Chapter 531

Damon's POV

We moved like lightning through the Thornwood, faster than we had ever traveled before. In wolf form, we didn't stop to rest. Didn't stop to eat. We didn't stop running until we finally reached the Bloodmoon compound.

Only then, exhausted and breathless, did we stop to rest.

"Rest, eat, and drink," I commanded the small, efficient squad of warriors I had brought with me. Only my best and most loyal. "We're leaving at dawn."

I heard a few scattered groans, which was understandable, seeing as how dawn was merely a few hours off. But no one complained. They all knew the gravity of the situation.

Celeste was waiting for me when I entered her study. She was standing by the small window that overlooked the plaza below. Her gnarled hands were clutching the back of a nearby chair, and her thin, gray hair was pulled back severely.

She didn't turn when I walked in.

"You came quick," she said simply.

"It's urgent." I crossed the room. "I need all the information you can give me. What did Andrei look like? Which direction, specifically, did he go? And have you seen or heard anything else? Any unexpected disasters or deaths in the area?"

Celeste whipped her head toward me. Even having been aged beyond recognition by the ruby her mother once wielded, her eyes were still as sharp as ever. I understood why Natalia had grown to like her so much despite everything. She was intelligent and quick, and not one to mince anything, let alone words.

"Damon, what the fuck is going on?" she barked. "Why did you respond to my letter with a retinue of warriors and questions about deaths?"

My throat tightened. Truthfully, I didn't know how much to tell her. Because I didn't know much myself. I just knew that Andrei had been having strange visions, which had worsened considerably ever since the war ended. Initially, we'd thought they were simply related to the fumes he'd inhaled in the mountain. But they hadn't stopped.

And now... Now, he was killing people and running off in wolf form with their corpses in tow.

Isaac was going to kill Natalia. That much was true. I didn't care if the fucker died, and I didn't blame Andrei one bit for killing him.

But running away with his body? That wasn't like Andrei at all. He'd just left Natalia laying there, tied up and terrified. And now she was telling me about dark rituals Isaac had planned.

Did Andrei have the same things planned?

I decided it would just be easier to tell Celeste everything. So I did. She didn't interrupt as I spoke. In fact, recognition flashed across her face, and she sank onto the chair behind her, muttering, "I knew it... I knew it wouldn't be over..."

“Is there something you know about this?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Not really. My knowledge about the Winter King's plans didn't really extend beyond what mine and my mother's tasks were here. But I always wondered if all that talk about demons was true."

I blinked. "There's no such thing."

Celeste looked up at me. Just then, Karl's voice said, "That might not necessarily be true."

I turned, not having expected to find Karl sitting by the fireplace. As it turned out, he had been sitting there the entire time, so quiet that I hadn't even noticed him. He stood slowly, then pulled something out of the trailing sleeve of his robe.

A book. It was old and weathered, with brittle yellow pages and a worn cover that had indiscernible text on it. When he handed it to me and I opened it, I realized that it wasn't just because the text was old and rubbed away, but the entire book was written in a language I didn't understand.

"What is this?" I asked.

Karl flipped to a page that had a faded illustration on it. It seemed to depict some horned creature emerging from a dark green lake. Standing by the shore was a man. His face was scratched out, but his hands were raised, like he was worshipping the creature.

"The old legends about the rubies claim that they were formed from the fires of hell," Karl explained, tapping the illustration with one

finger But there's more to it the net

that, as I've recently discovered. Ellen excavated this book from the mountain and sent it to me upon

me upon translating this text, I believe its

possible that the rubies weren't just formed from sulfuric heat, but by intent."

"Intent?" I stared at him.

"I believe there may have been an entity responsible for creating the rubies. A demon, or perhaps some kind of god." Karl furrowed his brow. "I haven't been able to discern much. Everything that's been written about this creature was seemingly erased, whether by time or by intent, I'm not sure."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that it's possible this deity really does communicate with its followers through the mountain That there was a portal after all, and the Winter King wasn't just insane." Karlooked at me. "It may have chosen Andrei as its next proxy. Judging from what you just told us, I would hazard a guess that it already took over his mind. The process

may have even begun when Andrei

was in the mountain."

I looked at Karl for a long moment. This was absurd. Demons? Gods? Portals to

hell?

"Even if that were true and not just a legend,” I said slowly, "what would this... creature be intending to do? Why take over Andrei? Why make him murder people?"

Karl pursed his lips. “That, I'm not entirely sure about. I haven't been able to translate the entire text yet. But if it's a demon or some kind of god of darkness, it might just want to kill. To murder."

"To bring death and destruction upon the world," Celeste whispered.

This felt insane. My brother hadn't been taken over by a demon. He was having a psychotic break from PTSD and the lingering effects of the fumes in that mountain. Nothing more.

And I was going to bring him home and help him get better.

I closed the book and handed it back to Karl.

Sure enough, by the time the sun started to break over the horizon, my men and I were back on the path. We moved just as quickly as before, and eventually, the mountain's peak came into view.

We found Ellen's excavation camp about halfway up the mountain, near the entrance to the tunnels. When we arrived, the camp seemed to be in a bit of a tizzy.

I spotted several of her people milling around, along with some of the crippled ones from the peak.

"What's going on?" I asked, approaching the group. "Where's Ellen?"

One of the women turned toward me. Her eyes widened when she saw me, surrounded by my warriors. "Alpha Damon! Have you come with Alpha Andrei?”

I froze. "Andrei was here?"

"Yes... You didn't know?"

"No. Where is he?"

The woman pointed toward the entrance of the caves. “He went in there with Ellen. They haven't emerged yet. And that was hours ago.”

"Hours."

She nodded. "We're starting to get worried. We were just preparing to send in a search team."

"No need.” I was already turning toward the entrance to the tunnels. "I'll go in

myself."