Chapter 303

[ 1,715 words ]

~Samantha~

The vault door groaned open and I had to blink at what was inside.

Not treasure. Just shelves. Rusted metal shelves holding dusty boxes and crates that looked like they’d been sitting here since before I was born.

“All that for storage boxes?” I couldn’t keep the disappointment out of my voice.

“Don’t judge things by their containers.” Lila pushed past me, already scanning the shelves with focused intensity. “What matters is what they’re hiding.”

She grabbed a wooden crate from the middle shelf, yanked it down harder than necessary. The lid came off with a crack that made Devon jump.

Inside, nestled in rotting cloth, were knives. Lots of them. Each one had a blade that caught our flashlight beams weird like the metal absorbed light instead of reflecting it.

“Shadow killers.” Lila pulled one out, turned it over in her hands. “Only weapons that work on fully corrupted wolves. Regular silver just slows them down. These end them.”

“How?” Devon had edged closer despite his earlier fear.

“The blades are forged with purified shadow magic. Fight fire with fire, basically.” Lila put the knife back. “We’ve got maybe fifty of these scattered through the crates. Not enough for a war, but enough to do damage.”

“Is that why we risked our lives coming here? For knives?”

“We came for these.” Lila had moved to another shelf. This one held scrolls. Lots of them. Each tied with cord and sealed with wax that bore the Silver Claw mark.

She selected one without hesitation, like she knew exactly which one she needed. Broke the seal. Unrolled the parchment.

Started reading.

Then stopped. Went completely still.

“What?” I moved beside her, trying to see what had frozen her.

“It’s a record. From before the massacre.” Lila’s hands were shaking slightly where they held the edges. “The clan leader wrote down everything. Who was involved. Who knew what. Who made deals with who.”

“Deals with Black Moon?”

“Deals with everyone who wanted royal power.” Her eyes kept moving across the text but her voice had gone odd. “Including people we thought were on our side.”

“What people?”

Lila turned the scroll so I could see. Pointed at a name written in faded ink.

I read it. Read it again. My stomach dropped.

“No. That can’t be right.”

“It’s right. The clan leader documented everything. Dates. Meetings. Payments.” Lila’s finger traced down the page. “Black Moon didn’t work alone. He had help from someone close to the royal family. Someone who wanted access to your mother’s power.”

“Who?” But I already knew. The name was right there in front of me.

“Olivia’s father.” Lila said it out loud. “He was collaborating with Black Moon years before any of us knew. Helping him plan how to steal royal power. How to corrupt the bloodline.”

The scroll was ripped from her hands.

I spun around. Dominic stood in the doorway, blood streaking his face and chest, the scroll now gripped in his fist.

“Where did you get this?”

“It was here. In the vault. Silver Claw records.” Lila started.

“Silver Claw records that conveniently show up right when we need proof against Olivia’s family?” Dominic’s eyes were hard. “How convenient.”

“I didn’t write it! The clan leader did!”

“A clan leader who’s been dead for ten years. Very convenient witness.” Dominic scanned the scroll, his expression darkening with each line. “This could be forged. Could be planted here for us to find.”

“Why would I forge evidence against Olivia’s father?!” Lila’s voice rose. “What would be the point?”

“To turn us against each other. To make us doubt our allies.”

“To tell you the truth!” Lila cut him off. “Your precious alliance? Built on lies. Olivia’s father was working with Black Moon from the beginning. Probably why Olivia turned out the way she did. She learned from the best traitor.”

“Watch your mouth.” Dominic took a step forward.

“Or what? You’ll kill me like you wanted to from the start?” Lila stood her ground. “I brought you here to help! To show you what Silver Claw died protecting! And you’re accusing me of lying?”

“You’ve given me no reason to trust you!”

“I’ve given you everything! Information, access to weapons, proof of who really betrayed your families!” Lila’s hands were shaking with rage. “But you’re so paranoid you can’t see help when it’s standing right in front of you!”

“Dominic.” I put my hand on his arm. “Maybe she’s telling the truth.”

He turned to look at me. “You’re defending her?”

“I’m saying we should look at the evidence before dismissing it.”

“The evidence could be fake.”

“Or it could be real. And if it’s real, we need to know.” I reached for the scroll. “Let me see it.”

Dominic pulled it away. “No.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said no. You’re not reading this. You’re not letting her poison your mind with potential lies about allies we might still need.”

My voice bounced off the vault walls. “Give me the scroll!”

“I am not going to go back and forth with you on this one. It is better you don’t have it!”

“Do you always have the urge to control everything? This is why I wanted to come alone with her in the first place!” I grabbed for the scroll but he held it over his head, out of reach.

“Sam, you can’t make me look like the bad guy.”

“Not when you keep acting suspicious. Like why would you get upset because of Olivia and her father? Do you still have a thing for her?!” I was screaming at the top of my lungs “Listen to me, whether you like it or not, I’m going to get that scroll and read it because I’m here for my mother, not your lover.”

“She’s getting into your head. She knew this scroll would cause a fight between us, that’s why she is doing this. We don’t even know much about her but somehow, you believe her blindly.”

“As much as I would love to play detective with you, I do not have the time so hand it over!”

“Or what? You are going to end our marriage?”

“If my husband keeps supporting the enemy, yes!”

“I can’t believe this”

“Me neither! Because once again, Olivia has won.”

“No, don’t bring her into this. This is between both of us!”

“You started this!” I was up in his face now. “You don’t trust Lila. You don’t trust Killian. You barely trust me but somehow, you trust Olivia and her father! At what point does it end?”

“When people stop trying to kill us!” Dominic shot back. “When we stop finding evidence of betrayal everywhere we turn! When I can go one day without someone trying to murder my family!”

“That’s not going to happen! There’s always going to be danger! But we can’t function if you suspect everyone!”

“I suspect people who give me reasons to suspect them!”

“Lila saved our lives multiple times!”

“Or she’s playing a long game we don’t see yet!”

“Mom? Dad?” Devon’s small voice rang through our argument. “Can you stop yelling? You promised not to fight.”

“We found something. While you were fighting.”

He held up a small silver box. “Where did you get that?” I moved toward them, anger draining away.

“It was on the bottom shelf. Hidden behind some other boxes.” Devon held it out. “It has Grandma’s name on it.”

I took the box carefully. Turned it over. There, engraved on the bottom in elegant script.

My mother’s name.

My hands shook as I opened the clasp.

Inside, nestled on faded velvet, was a lock of hair. Silver-blonde. Tied with a thin ribbon.

My mother’s hair.

“Why would this be here?” I couldn’t take my eyes off it. “Why would Silver Claw have this?”

“Sometimes clan members keep pieces of people they swear to protect.” Lila had moved closer, her voice gentle now. “In case something happens. So there’s something left to remember them by.”

“This isn’t remembrance.” I lifted the lock of hair carefully. It was longer than I expected. “This is…”

The hair started glowing.

Soft at first. Then brighter. Silver light that made my eyes water.

“Mom!” Diana grabbed my arm. “What’s happening?”

“I don’t know.”

The light spread. Filled the vault. And in the middle of the light, an image formed.

My mother.

Younger than I remembered. Maybe in her twenties. Standing in what looked like this exact vault.

“If you’re seeing this, I’m dead.” Her voice echoed weird, like it was coming from far away and right next to me at the same time. “And you’ve found what I left behind.”

I stared at the image of my mother talking to me from beyond the grave.

“The hair holds a message. A warning.” She looked directly at me. At least it felt like she was looking at me. “Trust the Silver Claw. They died protecting these secrets. They died protecting you. And Sam? I’m sorry. Sorry I couldn’t protect you myself. Sorry for all of this. But you’re stronger than me. You can finish what I started. You can..”

The light cut out. The image disappeared.

The hair in my hand turned to ash.

I stood there holding nothing but dust and a empty silver box.

“Mom?” Diana’s voice was tiny. “Was that really Grandma?”

“Yeah.” My throat was so tight I could barely get the word out. “That was her.”

“She said to trust Silver Claw.” Devon looked at Lila. “That means we trust her, right?”

“Mom!” Diana called from behind us. “What about the relics?”

I stopped. Turned back. “Lila, can you carry what we need?”

“I’ll take the shadow killers and the most important scrolls. Come back for the rest later.” Lila was already loading weapons into a bag. “But we need to move fast. Killian could wake up any minute and if the curse is still in control.”

A roar echoed from the main chamber.

“He’s awake.” Dominic shifted immediately. “Everyone behind me. Now.”

We ran.

Out of the vault, through the chamber, toward the tunnel exit.

Behind us, something massive crashed through the darkness.

Hunting us.

And I clutched the empty silver box in my hand, my mother’s warning replaying in my head.

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