6_ASHES AND SECRETS

CHAPTER 6: ASHES AND SECRETS

We had to keep moving because this place we're staying isn't safe anymore.

I pressed harder against Elric's side, trying to ignore how much of his weight I was carrying. Blood soaked through his shirt where that packleader had torn his fang into him. The wound looked different, there were black veins spreading from the gash like roots under his skin.

"Keep moving," Elara hissed from ahead. She hadn't looked back once since we fled the clearing.

My legs burned. Every step sent pain through my ribs where I'd slammed into that tree. But Elric's breathing was getting worse so I swallowed the complaints in my throat.

"There." Elara pointed at a crumbling stone that is barely visible through the trees. "Old watchtower. We can rest there."

We half-dragged Elric up the moss-covered steps. Inside, the tower was hollow and dark, smelling of mildew and something long dead. Elara immediately started pulling supplies from her pack while I lowered Elric against the wall.

His eyes found mine. It was sharp, even through the pain. "I'm fine."

"You're bleeding black," I said flatly.

"It'll pass."

"You don't know that."

He tried to sit up but failed. The muscles in his jaw clenched. "I've survived worse."

"Stop lying." The words came out harsher than I meant. "That thing did something to you. This isn't normal."

Elara's hands stilled over her herbs. For a second the only sound was wind whistling through the broken roof.

"Let me work," she said quietly, moving between us.

I stepped back, watching her clean the wound with practiced efficiency. The black veins pulsed under her touch. She muttered something under her breath a curse or a prayer, I couldn't tell.

My hands wouldn't stop shaking.

I walked to the window, needing distance, needing air.

"This is her fault."

Elara's voice was low but it cut through the silence like a blade.

I froze.

"Elara." Elric's tone held a warning.

"No, I'm saying it. That pack came for her, Elric. They called her by name. They knew exactly who we had."

"They would've found us eventually."

"Would they?" Elara's voice rose. "We've been careful for years. Then she shows up and suddenly we're being hunted by cursed wolves with marks I've never seen before. You can't tell me that is a coincidence."

My nails dug into the windowsill.

"She didn't ask for any of this," Elric said.

"Neither did we. But here we are, bleeding out in a ruin because you couldn't just leave her in the Vale."

"She would've died."

"Maybe that would've been better."

The words hung in the air like poison.

I turned around slowly. Elara wouldn't look at me. She kept her hands busy with bandages, her shoulders tight.

"Say it to my face," I said.

Her hands stilled. "Mira…"

"You think I should be dead. So say it while I'm looking at you."

She finally met my eyes. Hers were wet but her expression was hard. "I think you're dangerous. I think whatever you are brings hell to our doorstep. And I think my best friend is dying because of it."

"That's enough," Elric growled.

"Is it? Look at yourself. That wound isn't healing. You know what that means."

"It means we need to figure out what they did. Not turn on each other."

Elara stood abruptly, bandages falling from her hands. "I'm going to check the perimeter."

She was gone before either of us could respond.

The silence she left behind felt heavier than her words.

I sank down against the opposite wall, as far from Elric as the small space allowed. My throat felt tight. She wasn't wrong those things had come for me. They'd known my name. And now Elric was…

"Don't."

I looked up. Elric was watching me with those two-sharp eyes.

"Don't what?"

"Spiral. I can see it happening."

"Your arm is turning black and you're telling me not to spiral?"

"I've had worse."

"Stop saying that." My voice cracked. "Stop acting like this is fine."

He leaned his head back against the stone. "What do you want me to say? That I'm scared? That I don't know what's happening? Would that help?"

"It'd be honest."

"Honesty." He laughed, but it sounded wrong. Bitter. "You want honesty, Mira? Fine. That thing in the clearing? I've seen its mark before."

My heart stopped. "What?"

"Three years ago, a different pack with the same symbol. They were hunting someone. We never found out who. By the time we got there, everyone was dead. They were burnt to ashes. Just like tonight."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I thought it was a coincidence. I wanted it to be a coincidence." He met my eyes. "I was wrong."

The implications crashed over me. "They've been hunting Moonborn for years."

"Looks that way."

"And you didn't think I should know?"

"I was trying to protect you."

"By lying?"

"By giving you time." His voice hardened. "You'd just woken up in a toxic wasteland after being exiled and framed for murder. Forgive me for not immediately telling you there's an organized group systematically hunting people like you."

I opened my mouth and I closed it. He had a point but it still felt like a betrayal.

"They're going to keep coming," I said quietly.

"Probably."

"And Elara's right. You're in danger because of me."

"Elara's scared. Fear makes people say things they don't mean."

"She meant it."

"Maybe." He shifted, wincing in pain. "It doesn't make her right."

I wanted to believe him. God, I wanted to believe him.

But the black veins spreading across his skin said otherwise.

The fire in the corner was small and struggling, suddenly it flared. I jerked back as heat washed over me. The flames twisted, reaching upward like fingers.

*Mira.*

I stopped breathing.

"Did you hear that?"

Elric's eyes narrowed. "Hear what?"

*Mira. Blood of ash and flame.*

The voice wasn't coming from outside. It was in my head. In the fire.

"The flames," I whispered. "They're—"

The world tilted.

I wasn't in the tower anymore.

I was somewhere else. Somewhere burning. Screams echoed through smoke-filled air. Steel clashing. Wolves snarling. And through it all, a woman's voice, hoarse and desperate…

"Hide her. Please. They can't know she survived…"

A baby crying.

"The mark is already forming. If they find out…"

"Then we make sure they never do. Bind it. Seal it. Whatever it takes."

"It'll hurt her."

"Better hurt than dead."

A hand glowing with silver light. The baby was screaming as something fundamental was ripped away and locked deep inside.

And behind it all, fire. Silver fire consuming everything.

"Mira!"

Elric's voice yanked me back. I was on my knees, gasping. The small fire had spread across the floor. My hands were burning but not burning. The flames danced around my fingers like they were greeting an old friend.

"What the hell…" Elric tried to stand, but failed.

I stared at my hands. At the fire that should hurt but didn't. "I saw something. When I was born. There was a war. They bound my power on purpose."

"Who did?"

"I don't know. Maybe my mother? Someone who wanted to hide what I was." I looked up at him. "Elric, what if they didn't just suppress my abilities? What if they unlocked something else? What if the binding breaking is what led those things to me?"

His expression shifted.

The fire died as quickly as it appeared, leaving only smoke and the smell of burnt stone.

I gasped, clutching my left forearm. It felt like someone was pressing a brand into my skin. I yanked up my sleeve.

A symbol was appearing. Not carved.

The same mark the Bloodfang leader wore before he turned to ash.

Elric saw it. I watched the color drain from his face.

"That's not possible," he said.

"What is it?"

"A hunter's mark." His voice was hollow. "It means you're bound to them somehow. Connected."

"I killed him. How am I connected to…"

"I don't know. But Mira…" He tried to stand again, and made it halfway. "That mark? It's a beacon. They can track you now. They'll always know where you are."