Chapter 59

Mara's POV

I met Helena Vane through a communication stone while Redwater workers scraped Old Martha's blood from the flags outside the ruined relay.

It was not the strangest meeting of my month. It was close.

Helena sat across from Ronan in Black Hollow's council room. Gideon stood by the wall, staring at his aunt like a childhood ghost had walked into breakfast.

"Why are you alive?" he asked.

Helena raised one eyebrow. "I made a determined effort."

"Father said you died in the eastern fever."

"Your father also said Alpha command was natural law. We may need to review his reliability."

Helena's humor faded. "Your mother was Livia Thorne. Severin fathered you while she was married to Alari