Alpha Xander's Undoing Chasing my Unknown Mate Back novel Chapter 42

Chapter 42

*Rory*

…

We didn’t run–not at first.

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The sound of the key turning in the lock was soft, almost hesitant. But that was all it took. My body froze, heart slamming against my ribs like it wanted to shatter through bone. Matt’s eyes locked with mine, wide and urgent.

“Wait, just a bit longer,” he hissed.

I clutched Eden’s journal tight against my chest, the leather warm from my hands, from her words. The scent of dust and cedar filled the small space we shared, and Matt’s shoulder brushed mine as he leaned forward, straining to hear.

We waited.

Thirty more seconds. A minute. Maybe more. It felt like forever before Matt slowly pushed the closet door

open.

The room was empty again. No sign of the intruder. But Lilith had definitely been there.

He exhaled, barely above a whisper. “That was too close.”

I nodded, pulse still racing. “We need to hide this.” I held up the journal.

I avoided the fact that he didn’t mention that his sister was here. Maybe he never saw her due to our angle. But I decided to drop it for now.

Matt looked around, then motioned to the false bottom in the drawer we’d found earlier. “In there. No one would think to check it again for something new.”

We tucked the journal beneath the false panel and slid the drawer shut. It clicked into place like nothing had ever disturbed it.

We didn’t talk as we left the room. We didn’t have to. The weight of what we’d seen–what Eden had written- was enough.

The hallway outside was empty, Still.

Too still.

Matt gave my hand a squeeze before veering off toward the eastern wing. I went the opposite way, hugging the shadows. But my mind was a hurricane. The sketches in Eden’s journal. The symbols. The word Chaos. The scattered, broken entries that made less sense the longer I thought about them.

Eden had known something. She’d been followed. She’d felt her mind slipping, noticed changes.

And she’d been terrified.

I needed more.

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Chapter 42

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The next day, I made up my mind to go to the only other person who knew Eden more than Xander, because it was just far too weird to ask him anything about my dead sister who was also his ex.

So, the only other option was Lilith.

I didn’t trust Lilith. Not by a long shot. Not after seeing her in there last night. But she was the only one Eden had spent real time with before she died. If Eden had said anything, hinted at anything…

She would know.

I found Lilith near the fountain in the western courtyard, lounging like she had all the time in the world. Her hair gleamed under the moonlight, her legs crossed in a way that made her look both powerful and bored.

“Didn’t think you’d come looking for me,” she said, not even glancing up.

I stepped closer. “You and Eden were close.”

Her lips twitched. “Define close.”

That was… weird. They were best friends. The best.

This Lilith isn’t the one I knew.

“Did she ever say anything about me? About my… sickness?”

That got her attention. She sat up straighter, eyes narrowing just slightly. “She said you weren’t sick. That you were something else entirely. But she never explained.”

My stomach dropped.

“What did she mean?” I asked, voice tight.

Lilith shrugged. “I don’t know. She said you were being kept quiet. That someone was afraid of what you’d become if you knew the truth. But honestly? Eden said a lot of things near the end. Half the time, I wasn’t sure if she was speaking in code or just losing her grip.”

“She wasn’t crazy”

“I didn’t say she was.” Lilith’s gaze softened–just a fraction. “But she was scared. And that made her reckless.”

“Do you know what or who killed her? Because something tells me you don’t think it was me either.”

The look she gave me could send me 6 feet under, so I took it as my cue to leave.

“Sorry to bother you,” I murmured. “Thanks anyway.”

I turned to leave, but her next words stopped me.

“She trusted you, you know,” she said quietly. “Whatever she found out… I think she meant to tell you.”

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Chapter 42

:

The words stuck with me all the way back to my room.

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The note. The journal. The burn of Zerina’s voice in the back of my mind. I had to know more. I had to speak to her again.

So I did what I’d done before.

I poured out half the drink. Just enough. Not too much.

And I waited.

This time, sleep took longer to come.

But when it did, it hit like a tidal wave.

The clearing appeared before me again–silver–drenched and cold.

Zerina stood at the center, tail low, her eyes already watching me.

“You returned,” she said.

“I had to,” I whispered. “Eden knew something. You showed me… I need more.”

She tilted her head. “You still don’t understand what it means to chase truth.”

“Then show me.”

She stepped closer, and the ground around her shimmered.

“Eden found something. A name. A truth no one else was brave enough to speak. She wrote it down.”

“Who was it?” I asked.

She shook her head. “The page is smudged. Destroyed. But the memory of it lives in you now.”

“What do you mean?”

She leaned forward, pressing her forehead to mine.

A jolt shot through me–images, sounds, pain.

I saw Eden again. Crying.

Writing.

A fire flickering in the corner.

And then–just for a moment–I saw the page. A name. A single name.

But it was smeared. Blurred.

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Chapter 42

Unreadable.

I gasped, clutching my chest. “What did it say?”

Zerina pulled back.

“The truth,” she said, “will come through fire.”

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