Chapter 107
Chapter 107
-Dorothy-
Plato’s words had me rooted to the spot, my mouth gaping open in shock. It couldn’t be true. It
shouldn’t be. Johan was dead. Ignatius and I had seen to that ourselves. I had watched the life fade
from my almost-lover’s eyes. I had wept for him despite the atrocities he had committed. Johan couldn’t
be alive. And yet, as Plato sat down on the steps of the hall, he insisted that he was.
Ignatius looked just as stricken as I felt. All of us were horribed at the idea. We stood in complete
silence, as if uttering a single word would shatter the peace the Bielke had worked so hard for
It was Angie who finally broke the silence. She pulled a bottle of water out of the van and handed it to
Plato. He gulped it down eagerly like he hadn’t had a drop in days
“I know you’re tired, Plato, Angie said slowly, her mouth set in agrim line, “but we need to hear the full
story. Now.”
Plato nodded, sighing in between gulps of water. It shoshed down his chin, carving clear lines in the dirt
down his neck. “I know. There’s no time. We have to act soon.”
We all stood by while Plato recounted the events in the forest
“I followed those guys to a huge clearing. There were dozens of shifters, from all over, not just the Khall
pack. And they were chanting. There were huge fires, and everyone was dressed in dark cloaks. It was
some real cult s hit I swear. And then there was this platform. And that’s where he stood.”
“Johan?” Fae asked quietly
I glanced at the young she-wolf. Both Angie and Far had almost died at the hands of Johan, hack when
he had stalked Bielke territory looking for me. Fue almost went over the edge of a cliff, and Angie’s
head was almost bitten clean off. If it wasn’t for Gideon and the other soldiers showing up, neither of
them would be alive right now, I couldn’t imagine Fae was very pleased to hear that Johan had been so
close to where they were camping. He had left a scar on everyone, physically and m entally. None of
us had truly recovered from the impact of what he had done.
Plato nodded. “It was him. I swear it. Only he didn’t look as monstrous as he did when he attacked the
Bielke. He looked like a regular person. He was dressed in long robes. I was watching from the back of
the crowd. But it was him. I’d recognize that man anywhere.”
Plato 100 had suffered at the hands of Johan Johan had killed Mavis, Plato’s true mate, and then he’d
sent Tally attackers after Plato, intending to finish the job. Plato’s entire life had been uprooted because
of Johan. I had no doubt that if Plato said it was him, he was speaking the truth. There was venom in
his voice, mixed with the horror that comes with seeing a dead man walking
“He was speaking to the crowd?” I shot my mate a fearful glance. With all of the stress Ignatius had ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .
been under, he couldn’t be taking the news very well.
Johan had once been Ignatius’s oldest friend. The two had been inseparable before I came into the
picture. Ignatius never blamed me for what had happened between the two of them, but I knew he still
hurt for his old friend. He still carried his own guilt about the part he played in driving Johan to do what
he did.
“He was preaching to the crowd. He went on and on about how the Bielke fooled everyone. He called
us a traitorous gang of thieves and criminals. And the crowd ate up every word. It seems like the Bielke
still have a few enemies. The hate was palatable. But that’s not all he spoke about.”
Plato poured the rest of the water over his head, closing his eyes and wiping away the dirt on his face,
“He spoke about a prophecy, some kind of confrontation between wolves and vampires.
“A prophecy” I eyed Ignatius who gazed back at me with a blank expression. “We know something of a
prophecy 100,”
It couldn’t have been a coincidence that Elliot’s vampire consort had pushed some kind of prophecy
onto him. And now again, someone was spewing stories about a prophecy. Something to do with both
vampires and werewolves. Something big.
G.
Plato wiped at his eyes before blinking up at us. “He said that from the conflict, a leader would emerge.
Someone to liberate all wolves. He said that shifters can’t go on living under the Bielker’s thumb, that
we needed to stand united against the vampire threat. And against you, Ignatius
1instinctively gripped Ignatius’s arm. Every fiber of my being was screaming to protect my own against
any threat, any for that dared lay a linger on my family.
“He said you would play a part in this prophecy. That you and the Bielke would bring about the downfall
of unloyal shifters. He said that after you fell, the loyal would prosper, under the ruling of the new king.
He wanted your head on a silver platter
Over my dead b*dy, Nob*dy would be coming near my mate if I had anything to say about it. Vampire,
shifter, or even the tooth fairy herself. I’d cut them all down if it meant keeping my family from harm
“I’m not sure what happened after that. Plato scratched at his head. There was a vacant look in his
eyes as he tried to remember. “It gets a little blurry from here. It was like some kind of spell had been
cast over the crowd. Everyone was in agreement with him, all riled up and ready to lay down their lives.
Even I could feel something strange stirring in my chest. But it was like we were in a trance, it was
almost impossible to think straight”
We all took step back from Plato, but the bedraggled shifter laughed and beckoned us back. “Don’t
worry, I was snapped. out of it pretty quickly after that. Johan told them that there was an imposter in
the crowd. My head was still full of cotton balls it was only when everyone looked at me that I realized I
was in danger. I hightailed it out of there as fast as I could, and Johan sent them after me.”
Plato med to keep a smile plastered across his face, but his hands shook as he recalled the escape. “It
wasn’t the first time I’ve been chased through the woods, but these guys were wild. They came after
me in wolf form, some only partially shifted and frozen that way in their excitement.”
I don’t know what they would have done if they’d caught me. On my way out I knocked over one of the
fire pillars. The logs set the forest alight, along with a few of my pursuers. I’m not sure what happened
to them, but the flames bought enough time to escape. I’ve been hurrying to get back here ever since.
A fock of birds rising from the nearby trees made us all jump out of our skins. Needle
to say, everyone was on e hearing that harrowing tale. Looking from the exhausted face of Plato, to the
tense expressions on Angie and Fae, n seemed in the best shape to be battling an old enemy, let alone
bloodsucking vampires.
We were all barely recovered from the last battle. And now, Johan was back, threatening our people all
over again.
I stepped closer to Ignatius, and tried again to take his hand. This time my mate was immovable. His
clenched fist wouldn’t budge an inch to let me in.