The creature's skin rippled like water, showing something monstrous underneath. But before anyone could respond, the fortress doors exploded inward again.
"Stop!" a familiar voice yelled. "Everyone needs to get out now!"
Dorian burst into the room, his clothes torn and bloody. Behind him ran the real Elena Callen - older than in the pictures, with gray streaking her silver hair, but clearly alive.
"Dorian?" Aria's heart leaped despite everything going around them. Her boyhood friend looked terrible, scratched and exhausted, but he was here.
"Aria, thank the moon you're okay." He ran toward her, then stopped short when he saw the creature wearing his mother's face. "Oh no. It's already started."
"You know what this thing is?" Caleb demanded.
"A Wraith of Vengeance," the real Elena said, stepping forward. Her voice was hoarse, like she'd been yelling. "Created from my death, fed by anger and pain for fifteen years."
