Chapter 431: There Are Witches At The Border

"Are you saying other supernaturals are going to come after her?" Sebastian asked, his voice dangerous.

"Yes," Victoria said. "Eventually. When word spreads about what she carries. When covens and councils and powerful entities realize what she’s become. They’re going to want...." She stopped.

"Want what?" Lilith asked quietly.

Victoria looked at her with sympathy.

"You," Victoria said. "They’re going to want you. To study you. To use you. To drain you of the power you brought back. to....."

The library door flew open.

All four of them jumped.

Agnes stood in the doorway looking flustered and worried.

"My Lady," Agnes said, addressing Victoria. "Forgive the interruption. But there’s...we have a situation."

"What kind of situation?" Sebastian asked, immediately on his feet.

"Pack scouts just returned from the northern border," Agnes said. "There are witches there. Three of them. They arrived within the last hour and are requesting an audience with...." She looked at Lilith. "With the one who returned from the Veil."

The room went completely silent.

"They know," Victoria whispered. "Already. It’s only been one day and they already know."

"How is that possible?" Lucian demanded.

"Power like what Lilith carries can’t be hidden," Victoria said. "Every witch within a hundred miles probably felt the surge when she woke up. They’re coming to investigate. To confirm. To...." She stopped and looked at Lilith with fear in her eyes. "It’s starting. Faster than I thought it would."

Sebastian’s expression went hard. "Tell the scouts to send them away. We’re not confirming anything. We’re not letting anyone near Lilith until we understand what’s happening."

"They’re insisting," Agnes said nervously. "They say they won’t leave until they speak with her. They say it’s urgent. That Lilith is in danger."

"From them?" Lucian asked dangerously.

"They claim they’re here to warn her," Agnes said. "Not harm her. But...."

"But we can’t trust that," Sebastian finished.

He looked at Victoria.

"We don’t let them in," Sebastian said firmly. "We don’t confirm Lilith is here. We don’t give them any information. The resurrection is classified. Nicholas’s death is classified. Everything that happened is pack business only. Understood?"

Victoria nodded slowly.

But Lilith could see the fear in her eyes.

Fear that said it was already too late.

That word had already spread.

That the war they haven’t even started preparing for was starting sooner than any of them expected.

***

The morning after Agnes delivered the news about the witches at the border, Lilith woke to find Elena standing at her bedroom window.

Not sitting. Not waiting patiently. Just standing and looking out at the estate grounds with an expression that Lilith could not quite read.

Sebastian and Lucian were both gone, probably dealing with the witch situation or pack business.

"How long have you been standing there?" Lilith asked, sitting up slowly.

Elena turned and offered a small smile. "About ten minutes. I didn’t want to wake you. But we need to talk. All of us. You, me, Victoria, and your Alphas."

Lilith felt dread settle in her stomach. "About what happened to me."

"Yes," Elena said simply. "Yesterday Victoria started to explain what you brought back from the Veil. But Agnes interrupted before she could finish. And Lilith, you need to know. All of it. What you’ve become. Why those witches are at your border. What’s coming."

"Now?" Lilith asked.

"Now," Elena confirmed. "Get dressed. I’ll gather everyone in the library."

***

Twenty minutes later, Lilith found herself back in the library surrounded by the people who had fought to save her life.

Elena stood near the fireplace. Victoria sat in one of the reading chairs looking exhausted and worried. Sebastian and Lucian flanked Lilith on either side of the couch where she sat.

The tension in the room was thick enough to choke on.

"Alright," Sebastian said. "Tell us. All of it. What happened to Lilith during the resurrection."

Elena took a breath and began.

"When a soul passes through the Veil," Elena said, "it’s not supposed to linger. Souls are meant to move through quickly, either forward into whatever comes after death, or backward into the mortal realm if they’re being resurrected. The Veil itself is just a transition space. A boundary between life and death."

"But Nicholas held Lilith there," Victoria said quietly. "He anchored her soul in the Veil while I pulled her back. She was trapped in that space for..." She stopped. "Three minutes. Maybe four. Longer than any soul should ever be."

"And during that time," Elena continued, "Lilith’s soul absorbed something it should never have been able to touch. The Veil’s core essence."

"What does that mean?" Lucian demanded.

Elena looked at Lilith directly. "The Veil isn’t just empty space, Lilith. It’s a source of power. Ancient power. The kind that existed before gods shaped the world into what it is now. Before the Moon Goddess. Before divine magic. Before anything we recognize as supernatural structure. The Veil is the origin point. The place where life and death meet and coexist."

Lilith felt her chest tighten. "And I absorbed it?"

"Your soul was exposed to it for too long," Elena explained. "Normally a soul passes through the Veil so quickly it doesn’t have time to absorb anything. But you were held there. Anchored. And during those minutes, the Veil’s essence, its fundamental power.....wove itself into your soul."

"Making her what?" Sebastian asked.

Elena’s expression was grave. "The most powerful witch in existence."

The room went completely silent.

"That’s not possible," Lucian said. "No witch can wield that kind of....."

"No NORMAL witch can," Elena interrupted. "But Lilith isn’t normal anymore. She doesn’t just have Morvaine blood and soul bonds and exceptional magical talent. She carries the Veil’s core essence. The power of the space between life and death. The ability to wield both life magic and death magic simultaneously."

Lilith stared at her. "Both? At the same time?"

"Yes," Elena said. "That’s why your magic felt overwhelming when you tried to access it. That’s why you shattered windows across an entire wing with just a scream.