Chapter 5 The Sister's Truth

Day four began with violence.

My body convulsed, my bones were trying to reshape themselves. I bit through my lip to keep from screaming. The wolfsbane was fighting Celeste's DNA, and I was the battlefield.

"ARTEMIS," I gasped. "How many housekeepers made it this far?"

"Three."

"What happened to them?"

"They begged for death."

That was comforting.

I dragged myself to the bathroom. The mirror showed more gold than brown in my hair now. My face was changing too; my cheekbones were higher, my nose was slightly different. I was becoming beautiful in a way that wasn't mine.

I heard a knock on my door. "Sierra? Open up."

It was Donovan. I could smell him through the door. How could I smell through a door?

"I'm fine."

"You're lying. I can hear your heartbeat."

The door opened anyway. He stood there with a breakfast tray and eyes full of concern that might have been genuine.

"You're fighting it," he said. "That's why you're in pain."

"Good."

He set the tray down and sat on my bed. He was too close. Everything about him was too much; his scent was like pine and rain, his presence filled the room, the way my body wanted to lean toward him.

No. Celeste's body wanted that. Not mine.

"Tell me about Sarah Martinez," I said.

His face darkened. "Why?"

"She was my ancestor. I deserve to know."

He was quiet for so long I thought he wouldn't answer. Then: "Sarah was Celeste's younger sister. She was sweet and artistic, and always in Celeste's shadow. She fell in love with a human man named James Martinez."

Martinez. My family name came from a witch hunter.

"James pretended to love her. He used her to get information about our sanctuary. Sarah thought she was bringing peace between our kinds." He laughed bitterly. "She brought death instead."

"What happened to her?"

"After Celeste died, Sarah realized what she'd done. The guilt drove her mad. She spent the rest of her life trying to find a way to bring Celeste back." He looked at me intently. "She wrote journals. Hundreds of them. They are hidden in her descendant's bloodline, waiting."

"You found them."

"Ten years ago. They led me to you." He touched my hand. His skin was fever-hot. "Sarah's final entry said her bloodline would carry the key to resurrection. She was right."

I pulled my hand away. "Celeste wouldn't want this."

"How do you know what she wanted?"

But I did know. The dreams were getting stronger and more detailed. I knew she loved lavender in her tea. That she sang while she worked. That she was tired of the war between species.

That she was pregnant when she died.

The knowledge hit me like a punch. I gasped, doubling over.

"What is it?" Donovan grabbed me.

"She was pregnant."

All color drained from his face. "What?"

"Celeste. She was pregnant. She hadn't told you yet. She was waiting for the right moment."

"No." He stood, pacing. "No, that's impossible. I would have known. I would have sensed…"

"She used magic to hide it. She was afraid. The baby was…" I stopped, but the knowledge came anyway. "The baby was Marcus's."

The silence was deafening.

Then Donovan roared. He actually roared. The windows shattered. He transformed mid-leap into a massive black wolf crashing through my door and running toward the forest.

He was running toward Marcus.

"No!" I ran after him, barefoot, still in my pajamas. My body moved faster than it should, jumping over fallen logs, dodging trees. I was changing and becoming something more than human.

I found them in a clearing. Two wolves circling each other. Donovan twice Marcus's size, fur bristling with rage.

"You knew!" Donovan snarled. "You knew she was carrying your child!"

Marcus transformed back to human. Whether brave or stupid, I couldn't tell.

"I didn't know. She never told me." His voice broke. "If I had known..."

"Liar!"

Donovan lunged. Marcus dodged, but barely. Claws raked across his chest, drawing blood.

"Stop!" I ran between them.

That was a bad idea. Donovan's claw caught my shoulder, spinning me to the ground. Pain exploded through me.

But then something else happened. The wound healed. In seconds, skin knitted back together, leaving only blood.

Both men stared.

"The transformation is almost complete," Marcus whispered.

Donovan shifted to human form. "Sierra…"

"Don't…" I stood, anger burning through me. But whose anger? Mine or Celeste's? "She loved you both in different ways. And you're dishonoring her memory with this violence."

"She was mine," Donovan said.

"She belonged to no one." The words came from somewhere deep inside. "She chose you, Donovan. Despite carrying Marcus's child, she chose you. She was going to tell you after the wedding and raise the child as yours."

Marcus made a sound like breaking.

"But Sarah found out," I continued, the knowledge flowing like water. "Sarah saw Celeste with Marcus. She saw them say goodbye. She thought Celeste was betraying you, Donovan. That's why she went to James to save you from heartbreak."

"No," Donovan said. "Sarah was jealous and evil."

"Sarah was seventeen and in love and stupid." Tears ran down my face. Definitely my tears this time. "She made a terrible mistake. But she spent the rest of her life trying to fix it."

I pulled out my phone, showing them a photo I'd found while researching my family tree. "This is Sarah at forty. Look at her."

The woman in the photo was gaunt, hollow-eyed, standing next to a shrine covered in pictures of Celeste.

"She never forgave herself," I said. "And neither did her children. My grandmother told me our family was cursed. That we carried the weight of an ancient sin. Now I know what she meant."

Donovan stared at the photo. Some of his rage seemed to drain away.

"It doesn't matter," he said finally. "What's done is done. Celeste will live again."

"In my body. Killing me in the process."

"You won't die. You'll become something greater."

"I'll become nothing. Is that what Celeste would want?"

He couldn't answer.

Marcus stepped forward. "There's something else. Something I discovered in the old texts." He looked at me. "The curse of rebirth  can be broken."

"How?" Donovan and I asked together.

"The host has to accept the transformation willingly completely. There must be no resistance, no fear, no wolfsbane." He met my eyes. "You have to choose to become Celeste."

"Then I would definitely die."

"Maybe. Or maybe, if the texts are right, two souls can coexist if one invites the other in." He paused. "But it's never been successfully done."

"Because no one would willingly give up their identity," I said.

"No. Because the few who tried went insane. Two full souls in one body... the human mind can't handle it."

Donovan grabbed Marcus by the throat. "You're trying to trick her and kill them both."

"I'm trying to save them both." Marcus didn't fight back. "Think, Donovan. Do you really want Celeste back if it means she's a murderer? If she has to live knowing she killed an innocent to return?"

Donovan's grip loosened.

"The new moon is in ten days," Marcus continued. "If Sierra chooses to accept Celeste willingly before then, they might both survive. If she keeps fighting, they'll both die."

"Or I could just let the transformation complete naturally," Donovan said.

"And have a Celeste who hates you for what you've done."

That hit home. Donovan released Marcus, looking lost.

I stood between these two ancient beings, both in love with a ghost, and made a decision that probably meant my death.

"I'll do it."

Both men turned to stare.

"I'll accept her willingly. But on one condition." I looked at Donovan. "Release the twelve in the basement. Let them die properly. With dignity."

"I can't. They're all that's left of…"

"They're victims. If Celeste returns and sees them, what do you think she'll do?" I stepped closer. "She'll hate you forever."

He closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were wet.

"Three days," he said. "Give me three days to prepare. Then we'll release them. And you'll accept the transformation."

"Deal."

Marcus grabbed my arm. "Sierra, you don't have to…"

"Yes, I do." I looked at him. "I'm the descendant of the woman who killed her. Maybe this is how the curse breaks. Maybe this is how my family finds redemption."

Or maybe this was how I died.

But looking at the golden strands in my hair, at my purple-tinged eyes in Marcus's pupils, I knew I was already dying anyway.

At least this way, I might save twelve other women in the process.

That night, I threw away the wolfsbane. The dreams crashed over me like a tide.

But this time, I didn't fight them.

I let Celeste in.