Selene woke with a gasp, her heart beating against her ribs like a trapped bird.
The moon's silver glow spilled through the window of her room in Kael's fortress. Her nightgown stuck to her skin, damp with sweat.
The dream felt too real. Too familiar. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, pressing her hands against her eyes. The boy's face wouldn't fade from her mindauburn hair catching sunlight, green eyes that crinkled when he smiled, a small scar above his eyebrow.
"Who are you?" she whispered to the empty room. Three nights in a row she'd dreamed of him. They were children, running through tall grass, their laughing carried by the wind. In the dream, she called him a name she couldn't remember upon waking.
Selene padded to the window, looking out at the dark forest beyond Crimson Hold. Something tugged at her memorya feeling of safety, of belonging. But it slipped away like water through fingers. A knock at her door made her jump.
"Come in," she called, pulling her robe closer. Kael stood in the doorway, his strong frame blocking the light from the hall. His storm-gray eyes searched her face.
"I felt your distress," he said softly. Since their partial bond had begun forming, they'd started feeling each other's strongest emotions.
"Another bad dream?" Selene nodded, moving back to sit at the edge of her bed. "Not bad exactly. Just... strange. I keep seeing a boy I can't remember." Kael's jaw clenched. He crossed the room and knelt before her, taking her hands in his. The touch sent warmth running up her arms.
"Your past is trying to find you," he said. "The Ruby Wolf blood is awakening more memories." "But who is he? Why do I feel like I've lost something important?" Kael's eyes darkened. "The Syndicate has ways of stealing memories. If this boy was important to you..."
"They might have taken him from my mind," Selene finished. A chill ran down her spine. Kael squeezed her hands gently. "Get some rest. Tomorrow, we visit the High Oracle. She might have answers."
After he left, Selene lay awake for hours, trying to catch the name that danced just beyond her reach. Fifty miles away, in the shadow-filled offices of the Syndicate, Lysander Vale knelt before Mistress Vex, his handler for the past fifteen years.
The chamber smelled of incense and bloodan odd mix that always made his stomach turn. "You've proven your loyalty time and again, my shadow," Vex said, circling him like a predator. Her silver hair caught the torchlight.
"Now comes your greatest test." Lysander kept his eyes on the stone floor. "I'm ready, Mistress." Vex stopped in front of him, lifting his chin with one long finger. Her nail dug into his skin. "The Ruby Wolf has resurfaced," she said, her voice honey-sweet but her eyes cold as ice.
"The last of her kind, hiding with the Shadowfang Pack in Crimson Hold." Lysander's heart skipped. "I thought they were extinct."
"So did we all," Vex smiled, showing teeth filed to points. "But one survived. A girl named Selene Arden." Something stirred in Lysander's mind at the name. A flash of red-black hair. Silver eyes flecked with ruby.
Laughter. His head suddenly throbbed with pain. He winced, pressing his hand against his temple. "Is something wrong?" Vex's voice sharpened.
"No, Mistress. Just tired from my last trip." She studied him for a moment before continuing. "This girl is powerful beyond measure. Her blood can break curses, form unbreakable bonds, even change the fate of kingdoms." Vex pulled a small vial from her robes and pressed it into Lysander's hand.
"And you, my shadow, will kill her." Lysander looked at the vial. The liquid inside glowed slightly red.
"What is this?" "Blood from the Alpha's latest victim. It will mask your smell and get you past the pack's defenses." She closed his fingers around it. "Find the girl. Kill her. Bring her heart to me." Lysander nodded, even as another wave of pain crashed through his brain. "And if there are... complications?" Vex's eyes narrowed.
"There won't be if you remember your lessons. Do not pause. Do not show pity." She leaned closer, her breath hot against his ear. "And remember what happens to those who fail the Syndicate." The marks on Lysander's back seemed to burn at her words.
"When do I leave?" he asked. "Tonight. Our sources say the Alpha plans to take her to the High Oracle tomorrow. Intercept them in the Whispering Woods." Lysander stood, putting the vial into his belt. As he turned to leave, Vex caught his arm.
"One more thing," she said, her nails digging into his skin. "Lady Ravena wants proof of the kill. Bring the girl's eyes as well. They carry the mark of her bloodline." Lysander felt sick but kept his face blank.
"As you wish." Later, in his sparse rooms, Lysander packed his weaponsdaggers laced with wolfsbane, a crossbow with silver-tipped bolts, and the special blade meant for heart-extraction. His hands moved automatically while his mind raced. Why did the name Selene Arden make his head hurt?
Why did he feel a strange reluctance about this mission? He pulled out the sketch Vex had given hima girl with long crimson-black hair and frightening silver eyes. Something about her face made his chest ache. As he strapped on his gear, another memory flasheda small hand in his, a promise whispered under moonlight.
"We'll always find each other, no matter what." The voice sounded so real that Lysander spun around, half-expecting to see someone behind him. The room was empty. He shook his head, frustrated.
Focus was everything in his line of work. Distractions got you killed. Dawn was still hours away when he slipped out of the Syndicate's property. The Whispering Woods were a day's ride at full speed. If he pushed hard, he could be in position by nightfall tomorrow.
As he mounted his black horse, Lysander touched the hilt of his extraction blade. For the first time in his career, he hoped his target wouldn't be where intelligence said she would be.
But deep down, a part of him he didn't understand longed to see those silver eyes in person. In her room at Crimson Hold, Selene jolted awake again, this time with a name on her lips.
"Lysander," she whispered into the darkness.
The name felt like a key spinning in a rusty lock. Memories stirredplaying hide-and-seek in the forest, sharing stolen sweet cakes, holding hands as they watched the stars come out.
Selene pressed a hand to her heart, which ached with sudden loss. Who was this boy from her past? And why did thinking of him fill her with both joy and dread?
Beyond her window, the moon vanished behind clouds, casting the world into shadowjust as an assassin rode toward her, carrying both her death and her forgotten past in his hands.