I threw myself at the Shadow Master, but my hands went right through him.
"You're not real," I gasped.
"Not yet," he said with a cold laugh. "But soon."
Then he vanished like smoke.
I turned around, looking for another way out of the secret room. My heart was beating so fast I thought it might explode.
"Aria!" Dorian's voice came from behind the door. "Are you okay?"
"Stay away from me!" I shouted back.
"I'm coming in whether you like it or not."
The door burst open and Dorian rushed inside. His green eyes found mine immediately.
"What happened? We heard you scream."
"Where are the others?" I asked, backing away from him.
"Looking for another way in. This place is like a puzzle." He took a step closer. "Talk to me. What's wrong?"
"Everything," I whispered. "Everything is wrong."
"Is this about what Vera said? About the spell on the bonding stones?"
I nodded, not trusting my voice.
"Look at me," Dorian said gently.
I met his eyes and saw something that made my chest tight. Pain, deep pain.
"Do you think I'm faking this?" he asked. "Do you think what I feel for you is just magic?"
"I don't know what to think anymore."
"Then let me show you something."
He rolled up his sleeve and I saw a scar on his wrist. It was fresh, maybe a day old.
"I did this yesterday," he said. "Before I knew about any spells or curses."
"Why?"
"Because I was scared I was going to lose you. The thought of you with someone else made me want to hurt myself." He looked down at the scar. "That's not magic talking. That's real."
"But Vera said..."
"Vera wants to turn you against us. Can't you see that?"
"Why would she do that?"
"Because she's working with the Shadow Master."
I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. "What?"
"Think about it," Dorian said. "She shows up right when you're most confused. She tells you things that make you angry and hurt. She feeds the hunger inside you."
"But she's my grandmother."
"Is she? Did you see any proof? Or did you just take her word for it?"
I thought about it. Vera did look like me, but that didn't mean anything. Magic could change how people looked.
"She knew things," I said. "About the Ruby Wolf history."
"Anyone could have learned that. The Syndicate has been studying your people for fifty years."
"Then you think she's lying about everything?"
"I think she's telling you just enough truth to make the lies believable."
Before I could answer, the room started to shake.
"What's happening?" I asked.
"I don't know, but we need to get out of here fast."
Dorian grabbed my hand, but I pulled away.
"Don't touch me. What if the bond really is fake? What if touching you makes it stronger?"
"Aria," he said softly. "Look at my eyes."
I looked, and what I saw there took my breath away. His green eyes were flickering. One moment they were the warm green eyes I knew, the next moment they were cold and silver.
"Dorian? What's wrong with your eyes?"
"That's what I've been trying to tell you," he said through gritted teeth. "Something is wrong with me."
"What do you mean?"
"The binding symbols Rowan Vale put on me when I was little. It's not just to control my temper."
"Then what is it for?"
"To keep something else locked inside me. Something that's been trying to get out since the bond ceremony."
The room shook again, harder this time.
"We really need to leave," Dorian said, but his voice sounded different. Colder.
"What's locked inside you?" I asked, even though I was scared to know.
"I think it's a piece of the Shadow Master himself."
My blood turned to ice. "What?"
"My grandfather made a deal with him, remember? What if part of that deal was letting the Shadow Master put a piece of himself in each generation of Blackwood heirs?"
"That's impossible."
"Is it? Think about how we've all been acting. Marcus working for the Syndicate. Tobias hiding things from you. And me..." He touched the scar on his eyebrow. "This isn't from an accident. It's from the binding symbol ceremony. Rowan Vale had to cut deep to place it."
"You're scaring me."
"I'm scaring myself." His eyes flickered silver again. "The symbol is breaking, Aria. Whatever's inside me is getting stronger."
"Then we'll find a way to fix it."
"What if there is no way? What if I hurt you?"
"You won't."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because even if the bond is fake, even if everything else is a lie, I know you. I've known you my whole life."
"Have you? Or have you only known the part of me that the rune allowed you to see?"
Before I could answer, the door slammed shut behind us.
"Dorian?" I called, but he didn't answer.
He was standing perfectly still, his back to me. When he turned around, his eyes were completely silver.
"Hello, little Ruby Wolf," he said, but it wasn't his voice anymore.
"Dorian, fight it!"
"Dorian can't hear you right now," the thing wearing his face said. "He's locked away where he can't fight this."
"What do you want?"
"What I've always wanted. To finish what my grandfather started." He smiled, and it was nothing like Dorian's real smile. "To destroy the Ruby Wolf bloodline once and for all."
"The Shadow Master."
"Very good. Though I prefer to think of myself as justice. Your people killed thousands of innocents."
"That's not true!"
"Isn't it? Ask your precious Vera. Oh wait, you can't. She's dead."
"What?"
"I killed her five minutes ago. Right after she served her purpose."
"You're lying."
"Am I? Then why can you smell her blood on my hands?"
I sniffed the air and my heart broke. He was right. I could smell blood. Fresh blood.
"She wasn't really my grandmother, was she?"
"Oh, she was. I just didn't let that stop me from using her." He laughed. "The old woman actually thought she could control me. Thought she could use me to get revenge on the pack that destroyed her family."
"So everything she told me was true? About the Blackwood family betraying the Ruby Wolves?"
"Every word. Victor Blackwood was a useful fool, just like his son Raphael. Just like his grandsons."
"Including Dorian."
"Especially Dorian. He's been my favorite tool for years."
"But the binding symbol..."
"Was my idea. I needed a way to control him without him knowing. Rowan Vale thought he was protecting the boy, but he was actually making him easier for me to use."
I felt sick. "How long have you been controlling him?"
"Since he was five years old. Every major decision he's made, every time he's protected you, every word of love he's spoken, all me."
"No."
"Yes. And now it's time to finish the job." His hand started to glow with dark energy. "Time to kill the last Ruby Wolf Queen."
"Wait," I said desperately. "If you kill me, you'll kill Dorian too."
"I know." His smile got wider. "That's the best part."
The dark energy shot toward me, but at the last second, something changed in his silver eyes.
"Aria, run!" Dorian's real voice broke through.
The energy missed me by inches, hitting the wall behind me.
"RUN!" he screamed again, and I could see him fighting for control.
I ran to the door, but it wouldn't open.
"The Shadow Master has control of this place," Dorian gasped, still fighting. "You have to use your Ruby Wolf power to break free."
"I don't know how!"
"Yes, you do. Stop being afraid of what you are."
His eyes went silver again, and he raised his hand.
"Too late," the Shadow Master said through him.
This time the dark energy hit me on the chest.
But instead of hurting me, it woke something up.
Something golden, bright and ancient.
My eyes blazed with golden light, and power flowed through me like liquid fire.
"Impossible," the Shadow Master whispered.
"I'm not just a Ruby Wolf," I said, my voice echoing with power. "I'm the Golden Wolf. The first of my kind."
"But you're not ready. You don't know how to control it."
"Then I guess we'll find out together."
I reached for Dorian, and golden light poured out of me.
But just as my power touched him, the room exploded.
When the dust settled, we were somewhere else entirely.
And we weren't alone.
Standing around us in a circle were dozens of wolves with glowing eyes.
Red eyes. Like mine used to be.
"Welcome home, sister," one of them said.
"Welcome to the Ruby Wolf army."