“Mabel?” My voice rings out in the empty mansion, but nobody answers. In fact, there doesn’t seem to be anyone home at all. The marble floors are impeccably clean, the light from the crystal chandelier reflecting off the polished tiles. This…this is the kind of place that Mabel and I could only ever dream of.
Suddenly, a scream rips through the air, making me jump as my hair stands on end.
When I turn, trying to discern where the scream is coming from, I find her.
Mabel.
But…she’s covered in blood. I realize, now, that everything is. Red paints the tiles that were spotless only a moment ago. The oozing liquid pours down the walls, and my sister?
Her white-blonde hair is matted to her skull, a once-white night-dress clinging to her skin as rivulets of red run down her body.
“Mabel,” I gasp, rushing to her. “What happened? Are you okay? What—”
“Why didn’t you protect me from them, Jo?” she asks in a small, terrified voice, her eyes fixed on the floor.
My blood runs cold as my stomach drops. “I’m so sorry. I tried to find you—”
Her head snaps up, and bloodshot blue eyes pierce me. Her mouth opens in a bloody smile. “You were too late. And now, they’re all dead.”
She points behind me, and when I turn, I see them. Five bloodied bodies, laying broken under the crystal chandelier.
“You didn’t do this.” My voice is shaky. There’s no way she could have done this. Mabel…Mabel is all that is good and sweet in the world. I got my hands dirty so she wouldn’t have to.
“I was tired of waitin’ around for you to save me, Jo,” she snarls, stepping around me to come next to the bodies of the alphas. She kneels down next to one of them, running a hand over a slack expression. “For two years, I waited. Two years bein’ beaten, raped, and drugged. I waited, and waited, and waited. I couldn’t wait for you anymore.”
As I stare at the woman who looks exactly like Mabel, I watch with horror as her features change into a woman I don’t recognize.
Wait.
I do recognize her…because it’s me.
“You were too late, Jo. Now I’m just like you.”
My heart beats rapidly as I lurch into consciousness, but everything is still…hazy, and my eyes refuse to open. I must be more tired than I thought.
A dream. It was just a dream. I’ve never been to the house that Mabel’s pack was slaughtered in, and I haven’t laid eyes on her since Daddy sold her off five years ago.
The image of the five alphas dead under the chandelier is just my subconscious recollection of the crime scene photos Declan uncovered. Mabel hasn’t turned into me.
There’s no way.
My lids are too heavy, and it’s only when I try to roll over in bed, and realize Ican’t,that it all comes back to me.
The fights. Killing Banesworth. Hiding the body with Kole, Hayden, West, and Sam.
Getting pulled into Brooks’ office and being told I’m being sent to…
My eyes fly open at the thought, my pulse roaring in my ears. Bright lights assault me, and my breathing is labored as my gaze darts around the room.
The cold, yellow-tinged, creepy-as-fuck hospice room.
The Cathedral.
My chest heaves as my heart pounds in my ears. Maybe they haven’t given me any medication yet. Maybe they were stupid and left me unattended. I have to get out of here. I have to—
I go to move my hands, but my wrists snag on the all-too-familiar sharp edge of metal handcuffs.
Fuck.
