Chapter 404: Victoria Is Back

Nicholas looked at the soup. Then at Agnes. Then back at Lilith’s body.

"I can’t," he said. "I can’t eat while she’s...." He stopped.

"I know," Agnes said gently. "But you need to try. Please."

Nicholas took the bowl with shaking hands.

He lifted a spoonful to his mouth and forced himself to swallow.

It tasted like ash.

But he kept eating because Agnes was standing there watching with tears in her eyes and he could not make her grief worse by refusing.

Sera brought soup to Sebastian and Lucian.

Both of them took the bowls reluctantly and ate mechanically. Not tasting. Not enjoying. Just forcing food into bodies that had forgotten how to feel hunger.

Agnes stood back and watched them eat with tears streaming silently down her face.

She had become close to Lilith since she when she had just arrived at the estate, She had taken care of her through nightmares and panic attacks she use to have, something that even the alphas didn’t even know about and she had helped her heal quietly from all the trauma that both her old pack and the brothers had inflicted.

She had loved her like the daughter she never had.

And now she was gone.

Lying on that stone table cold and still and so heartbreakingly young.

Agnes wiped her tears quickly before any of the Alphas could see.

They did not need her grief on top of their own.

***

*Outside the ice room*

The three Betas stood in the hallway keeping watch.

Callum leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. Eli sat on the floor with his head in his hands. Finn paced slowly, his expression dark.

"This is wrong," Finn said quietly. "They’re falling apart in there. We should be doing something. Helping somehow."

"What would you suggest?" Callum asked. "We can’t bring her back. We can’t fix the bonds. All we can do is stand guard and make sure no one disturbs them while they grieve."

"It’s been three days," Eli said, his voice muffled. "Her aunt said she’d be back in two days. Where is she?"

"Dealing with things we probably don’t want to know about," Callum said. "Resurrection isn’t clean magic. Whatever Victoria is doing to make it possible, it’s probably dark. Dangerous. The kind of thing that changes a person."

"Will it work?" Finn asked.

"I don’t know," Callum admitted. "I hope so. Because if it doesn’t....." He stopped and looked at the closed door. "If it doesn’t, I don’t think they’ll survive it. Any of them."

"The pack needs them," Eli said. "We can’t have all three Alphas broken at once. We need them functional. Leading. Making decisions."

"The pack will have to manage," Callum said. "Because right now, those three men in there are not Alphas. They’re grieving mates who lost the most important person in their world. And grief like that doesn’t follow pack schedules or leadership responsibilities."

"So what do we do?" Finn asked.

"We wait," Callum said. "We stand guard. We keep the pack running as best we can. And we pray her aunt succeeds. Because if she doesn’t...." He stopped again. "I don’t know what happens to the Blackwood pack if we lose all three Alphas to grief."

They fell silent.

All three of them thinking about the girl lying dead in the ice room.

All three of them hoping desperately that Victoria would return with a miracle.

***

*Back in the ice room*

Elena was pouring more preservation magic into Lilith’s body when she felt it.

A shift in the air. A pulse of power from outside the estate. Green energy that tasted like Morvaine magic.

Victoria.

Elena’s eyes widened.

"She’s...." Elena started.

The door to the ice room burst open.

Agnes stood there breathing hard, her face pale.

"Alphas," Agnes said. "Something strange is happening outside. There’s....green light. Magic. A portal opening in the courtyard."

All three Alphas were on their feet instantly.

"Where?" Nicholas demanded.

"The main courtyard," Agnes said. "It just appeared. I felt the power from the kitchens and came running."

Nicholas looked at Elena.

Elena was already moving toward the door.

"It’s Victoria," Elena said. "She’s back."

Relief and terror crashed through Nicholas in equal measure.

Victoria was back.

Which meant she had either succeeded in finding what she needed....

Or she was returning to tell them resurrection was impossible.

Nicholas looked at Lilith one more time.

Still cold. Still dead. Still waiting.

"Please," he thought desperately. "Please let Victoria have found a way. Please let this work."

Then he turned and ran toward the courtyard.

***

Nicholas ran through the estate corridors like his life depended on it.

Sebastian and Lucian were right behind him. Elena too. All of them racing toward the main courtyard where Agnes had said the portal appeared.

Where Victoria had returned.

Nicholas burst through the main doors and stopped.

The courtyard was lit by green light....Morvaine magic swirling in a circle carved into the stone. The portal was already closing. Already fading.

And standing in the center of it....

Victoria.

She looked terrible.

Her robes were torn and stained with blood. Her face was pale and drawn with exhaustion. Her hands were shaking. And her eyes....

Her eyes looked haunted. Like she had seen things that would never leave her. Like she had crossed lines she could never uncross.

But she was alive.

And she was back.

"Victoria," Nicholas said, and his voice came out desperate. "Did you....did you find..."

"I found what we need," Victoria said. She stepped fully out of the portal circle and it dissolved behind her. "I found Thalia. I learned what resurrection requires. And I brought back everything necessary to bring Lilith home."

Nicholas felt hope surge through his chest so intense it hurt.

"You can bring her back?" Sebastian asked. "You’re sure?"

"I’m sure it’s possible," Victoria said carefully. "But there’s..." She stopped. "There are things you need to know. Things about why Lilith died. Things about what bringing her back will cost."