Chapter 43 #2
Darius’s lips press into a thin line, his silence laced with annoyance, but there’s something else in his eyes and it looks like a grudging respect.
Kade shifts uneasily and plays with his dark hair, his jaw clenching and unclenching, like he’s debating whether to speak or stay silent.
For once, he doesn’t interrupt. Neither of them does, and I revel in the small victory of forcing them to listen.
“Or would you two rather keep fighting over who’s upset who while the rest of the world burns?” I add, my tone sharp enough to cut.
Kade exhales slowly, as though I’ve punched the air from his lungs. Darius finally looks away, his gaze dropping to the floor like he’s conceding something, even if only to himself.
I don’t let the pause linger too long.
“Galen’s death creates a power vacuum that up ends the balance you’ve been so desperately clinging to for centuries.
It destabilizes everything, and not just for the warlocks.
The witches’ world is falling apart, and you both know it.
Warlocks have been stealing our magic for far too fucking long and we won’t suffer it much longer.
I might have been the first to rise up, but I won’t be the last. There’s going to be a war, Kade, unless we do something to stop it. ”
Kade frowns, his brows knitting together. “You’re suggesting…”
“I’m suggesting,” I cut in, “that the way things have been done needs to change. Galen and his death prove that the old ways don’t work.
Witches shouldn’t have to rely on your arbitrary rules for protection.
The balance has to be shared—truly shared—or it’ll fall apart completely.
If that happens, we’re all screwed, warlocks included. ”
The room falls silent, the air heavy like the sky before a rainstorm. It’s as if the walls themselves are holding their breath, waiting for the first crack of thunder. The stillness comes alive, taut as a branch bowed too far in the wind, ready to snap at the slightest push.
Darius shifts first, his movement breaking the stillness. A low sound escapes him, almost a hum of agreement, and both Kade and I snap our heads toward him. He straightens, pushing off the wall where he’d been leaning, his expression unreadable but his tone firm.
“She’s right. If we don’t find a way to stabilize things, the entire magical balance collapses.”
Kade blinks, startled. “You’re not like other witches, Zara. You’re bound to me. You’re an enchantress. We can’t fucking rewrite everything in the space of a few fucking hours now that Galen’s dead. It’ll cause more rebellion and we won’t survive it.”
His words hang between us, heavy and unyielding, and a spark of anger ignites in my chest, my defiance and resolve burning hotter than the wood on the hearth.
“And if we don’t change,” I counter, stepping closer, “then we definitely won’t survive.
The rebellion isn’t a future problem, Kade.
It’s already here. You think witches haven’t been questioning the station for years?
Galen’s death isn’t just a tragedy; it’s an opportunity.
If we don’t use it to rebuild now, there won’t be anything left to save later. ”
Kade opens his mouth to argue, but Darius cuts him off.
“She’s right again, and you know it.” His voice is sharp, brooking no disagreement. “The old ways have already failed. Clinging to them will delay the inevitable.”
The ground beneath us seems to hum with quiet tension, like the earth preparing for a shift that’s been long overdue.
There’s an almost imperceptible vibration in the air, as though something large and unseen is about to move.
The stillness before change is both unsettling and inevitable, the calm before the earthquake that will alter everything.
“We don’t have to make all the changes at once,” I say softly. “We don’t even have to make them quickly. But we need to start, Kade, and I need your word we’re going to change the way things are.”
Kade’s eyes flicker with uncertainty, and I notice his struggle in his gaze.
His loyalty to tradition runs deep, thicker than blood, and I know it won’t be easy to pull him away from it.
His lips press into a thin line, weighing the cost of change, and his silence stretches too long, the tension building like a tidal wave ready to break.
“Don’t do this,” Kade mutters, but it’s more to himself than to anyone else.
“We’re past the point of pretending we can keep things as they were,” I say, my words sharper now, piercing through his resistance. “We need to act before it’s too late. Kade, if you can’t see that, we’ll never move forward.”
His jaw tightens, but then his gaze shifts to Darius. A silent understanding passes between them. It’s one I don’t fully trust yet, but I know this moment is bigger than both of them. I hold my breath as Kade nods, his expression stiff.
“Fine. But it won’t be easy.”
“When is anything with you ever easy?” I reply.
Kade scoffs and locks eyes with Darius. “Your word, Darius. She needs your fucking word.”
He nods once. “You have it, but we need to talk about my wife. I don’t want her sidelined in all of this. She’s not some toy to be hidden away just because it’s inconvenient. She deserves acceptance, just like the rest of us.”
There’s no mistaking the firmness in his voice. He doesn’t like the idea of his wife being overlooked or pushed aside, and his position is absolutely clear. He’s not asking for permission; he’s demanding her inclusion, no matter what happens next. No matter what the risk might be.
“You accepted Zara, Kade. My wife deserves no less.”
Darius wants his wife to have the same status as me, and if I want the witches to be treated equally then that means we have to give her the same respect. She doesn’t get to be an afterthought. Not anymore.
“Done,” Kade says, stealing my words from me. “The four of us are in this together, Darius. That witch of yours had better get used to the weight of her responsibility. Just like the rest of us, if we’re going to make it through the mess the two of you are dragging us into.”