THE WOMAN WITH COLD EYES

The court gathers three days after they find the body. I am not supposed to be there.

Omegas do not stand in the throne room while the Council speaks. Even Omegas who sleep in a cot next to the Alpha's chambers. But Kael tells me to bring his correspondence in personally that morning. By the time I realize what I have walked into, it is too late to leave without drawing eyes.

So I stand near the wall. Correspondence pressed to my chest like a shield. I watch.

The Elders sit in a half-circle of old stone chairs. Five of them. Gray and grim and ancient in the way that makes you forget they were ever young. Kael sits at the center on a chair that is not quite a throne but wants to be one. Standing in front of all of them, elegant as a knife, is a woman I have never seen before.

White-blonde hair. Pale green eyes, cold enough to make the room feel colder just looking at them. She moves like she has never once worried about mud on her shoes, even standing on stone.

"Lady Seraphine," Elder Marrok says. His voice is old and dry as dead leaves. "The Blackthorn line thanks you for your concern. Nightvale's internal matters are Nightvale's to handle."

"Of course." Seraphine's voice is smooth. Unbothered. "I only wished to offer my condolences for the low-rank who died. Such a tragedy, so close to the anniversary."

Something in Kael's jaw tightens. "Anniversary of what."

Seraphine's eyes slide toward him. Something in them sharpens. Pleased, almost. Like she has been waiting for him to ask.

"Five years, is it not, my lord? Since the last time a Nightvale wolf died so... strangely." She lets the word sit there, ugly and deliberate. "I only mention it because history has a way of repeating what nobody bothers to properly bury."

The room goes very still.

Elder Marrok's eyes narrow. "You speak of things you do not understand, Lady Seraphine. The matter of Elara Veyne was settled long ago. She was guilty. She was executed. The case is closed."

"Is it?" Seraphine tilts her head. Her pale hair catches the torchlight like spun silver. "How fortunate, then, that you have no concerns about the new body. The one found near the Moonless Forest. So similar to the old case. So—" she pauses, as if searching for the right word "—familiar."

My blood turns to ice.

The body. The wolf found dead three days ago. I heard whispers in the kitchen. Low-rank wolf. Drained of blood. Left near the forest's edge. I did not think much of it. Rogues attack. Wolves die. That is the way of things.

But Seraphine is connecting it to something else. To something that happened five years ago. To something that killed me.

"What are you suggesting," Kael says. His voice is flat. Controlled. But I see his hands gripping the arms of his chair. White-knuckled.

"I am suggesting nothing, my lord." Seraphine smiles. It does not reach her eyes. "I am merely observing. A curious pattern, is it not? First, a healer accused of poisoning the heir. Now, another low-rank wolf found dead with no clear cause. Both near the forest. Both under mysterious circumstances." She lets her gaze drift across the room. It lands on me. Stops.

My heart stops with it.

She looks at me like she knows something. Like she has been waiting for me. Like I am the answer to a question she has been asking for years.

"And who is this?" she asks. Her voice is light. Curious. "I do not recognize her. A new addition to the household?"

Kael's eyes snap to me. His expression shifts. Just slightly. A flicker of something protective.

"She is my personal attendant," he says. "She is not part of this conversation."

"Oh, but she is." Seraphine's smile widens. "She is standing right there, after all. Listening. Observing. Just like the last one did."

The last one. She means Elara. She means me.

I keep my face still. I keep my hands still. I press the correspondence harder against my chest so nobody can see them shaking.

"I do not know what you are talking about," I say. My voice comes out soft. Rue's voice. Quiet. Afraid. "I am just an Omega. I bring the Alpha his letters."

"Just an Omega," Seraphine repeats. She takes a step toward me. Another. Her green eyes never leave my face. "How strange. You look exactly like someone I used to know."

My throat closes.

"I do not think so, my lady," I say. "I have never left Nightvale. I have never met you before."

"No." She stops in front of me. Close enough that I can smell her perfume. Something floral. Something cold. "You have not met me. But I have met you. In a way."

I do not understand. I do not want to understand.

Kael rises from his chair. The room feels smaller. Hotter. "Lady Seraphine. You are a guest here. I suggest you remember that."

"I always remember my place, Alpha." She does not look away from me. "I am merely... curious. About the new face in your household. About the way she watches. About the way she holds herself like someone who has seen things she should not have seen."

"Rue has seen nothing," Kael says. "She is a servant. She does her work. That is all."

Seraphine finally turns to look at him. Her smile is gone now. In its place is something harder. Sharper.

"Forgive me," she says. "I have been rude. I only came to offer my condolences. And to remind you—" she lets the words hang in the air "—that some ghosts do not stay buried. No matter how deep you drown them."

The room is silent.

Kael stares at her. His silver eyes are dark. Dangerous.

"I think you should leave," he says.

"Of course, my lord." She curtsies. Perfectly. Formally. "I will see myself out."

She walks past me. Her shoulder brushes mine. Just slightly. Just enough for me to feel the cold of her sleeve through my thin dress.

She whispers, so low only I can hear: "I know who you are, little ghost. And I know why you came back."

Then she is gone. The doors close behind her. The room exhales.

But I cannot breathe.

---

Kael dismisses the Council with a wave of his hand. They file out. Elder Marrok pauses at the door. He looks at me. His old eyes are hard. Suspicious.

"She is trouble," he says to Kael. "That woman always has been. Do not let her words take root."

"She is gone," Kael says. "The matter is closed."

"No." Marrok shakes his head. "She was not wrong about one thing. Ghosts do not stay buried. Not all of them."

He leaves. The door closes. We are alone.

"Rue."

I cannot look at him. My hands are shaking too hard. My heart is beating too fast.

"Rue," he says again. Softer this time. He walks toward me. His boots echo on the stone.

"She knows something," I say. My voice cracks. "She knows something she should not know."

"What does she know?"

I shake my head. I cannot tell him. I cannot tell anyone.

"Rue." He stops in front of me. His hand reaches out. Gentle. He tilts my chin up so I have to look at him. His silver eyes search my face. "What is she to you? Do you know her?"

"No." The word is too fast. Too sharp. I see him hear it. "I have never seen her before. I swear it."

"You are lying."

"I am not—"

"You are." He does not let go of my chin. His thumb brushes across my cheek. Wipes away a tear I did not know was there. "You are a terrible liar, Rue. You always have been."

I freeze.

Always. He said always. As if he has known me for longer than three weeks. As if he has known me his whole life.

"Always," I repeat. My voice is barely a whisper. "What do you mean, always?"

His hand drops. He steps back. His face goes pale.

"I do not know," he says. "I do not know why I said that. I just—" He runs a hand through his hair. Frustrated. Confused. "I feel like I know you. Like I have known you for years. And I do not understand why."

I want to tell him. I want to say the words so badly they burn in my throat.

Because you do know me. Because I am Elara. Because I came back from the dead to hate you, and instead I am falling in love with you all over again.

But the law is a chain around my neck. One year and one day. If I say her name, I fade forever.

"Rue." He says my borrowed name like it is a prayer. "Whatever you are hiding—"

"I know." I step back. Away from his warmth. Away from the pull I cannot fight. "You will find it eventually. You said that already."

"I meant it."

"So did I."

I curtsy. I walk to the door. I do not turn around.

"Rue." His voice stops me at the threshold. "Stay close tonight. Do not wander."

"Why?" I ask. "What are you afraid of?"

His answer is quiet. Raw. Broken.

"Losing someone again."

---

I walk back to my room. The corridors blur past. I do not see the guards. I do not see the servants. I do not see anything except the cold green eyes of Seraphine Voss and the sound of her voice whispering in my ear.

I know who you are, little ghost.

She knows. Somehow, impossibly, she knows.

And she is not the only one.

I push open the door to my room. I stop.

Nyra is sitting on my cot. Her violet eyes are wide. Her hands are shaking.

"Rue," she says. "We need to talk."

I close the door. I lock it.

"What is wrong?"

She stands. She walks toward me. Her hand reaches out. Touches my cheek. Her eyes close.

Then she gasps. Her hand jerks back like she has been burned.

"Rue," she whispers. "I saw something. When I touched you. I saw—" She swallows. Her face is white as bone. "I saw water. I saw you drowning. I saw—" She stops. Her voice breaks. "I saw the Alpha watching you die."

I cannot breathe.

"Nyra—"

"Who are you?" She backs away. Her hands are pressed against her chest. "Who are you really?"

I should lie. I should tell her she is wrong. I should protect myself the way I have been protecting myself for weeks.

But she is the closest thing I have to a friend. And she just saw my death in her mind.

"I do not know," I say. And it is the truest thing I have spoken since I woke up in Rue's body. "I do not know who I am anymore."

Nyra stares at me. Her violet eyes fill with tears.

"I will help you," she says. "Whatever you are hiding. Whatever you are running from. I will help you."

"Why?" I ask.

She smiles. It is small and sad and brave.

"Because nobody helped you the first time," she says. "And I think that is why you came back."

She leaves. I stand in the middle of the room. Alone.

Seraphine knows. Nyra knows. Riven suspects. Kael is close behind.

How long until everyone knows the truth?

And what will happen to me when they do?