Chapter 8 Eight

After they left, later that night, I found myself unable to settle. The confrontation had left me wired, the Phoenix fire still simmering just beneath my skin.

I ended up in the training room, barefoot and still in my red dress, staring at the padded walls like they held answers.

"You couldn't sleep either?"

I turned to find Osilus in the doorway, wearing only sleep pants, his chest bare and his expression concerned.

"Every time I close my eyes, I see them," I admitted. "And I want to burn them alive."

"That's the Phoenix speaking," he said, crossing to me. "She wants justice. Vengeance."

"So do I," I said. "Is that wrong?"

"No." He stopped in front of me, close enough that I could feel his warmth. "They hurt you. Killed you. You're allowed to want them to pay."

"Avalon thinks they'll try to kill me again," I said. "Before I can expose them."

"Avalon's probably right," he agreed. "Which is why we're not letting you out of our sight."

"I don't need a babysitter," I started, but he cut me off with a gentle finger against my lips.

"Not a babysitter," he said softly. "A mate. Let me be here for you, Zephyr. The way I should have been before."

I looked up at him, seeing the regret and determination in his warm brown eyes. "You couldn't have stopped them."

"Maybe not," he said. "But I could have tried. Instead, I stood by and watched you suffer. That's not happening again."

The mate bond pulsed between us, warmer and steadier than Avalon's ice or Zane's fire. This was solid, dependable, safe.

"Stay with me tonight," I heard myself say. "I don't want to be alone."

"I thought you would never ask," he pulled me into his arms.

We stood there in the training room, holding each other as the moon rose over the forest. And for the first time since I'd come back, I let myself believe that maybe-just maybe-I didn't have to face this alone.

An envelope arrived three days later while I was in the study with Avalon, going over pack security protocols. Emma knocked and entered with a silver tray.

"This just arrived by courier, Miss Zephyr," she said, setting it down. "From the Chance estate."

My heart kicked against my ribs. Avalon looked at me.

"Thank you, Emma," I said, dismissing her with a nod.

The moment the door clicked shut, I tore open the envelope. Inside were legal documents, transfer papers, and a single key on a silver chain.

"They actually did it," I breathed, scanning the papers. "Everything. The accounts, the properties, My mother's entire estate."

"That was fast," Avalon said raising a brow.

"They're probably scared," I said, but unease coiled in my stomach. "Or they're planning something."

"It could be both." He picked up the key, examining it. "What's this for?"

"It's the key to my mother's private vault," I said, as the memories came back. "I'd completely forgotten about it."

"Forgotten?" His eyes sharpened. "Or you never knew it existed?"

I met his gaze. "In my first life, I never got the inheritance. They killed me before the transfer could happen. I never saw any of this."

"Then we need to see what's in that vault," he said.

"That's true." I gathered the papers, something pulling at my instincts. "But I want Zane with us."

He's face turned to a frown. "Why Zane?"

"Because if there's danger, I want someone who enjoys killing things," I said bluntly. "And because the mate bond is telling me I need him there."

He studied me for a long moment, then nodded. "I'll have him meet us at the manor in an hour."

The Delphine manor sat on the edge of Cary territory, a sprawling Gothic monstrosity that had belonged to my mother's family for generations. I hadn't been here since she died when I was twelve.

"Cheerful place," Zane drawled as we pulled up. He'd arrived on a black motorcycle, while wearing sleek black leather pants and jacket. "I love me some very 'haunted mansion murder mystery.'"

"My mother loved it," I said, stepping out of Avalon's car. The manor loomed above us, all dark stone and ivy-covered walls. "She said old things have power."

"She wasn't wrong," Zane said, coming to stand beside me. His hand found mine, and fire sparked between us. "I can feel magic here. Old magic."

"Phoenix magic," Avalon corrected, joining us. "Your mother was a Lunar Phoenix too, wasn't she?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "She died before she could tell me. Father always said it was an illness, but now..." I looked at the manor, seeing it with new eyes. "Now I wonder if he killed her too."

The thought settled like ice in my veins.

"Let's find out," Zane said, and we headed inside.

The manor was dusty and dark, with all the furniture covered in white sheets like ghosts. Our footsteps echoed through the empty halls.

"The vault is in her study," I said, leading them up the grand staircase. "Third floor, east wing."

My mother's study was surprisingly untouched by time. Books lined the walls, her desk sat exactly as she'd left it, and the fireplace still held the ashes of the last fire she'd burned.

"There," I pointed to the portrait above the mantle. "Behind my mother's painting."

Avalon moved the portrait aside, revealing a small safe built into the wall. I inserted the key, and the lock clicked open with a sound that felt like destiny.

Inside were three things: a leather journal, a wooden box, and a sealed letter addressed to me in my mother's handwriting.

My hands shook as I reached for the letter.

"Zephyr," it read. "If you're reading this, then I'm gone and you've finally claimed your inheritance. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you the truth while I lived. Sorry I couldn't protect you from what's coming. But know this-you are stronger than you know. The Phoenix bloodline runs true in you, and with it comes both power and peril."

I swallowed hard, continuing to read.

"The vampires will come for you, as they came for me. They need Phoenix blood to cure the curse that's killing them-a curse born from their own greed generations ago. They will try to capture you, breed you, use you as they tried to use me. Your father... he helped them once. He gave them my blood in exchange for political power. When I discovered his betrayal, I tried to leave, but the sickness took me before I could escape. It was no illness, Zephyr. It was poison. Bruin poisoned me to keep his secrets safe and to claim my estate for himself."

The paper crumpled in my grip. "He killed her," I whispered. "He killed my mother."

"Fuck," Zane breathed beside me.

Avalon's hand was on my shoulder. "Keep reading."

I forced my eyes back to the letter.

"In the wooden box, you'll find three vials of Phoenix blood-my blood. Use it wisely. Phoenix blood can heal, curse, and bind. The journal contains everything I learned about our bloodline, about the vampires, about the curse. Read it carefully. Trust your mates-yes, I know about the three-mate bond. It's the Phoenix way. Let them protect you, but never let them control you. You are a Delphine, Zephyr. We bow to no one. I love you, my darling girl. I'm sorry I couldn't stay to see the woman you'll become. But I know you'll be magnificent. Your mother, Lyanna Delphine."

Tears streamed down my face. I set the letter down with shaking hands and reached for the wooden box.

Inside, three crystal vials gleamed in the dim light, filled with blood that shimmered gold and silver.

"Phoenix blood," Avalon said quietly. "She preserved it somehow."

"For me," I said. "She knew I'd need it."

"What's in the journal?" Zane asked, already reaching for it.