Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Selena
Something snapped inside me—not breaking, but unlocking. The castle’s blood called to mine, and instead of fighting it, I let it in. The invisible wall shuddered against my chest, then gave way like a dam bursting.
“No!” I lunged for the screaming infant.
Vex turned the blade on me and swiped in a vicious arc. I threw myself backward but the edge sliced through my shirt and kissed my skin, a line of fire burning across my ribs.
My fangs punched through my gums and a hiss ripped from my throat—low, feral. My body was trembling. My hands were shaking. I knew I couldn’t hurt him. Angelo Santi couldn’t hurt him. I didn’t even know if Costin could. What chance did I have? No chance. None.
But my feet wouldn’t move. Not backward. Not one single step.
Because it wasn’t just the baby.
I looked at Vex—those burning golden eyes, that beautiful, terrible face—and remembered that terrible thing that had crawled inside Rocco two years ago.
The same evil. The same violation. The same darkness that had stolen him and used his body like a puppet while he screamed behind his own eyes.
Never again.
I couldn’t fight Vex. Couldn’t wound him, couldn’t kill him, couldn’t even slow him down. But I could stand between him and that baby. I could stand between him and Rocco. I could make myself the obstacle he had to go through first.
And maybe—maybe—that would buy enough time for someone who could stop him.
I squared my shoulders, bared my fangs, and held my ground.
Behind me, the room erupted. Boots on stone. Shouting. The clash of steel and the crackle of magic as the others poured through the door. I didn’t turn to see who—I couldn’t take my eyes off Vex and the baby.
Then a voice cut through the chaos. Calm. Steady. Carrying a power that vibrated through the air like a struck bell.
“Stop, Vex.”
The demon went still. Not by choice—his body locked in place mid-strike, the blade frozen inches from my face.
His golden eyes blazed with fury, but nothing moved.
Not his hands. Not his chest. Not even the flames on the candles.
The violet light hung motionless, the shadows fixed to the walls like paintings.
Everything had stopped.
Everything except me.
I stumbled back from the altar, gasping, my hand pressed against the burning line across my ribs. Blood seeped warm between my fingers.
Alice stood in the doorway, one hand raised, her palm aimed at Vex. Her blond hair flowed behind her. Her eyes were blazing—not with anger but with concentration, every ounce of her power focused on holding this single moment in place. Sweat beaded at her temple. Her outstretched hand trembled.
She was holding time itself by the throat. And from the strain on her face, she couldn’t hold it for long.
“Get the baby,” she said through gritted teeth. “Now.”
I snatched the baby off the altar, pulling it against my chest. The infant was so small—barely weighing anything—its tiny body shaking with sobs, its fists clutching at my shirt like it knew I was the only thing between it and that blade.
I ran back to Rocco. His eyes blazed with fury—at me, at everything. He grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him.
“Everyone out,” Alice commanded, her voice strained, her outstretched hand trembling. Whatever hold she had on Vex, it was slipping. I could see it—the sweat pouring down her temples, the color draining from her face, her body swaying like she might collapse.
Lucien blurred past me, straight for the altar. He snatched the glowing stone in one swift motion, the shard pulsing in his hand, throwing splinters of light across the dark walls.
No hesitation. No second-guessing. He’d seen the opening and he’d taken it.
Rocco grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the turret room, his grip so tight it bruised.
I clutched the baby against my chest with my free arm, shielding its head as we plunged into the spiral staircase.
Our footsteps echoed off the stone walls, frantic and overlapping—everyone pouring down the stairs behind us in a thundering cascade.
Then the door above us slammed shut with a force that shook the walls. Dust rained from the ceiling. The baby screamed harder.
And somewhere above us, muffled by stone and centuries of dark magic, I heard Vex roar.
The sound wasn’t human. Wasn’t animal. It was something torn from the deepest pit of hell—pure, unbridled rage that vibrated through the walls and into my bones.
Alice’s hold had broken.
Using vampire speed, Rocco and I tore down the spiral staircase, our feet barely touching the steps.
The baby was pressed tight against my chest, one hand cradling its head, its screams muffled against my shirt.
Behind us, boots hammered the stone—the others keeping pace, their ragged breathing echoing off the tower walls.
We hit the first landing and kept going—down the main staircase, past the blood-soaked entrance hall, through the gaping front door.
Cold air rushed over me, sharp enough to steal my breath. The sun had dropped behind the mountains, leaving nothing but a thin bruise of orange along the horizon. Darkness was swallowing the forest fast.
We didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop. Not with Vex’s roar still echoing in my skull and the certainty that whatever Alice had done to hold him wouldn’t keep him contained for long.
We plunged into the tree line, branches whipping at my arms and face, roots catching at my feet. Rocco ran beside me, one arm braced against my back to steady me as I clutched the baby tight against my chest. The sound of the others crashing through the undergrowth followed close behind.
Only when the castle disappeared—swallowed by the fog and the forest and the gathering dark—did Rocco slow to a stop.
We stood in a small clearing, chests heaving, breath clouding in the freezing air. The baby had stopped screaming. It whimpered softly against my chest, its tiny fingers still twisted in my shirt.
I loosened my grip just enough to look down at it — searching for cuts, burns, any mark that demon might have left. Nothing visible. Just a small, trembling body pressed against mine, its heartbeat fluttering like a trapped bird. Relief flooded through me so hard my knees almost gave out again.
"You're safe now," I whispered, pressing my lips to the top of its head. "You're safe."
No one spoke. The only sound was our ragged breathing and the wind moving through the pines.
I looked around the clearing. Rose leaned against Valentin, her face drawn. Lucien still gripped the shard, its glow dimming against his palm. Raven stood beside him, watchful, her hand on his arm. Darius had his arm around Alice, holding her upright.
Then my eyes found Rocco. He was staring at the baby in my arms with an expression that undid me — raw, aching, haunted. I knew what he was seeing. Not just an infant we'd saved from a demon's blade. He was seeing every innocent thing he'd ever failed to protect.
I held the baby tighter. We'd almost watched it die. One more second — one more heartbeat of hesitation — and that blade would have fallen.
Then Alice collapsed.
Darius caught her before she hit the ground, sweeping her up like she weighed nothing. Her head lolled against his shoulder, her face chalk-white, her eyes closed.
“She’s out,” Darius said, his voice tight. “She gave everything she had.”
I looked down at the sleeping baby in my arms, then back at the dark smudge of forest where the castle hid. Somewhere in that darkness, Vex was awake. Furious. And coming.
“Now we have to survive the night,” Lucien said, his gaze sweeping the dark tree line like he expected Vex to materialize from the shadows at any moment.
Moonlight filtered through the canopy, pale and cold, falling across Rose’s face in broken shafts. She looked exhausted—dark circles under her eyes, her skin drawn tight over her cheekbones—but her voice was steady as she met each of our gazes in turn.
“He can’t come near us as long as we have the shard. It will protect us.”
The knot in my chest loosened—just slightly.
For the first time since we’d entered that tower, I felt like I could breathe.
But the baby squirmed against me, its whimpers growing weaker, and the relief didn’t last. This child needed warmth.
Food. A mother. Not a freezing clearing in the Carpathian Mountains surrounded by strangers covered in blood.
She paused, letting that sink in. “We need to get the baby to safety. I can break the shard in two, but I’m drained. I need to rest before I attempt it.”
A silence settled over the group. Rest. In a freezing Romanian forest with a furious demon somewhere in the dark behind us. Rest sounded like a luxury from another life.
Then Rose’s lips parted slightly, and the moonlight caught her fangs.
Something stirred inside me. Not exhaustion—though God knew I was operating on fumes. Not fear, though it was still coiled tight in my gut. This was different. Deeper. A gnawing, hollow ache that started in my veins and spread outward until my entire body throbbed with it.
Hunger.
Not for food. Not for sleep.
Blood.
We’d been fueled by adrenaline for hours—the flight, the castle, the confrontation with Vex, the escape. Now that the immediate danger had passed, my body was finally screaming what it had been too terrified to say before.
I needed to feed. We all did. Every vampire in this group was running on empty, and the nearest blood source wasn’t exactly around the corner.
The baby shifted against my chest, letting out a soft, shuddering sigh. I held it tighter, a fierce protectiveness surging through me even as the hunger clawed at my insides.
I would starve before I let anything touch this child again.