Lucien come home

The stranger's next words shattered something Lucien didn't even know he had lost.

Lucien stared hard at the hooded figure in the flickering torchlight of the underground temple. His chains rattled as he shifted forward. "Sister? I do not have a sister. You are lying to confuse me."

The figure laughed softly the sound echoing off the damp stone walls. "That is what they wanted you to believe Lucien. They took so much from you and made sure you forgot."

Lucien felt anger rise hot in his chest. "Who are you really? Show yourself and stop these games. I have had enough shadows and half truths."

Before the figure could answer the prisoner in the neighboring cell spoke up voice weak but steady. "Stop playing games with him. He has suffered enough already."

Lucien turned his head and finally got a clear look at the other survivor. A young man around his age sat slumped against the bars. Scarred face thin frame but eyes that still burned with life.

The young man managed a small smile. "My name is Cai. We were experimented on together back then. Side by side in those cold rooms."

Lucien shook his head confusion mixing with the growing headache. "I do not remember you. I would remember another survivor. Mara said I was the only one."

Cai smiled bitterly leaning closer to the bars. "You always protected the smaller kids even after they hurt you the most. You took extra beatings so we could rest. That was you Lucien. Always."

Lucien pressed a hand to his temple as faint headaches started. Fragments flashed through his mind. Distant screams. Heavy chains. Children crying in the dark. But nothing clear nothing solid.

In the forest above Riven's group tracked the strange six clawed prints through the snow. The bond grew stronger with every step pulling at Riven like a rope tied to his ribs. Suddenly he doubled over gripping a tree for support.

Thorne rushed to his side. "Riven what is it? Talk to me."

Riven gasped eyes squeezed shut. "I see his face. Not a vision. Not a dream. Lucien is crying. He is hurt bad."

Thorne grabbed his arm steadying him. "Can you see where he is? Anything at all?"

"No but I can feel him," Riven said voice cracking with panic. "The pain the fear. It is all flooding through."

Mara rode behind them quietly watching the exchange. Concern filled her eyes. Again she whispered to herself. "Too fast."

Both men briefly fell unconscious from the strain as the rescue team paused. Inside a shared dream they stood beneath a moonlit lake the water glowing silver and calm. Neither understood where they were or how they got there.

Lucien saw Riven and immediately relaxed his shoulders dropping for the first time in hours. Riven approached slow and careful. "Are you hurt? Tell me the truth."

"I do not know," Lucien answered voice soft. "Everything aches but you being here helps somehow."

"I am coming for you," Riven said stepping closer. "Just hold on a little longer."

Lucien laughed softly the sound tired but real. "You sound ridiculous chasing after your prisoner like this."

"You like ridiculous," Riven replied with a faint smirk. They stood closer than ever eyes locked and breaths mixing in the dream air.

Before either could say anything more the lake turned black and something beneath the water opened its eyes huge and hungry. Both men woke in terror gasping for air back in the real world.

The hooded woman finally removed her hood though she kept a mask over the lower half of her face. Lucien still could not see her clearly in the dim light. "I call myself the Veiled Mother," she said. "I did not bring you here to hurt you Lucien. I brought you here because someone else is looking for you. Someone far more dangerous."

Lucien demanded answers straining against his chains. "Who? Tell me what is going on. Why all these secrets?"

She shook her head. "Not yet. The time is not right. You must trust me a little longer."

Back in the forest Riven became reckless pushing the horses and men harder than they could handle. Thorne finally snapped after Riven ignored another warning about the terrain. "Think like an Alpha Riven. Not like a lovesick fool."

Silence fell heavy over the group. Riven turned slowly eyes dangerous. "Careful Thorne. Watch your words."

"No you be careful," Thorne shot back stepping up. "You are forgetting yourself. This is bigger than one man even if he is your mate."

The two nearly came to blows fists clenched and voices rising. Mara stopped them with a sharp command. "Enough. Save your anger for what waits underground."

Cai secretly whispered to Lucien through the bars when the Veiled Mother stepped away. "Do not trust her. She lies about everything."

Lucien leaned closer. "Who is she really Cai? Tell me what you know."

Cai looked terrified eyes darting to the shadows. "She used to work with the people who made us. The ones with the needles and the chants. She was part of it."

Lucien froze the words hitting like ice water.

Riven's group finally discovered the ruins hidden deep in the woods. The underground entrance stood already open like an invitation. Several bodies lay outside the opening. Not killed by blades or claws. Drained pale and empty exactly like the heir had been.

Inside the temple the Veiled Mother suddenly dropped to one knee breathing hard. Lucien caught her before she hit the ground. Black veins spread fast across her neck the same corruption they had seen before.

She grabbed Lucien's shirt fear filling her voice for the first time. "Listen carefully. It is awake. And it knows your name."

Before Lucien could speak every torch inside the temple went out at once. Darkness swallowed the room completely. A voice whispered from somewhere deep below smooth and ancient. "Lucien. Come home."

In the total darkness a pair of glowing silver eyes opened slowly. And Lucien realized whatever waited down there had been waiting for him all along.