Chapter 403: Victoria Won’t Give Up On Lilith

*Three days since Lilith died*

The ice room had become a tomb.

Not because Lilith was buried there. But because the three Alphas keeping vigil looked more like corpses than the girl lying on the stone table.

Nicholas sat in the chair closest to Lilith’s head. He had not moved from that position in over twelve hours. Had not eaten. Had not slept. Just sat there holding Lilith’s cold hand and staring at her face like if he looked away for even a second she would disappear entirely.

Sebastian stood by the wall with his arms crossed and his eyes red-rimmed. He had stopped trying to hide the tears hours ago. They just came now, silent and constant....sliding down his face while he watched the girl he loved lie motionless and pale and so perfectly still it hurt to look at.

Lucian paced.

Back and forth across the ice room like a caged animal. His hands were clenched into fists. His jaw was tight. His eyes were wild with barely controlled rage.

He wanted to break something. Wanted to kill something. Wanted to do anything except stand here watching Lilith’s body slowly turn into a frozen monument.

And in the center of it all.....

Elena.

The priestess stood beside the stone table with her hands hovering over Lilith’s body. White light pulsed from her palms in steady waves.....preservation magic mixed with ice energy, keeping Lilith’s corpse from decaying, maintaining the stasis spells Dr. Aldric had woven three days ago.

Elena’s face was drawn with exhaustion. She had been maintaining the spells almost constantly since Victoria left. Only breaking to rest for an hour at a time before returning to pour more magic into keeping Lilith preserved.

Because if the body decayed, if the flesh rotted or the organs failed....resurrection would be impossible.

And Victoria had promised resurrection was possible.

Had promised she would return with everything needed to bring Lilith back.

But it had been three days.

Seventy-two hours since Lilith died.

Sixty hours since Victoria stepped through a portal and disappeared.

And still no sign of her return.

"How much longer?" Sebastian’s voice broke the silence. Rough. Raw. Like he had been screaming.

Elena looked up. "I don’t know."

"She said two days," Sebastian said. "Maybe less. It’s been more than two days. It’s been...." His voice cracked. "It’s been too long. Something went wrong. She’s not coming back."

"She’s coming back," Nicholas said without taking his eyes off Lilith.

"You don’t know that," Sebastian said.

"I know Victoria," Nicholas said. "She won’t give up on Lilith. She’ll find what she needs and she’ll come back. Even if it takes the full seven days."

"We don’t have seven days," Lucian said, his voice sharp. "We have four. Victoria said we had seven days total before the soul bonds dissolve completely. We’re on day three. That leaves four days. Four days for her to come back, perform whatever impossible resurrection she’s planning, and somehow bring Lilith back from death."

"Then she has four days," Nicholas said.

"And if she doesn’t make it?" Lucian challenged. "If she gets lost wherever she went? If she fails? If whatever she’s trying to do is impossible? What then, Nicholas? Do we just sit here watching Lilith’s body freeze until there’s nothing left to resurrect?"

"Yes," Nicholas said flatly. "That’s exactly what we do. We wait. We hope. And we trust that Victoria will succeed. Because the alternative, accepting that Lilith is permanently dead, is not an option."

Lucian made a sound like a wounded animal and punched the wall hard enough to crack the stone.

Elena flinched but did not stop channeling preservation magic.

"You should eat something," Elena said quietly. "All of you. You’ve barely eaten in three days. You need to keep your strength up."

"For what?" Lucian asked bitterly. "So we can be strong enough to watch her stay dead?"

"So you can be functional when Victoria returns," Elena corrected. "If resurrection is possible, she’s going to need help. Need all three of you strong and capable. Not starving yourselves into uselessness."

"I’m not hungry," Sebastian said.

"Neither am I," Nicholas added.

"I don’t care," Elena said firmly. "You’re eating. Today. Even if I have to force it down your throats myself."

Before anyone could respond, the door to the ice room opened.

Agnes entered carrying a tray of food. Behind her, Sera carried another tray.

Both women looked exhausted. Grief-stricken. Their eyes were red and swollen from crying.

But they had composed themselves. Had wiped away the tears. Had put on brave faces for the Alphas who were falling apart.

"We brought food," Agnes said, her voice shaking slightly. "Soup. Bread. Something easy to eat."

"I am not hungry," Lucian said.

"I don’t care if you’re hungry or not," Agnes said, and there was steel in her voice despite the grief. "You’re eating. Lilith would be furious if she knew you were starving yourselves. So you’re going to eat. For her."

The mention of Lilith made Sebastian’s face crumple.

"She’s not here to be furious," Sebastian whispered. "She’s dead, Agnes. She’s dead and we couldn’t save her."

Agnes’s eyes filled with tears.

She set down the tray quickly and turned away, pressing her hand to her mouth to muffle the sob that tried to escape.

Sera moved to comfort her, wrapping an arm around the older woman’s shoulders.

"I’m sorry," Agnes whispered, wiping her eyes furiously. "I’m sorry. I shouldn’t.....the Alphas don’t need to see me crying. They have enough to deal with."

"It’s okay to cry," Sera said quietly. "We all loved her. We’re all grieving."

"But they need us to be strong," Agnes said. She wiped her face one more time and turned back around, her expression carefully neutral despite the tears still threatening. "They need us to keep the household running. To take care of them even when they won’t take care of themselves."

She picked up a bowl of soup and walked to Nicholas.

"Please, Alpha," Agnes said. "Just a few bites. For her."