. It was starting to seep into my physical body. I wanted to run from it all, but that was against my nature. I was an alpha. And not just that, Aura was worth saving. She was too brilliant, too special.

“Do you know when she was attacked?” I asked.

“Yes,” said Magdalena. “Six months ago.”

My chest clenched. Six months ago, my brother had returned home with dark blood all over his body. I’d assumed it was a mixture of mud and blood but … My stomach wrung repeatedly, sending me stumbling to my feet and right out the door.

I got as far as I could, my nails scraping against a tree trunk as I grasped it for support. I doubled over at the waist and vomited into the dirt until I had nothing left.

It had been Aura.

My brother had bitten her—infected her. She was dying because of him. Because of me.

The black blood. The ramblings about her and she. Now the victim had a face. She had a life. She had a place so firmly in my heart that even the thought of carving her out of it hurt like the slice of a thousand blades.

I dry heaved and gripped the tree to stop myself from collapsing into my own vomit.

It took a while before my stomach settled, but the guilt which overtook me was something fierce. I needed to push it all away—focus on Aura. I’d wallow in this new knowledge some other time.

I wiped my sleeve across my mouth and made my way back to Magdalena’s house. She glanced up at me from where she was kneeling beside Aura again. Without asking any questions, she nodded toward a glass of water on the kitchen counter. I stepped into the kitchen silently and chugged the water. I approached the basin and splashed more cool liquid over my face, not caring when it soaked my shirt.

My back to Magdalena, I said, “My brother had Lobofebris. Six months ago, he returned home covered in black blood.” I let the silence fill the space for a moment, and Magdalena’s heart skipped a beat. “Aura’s description of the wolf who attacked her matches Antoine. That combined with the timeline, the black blood … everything fits.”

I turned and leaned against the counter as I dared to meet Magdalena’s gaze.

“In a way, this is my fault.” I gestured to Aura. “I’d fallen asleep on my watch, and he escaped.”

“You can’t blame yourself for something like this,” said Magdalena. “Besides, that’s in the past. I know that sounds harsh, but we’re running out of time.” She stood and headed over to a shelf, lifting something that looked like a rusty instrument or weapon of some sort. “I found this at the university. In the workshop.”

As I squinted I made out the shape of it. Five pointed tips like a claw. In fact, it looked exactly like a claw, and it wasn’t rusted, it was encrusted with blood. I could still smell the copper of it. Not quite human but close enough.

“The spellcaster’s blood,” I said.

She nodded. “And I bet I know who used it. I found Irving disoriented and roaming around outside after Aura had been arrested. He’d been looking for her.”

I frowned. “Who’s Irving?”

“One of Aura’s closest friends. A Turned vampire who works for the Nygaards.”

“Does he attend the university?”

“No. I’ve never even seen him outside of the Nygaard Manor. I found it strange, but he just said he’d been worried about her. It was plausible, he does care for her, but now I wonder if he’d been the one to attack Shan.”

“Why would he though?”