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Years passed, and the ward remained. Killian had watched, and his anger had amplified.
Julius joined him outside her foster parents’ home. “Is it done?”
Julius nodded. “The priestess is dead. Her name was Cameline. I’m not sure how she discovered Dannika. I disposed of her, but her family will interfere if they discover our interference. Dannika is at school. We have an hour before she returns.”
Killian started walking towards the house. “That’s more than adequate. This family had too much time with my daughter.”
* * *
Dannika pushed Killian away. She’d already lived through the aftermath of Jacob and Lori’s death. She knew how that story ended, and preferred to remember them as the decent and loving family who would’ve kept her, loved her, had Killian not interfered.
A tear slipped down her cheek. She was thankful Alyssa never saw the events that transpired after her death. She cried for both her parents: the man who should have raised her, and the mother who sacrificed her life to save her children.
She sniffed, rubbing her nose with her hand. “Who was the priestess that warded my foster parents’ home?”
“Another descendant of the priestess. They train and teach their children their history. But I ripped you and your sister from your mother’s womb and handed you over to that hospital. I burned our cottage to the ground. Your mother’s family believed you died in the fire. It wasn’t until you developed that the other descendants took notice of you. I have killed anyone who came between us.”
She wiped the tears from her cheek. “What about Carmen? Are you going to show her death next?”
“I had no hand in those events. I witnessed what was happening, but there was no need for me to interfere. Jason’s actions furthered my goal, so I left him to his fate.”
Her heart stuttered. “I got Carmen killed.”
“Yes.”
Her eyes stung, but she refused to let any more tears fall. “Show me the future.”
* * *
Raine fought Killian, his shadow bouncing from one end of the clearing to the other. They chased each other in a dark dance of death. Blades whipped from the shadows as Killian countered every move. She understood what he was doing. Killian replayed this fight a hundred times and memorized every move Raine would make. Her mate never stood a chance.
She cried out as Killian’s blade sliced through Raine’s neck and his head bounced to the ground. Reapers attacked the wolves one by one until all were either reaper or dead.
The images blurred again, reforming in the clearing beneath Steele’s home in the mountains.
Killian circled his brother, his face a mask of anticipation and destruction. “This has been a long time coming, my brother.”
Steele held a reaper blade in his hand. “I never wanted this. I’m sorry I didn’t find you before Alyssa’s death.”
Killian’s eyes flickered with red flame. “Her death was inevitable, as is yours.”
The brothers came together in a flurry of black mist and flying fists, switching from their corporeal to shadow form in mere seconds. It was impossible to track their movements. The dark tornado swirled around both of them until Steele’s head rolled to the ground.
Ryder emerged from the forest, his bear growling his anger. Stern was at his side with blazing eyes of hatred. They attacked in unison, but Killian dissolved, reappearing behind Stern and severing his head. The fur receded from his body as he returned to human form.
Ryder shifted to human, kneeling beside his chosen son. “You think you have won, but as long as your bloodline survives, the shadows will re-emerge. Take my life, Killian. My son, my clan, and my friends are dead. There’s nothing left for me here, but I await you on the other side.”
Ryder didn’t protect himself when Killian removed his head.
The background blurred once more, returning with Killian standing in front of an altar. He held a strange bowl with carvings around the rim, speaking a language she didn’t recognize.
* * *
Dannika took a deep breath, inhaling the dust and grease, thankful to be back in real time. The images were beyond horrible, both past and future, but by Killian’s own admission, those future events could be altered. She had to discover a way to honor her mother. To save the shadow warriors. To save humanity.
Killian broke their connection. He didn’t want her to see what happened in the cavern with the strange bowl. Information was her only weapon.
“What was that bowl?”
