Chapter 11
ROWAN
The room is dim again, washed in silver light from the too-small window above my bed. The faint pulse in the air feels different tonight—less like a cage breathing around me and more like it’s waiting. Listening.
I sit cross-legged on the mattress, the ache from Malrik’s last hit still radiating through my chest. Every inhale stings, every exhale feels like fire, but I’m not broken. Not yet anyway. At least with Wolf back, my accelerated healing is once again where it should be.
I run a hand over my ribs. The faint heat pooling beneath my fingertips is another reminder of what I’ve been living without. “I can’t believe I’ve survived these last two weeks alone.”
The words slip out before I can stop them—half confession, half disbelief.
The room warms, subtle but undeniable, like The Keep is trying to drape a blanket around my shoulders.
I huff out a shaky laugh. “You’re really sticking with me, huh? You must like punishment.”
Because there’s not a chance in hell that Malrik is going to let this go without a fight until he has everyone bowing to him, including this castle.
We’ll be long gone before that happens, Wolf says confidently, and just the sound of her voice makes my muscles relax.
So, where have you been? I ask again since she never answered earlier. And how do you think we’re getting out of here?
Even if The Keep is willing to help us escape, we have no idea where we are. All I see is snow outside the tiny window. Sad to say, but I think I’d rather be trapped inside here, growing stronger, than out there, freezing my ass off with no real plan except “run until my legs fall off”.
Spring will come eventually…maybe.
My insides churn at the thought of being away from my family and even Cade for months, but before I can spiral, Wolf replies.
We’re going to break out of the castle and make a run for it, she says as if that’s the easiest task ever. We’re in Glacier Crest Pack Territory, and it’s only about twenty miles of rough terrain before we’ll attract help.
Or more people who want me dead, I remind her. It was the other wolves who came for me before. What makes you think we’ll find help and not another captor?
Because that’s not what my ancestors told me.
A shiver crawls up my spine as I lean back on the bed to stare up at the ceiling. What else did they say?
Plenty, but all you need to know for now is that this house is tied to Malrik through a magical connection neither of us can probably truly understand, but that you can access.
A strange, terrifying hope blooms in my chest. Malrik told me something similar the night I arrived—how The Keep would “respond to me,” how it listens to power. Back then, I assumed he meant I was a glorified intruder the house would spy on.
But maybe it’s more than that.
Maybe this place has been testing me.
Waiting.
Malrik wanted me to become the prophecy’s monster, but somewhere along the way, he failed to realize something important: I get to choose.
The prophecy flickers through my mind—lines I read for the first time only weeks ago, but now feels like years. At first, I thought them a life sentence, but now…
They read like a challenge.
When sun meets shadow, and blood runs deep,
A child shall rise from woven sleep.
Born of Hollowborn and beast of night,
She bears the mark of eternal might.
Neither moon nor magic shall end her breath,
No fang, no flame, no spell, nor death.
A bridge between the world and war,
Her fate will open every door.
If claimed by light, the world may mend,
If claimed by dark, all kingdoms bend.
But should her heart be torn in two,
The sky shall split, and time unglue.
One path brings peace. One path brings flame.
But either way, she’ll wear no name.
For cursed and crowned she’ll ever be,
Until she chooses what to be.
I used to be terrified of the “flame” path. Of becoming the destroyer everyone expected.
But I’m finally seeing the truth. Not only that, but I’m also feeling it, deep in my soul.
Whatever Malrik tried to mold me into, he forged the wrong outcome.
Let’s be honest, Wolf chimes in, Neither of us was sure you could do this.
I snort. Yeah, no surprise there. You thought I was useless at first.
And look at you now.
It’s such a simple compliment, but it settles deep in my chest. So, what do I need to do to get us out of here?
You have to make sure The Keep isn’t going to stop us.
At first, I think she means for me to destroy the castle, but then it hits me what this place has already been showing me.
I have to make sure Malrik can’t control it, I murmur, piecing it together. I have to unmake the magic he used to create this prison.
Exactly.
I lean over and run my fingers along the wall beside me, feeling the faint vibration there, the pulse that’s been my only moderately friendly companion in this stone hell. “You’ve been asking for this with your gifts, haven’t you?” I whisper to The Keep.
The wall glows faintly, warm and gentle—an answer.
It wasn’t just Malrik watching me this whole time. It was the castle, waiting to see if I’d be more than the others trapped here. If I could become what they all needed to be set free.
A slow, fierce smile curves my lips. “Well,” I say, standing, renewed energy already sparking beneath my skin. “I guess it’s time we all got what we wanted.”
That’s my girl, Wolf says, her voice brimming with pride. Let’s show this bastard what happens when you cage the wrong creature.
The moment I stand, the air in my room changes.
It’s subtle at first—like a breath drawn in—but then the walls begin to pulse with a slow, deliberate glow. Silver light rolls across the stone, syncing to the beat of my heart. I can feel The Keep watching me, waiting, and almost begging for my next move.
Wolf is restless beneath my skin, pacing like a fractured storm.
Whenever you’re ready, she murmurs, eager and feral.
The gentleness is new. Or maybe I’m new. Maybe everything we’ve just survived has finally stripped away the doubt between me and Wolf. Because her voice doesn’t just steady me, it grounds me.
She is me, and I am her.
Two halves finally made whole.
How I’ve gotten this far without her, I’ll never understand. But I know with a blunt, unshakeable certainty that I’m never risking our bond again.
“Let’s do this,” I whisper.
I place my palm flat against the wall.
It vibrates under my touch—warm, almost grateful—and the magic hums like it’s answering a question I haven’t asked aloud.
“Okay, Keep,” I say softly. “I don’t know if you have actual feelings. If you do, I hope this won’t hurt you. Seriously. I’m not trying to.”
I let out a weak laugh. “God, I’m talking to a castle like it’s a person. What even is my life anymore?”
The wall heats beneath my fingers.
Well, at least I have its permission.
Energy vibrates through me, adding to my calm, and I nod, taking that as The Keep’s encouragement to proceed. “Let’s see what happens then.”
It’s likely going to be dark outside soon. I consider waiting until morning, but after that last training session with Malrik, something tells me we don’t have time to waste, so I get started, putting everything I’ve learned since arriving here to use.
My core tether extends through my body, moving outward from the center of my palm placed over the cool stone. A light blooms beneath my hand, then intensifies, swelling like a held breath and heating at the same time.
I want to pull away, to stop the growing pain, but the moment I start to enter the spell woven to create this place, I know I can’t stop.
The web of energy within these walls is shadowy and complex. It twists and turns, and the further I dig, the heavier my body becomes.
There’s so much darkness. It wants to drown me, to pull me under and never let me out, but this isn’t my path.
This isn’t who I am.
I close my eyes, focusing on the intentions of my heart, and I push those desires through the tether now firmly connected to the castle. Heal, not destroy.
The Keep will still be able to function when I’m done. It just won’t be controlled by dark energy any longer.
Malrik’s spell is full of jagged peaks and tumultuous lows, but I know him now, and I don’t have to enter the darkness to overcome it. I just need to unmake it.
With a deep inhale, that’s exactly what I do.
Thread by thread, I pull on the energy until what was once a glorious web of power is no more than floating magic, ready to be reborn. A job that I’ll have to trust The Keep to do on its own because we’re running out of time already.
Malrik is coming.
I sense his fury, the way his insidious magic in the distance spikes and claws toward me, but I can’t let go of the wall yet. Not until I know the castle is free to help us without the risk of Malrik interfering.
It’s another minute later, a precious sixty-seconds we don’t have to waste before the entire room feels like it exhales.
A deep, resonant thrum rolls through the floor, through my bones, through the air itself.
The Keep doesn’t just respond. It syncs.
Its pulse merges with mine, overlapping and weaving together like threads in a single tapestry.
Wolf inhales sharply inside my mind. You feel that?
Damn right I do. The castle shifts. It’s done.
Let’s get the hell out of here. Wolf is already salivating to be set free, but I’m not ready yet.
I keep her held back just a bit longer to make sure we’re still on track with our escape plan. If we don’t make it out of here tonight, the last thing I need is for Malrik to realize I have her back.
A shockwave of silver erupts outward, rattling the floorboards under my feet until my bedroom door opens. Light surges down the hall, racing through The Keep like water breaking through a dam.
Somewhere deep within the castle, I hear the roar of the wrath I could already sense. Stones tremble, and cracks begin to form in the floors. A gust of icy air slams through the room as if the entire structure just took a breath for the first time in centuries.
Run, Wolf practically purrs with the thrill.
“All right, Keep.” I take a step forward, having no clue where I’m going. “I gave you freedom. Now, it’s time for you to return the favor.”
A path glows before me, but it’s not the same as Malrik’s cold white light. This is gold, warm, and leading me to freedom.
At least I hope so.
With only my training clothes on my back, I start racing through the halls. The walls move for me, like a maze come to life. I sense Malrik getting closer, his shouts growing louder, but I don’t stop. I put my full trust in this entity, hoping I haven’t read the situation wrong.
Every step forward makes my pulse quicken. The walls stretch taller. The ceilings drip with gleaming runes that twist until I think they’ll shatter, but I don’t stay in one spot long enough to watch.
The energy around me is thick, heavy, and vibrating through my skin, trying to stop me, but it’s not coming from The Keep.
Wolf pushes forward, our strengths combining. He can’t hurt us.
Oh, he can, but that doesn’t stop me from sprinting like my ass is on fire.
The hallway splits ahead—one path swallowed in shadow, the other blazing with gold. I don’t hesitate. I take the gold.
Halfway down the corridor, a deep boom echoes behind me. Malrik’s voice follows—distant but enraged, a whipcrack of fury that shakes dust from the rafters.
“You’re mine, Rowan,” he shouts. “Even if you get out now, you’ll never be free of me. I’ve made sure of that.”
I don’t know what he means, and it’s enough to send a shockwave of panic through me, slowing my progression. Am I escaping too soon?
Just in time, Wolf growls. Don’t stop.
The Keep also responds with fervor.
New, concrete walls erect around me, and I think I’m going to be trapped, but one path remains open, and I realize this is the castle’s way of fighting back against Malrik. It’s not turning on me.
Threats aside, I have to keep going.
I don’t know how long I have before Malrik finds a way to blast through, but adrenaline surges through me, my legs moving faster than they ever have.
The path curves sharply, a stairwell appears, spiraling downward in a smooth, sweeping descent. The runes along the rails thrum in rhythm with my heartbeat as I stretch my legs, taking the stairs four at a time.
When my feet hit the bottom, the castle’s pulse becomes a drum. The air splits. A seam of bright golden light slashes open along the far wall—wide enough for a person to squeeze through, its edges crackling like the inside of a storm.
A harsh breeze from the outside cuts through, and I shiver, but the fear of freezing to death is no longer stronger than staying here.
Shift and we’ll be fine, Wolf confirms, but I hesitate a second longer.
I place a hand against the wall next to my exit. “Thank you.”
I almost promise to come back because I know there are innocents in here like that woman in the hallway with the stacks of books, but I don’t. I can’t. Not when I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know that I’ll make sure someone comes for them, even if it’s not me.
Another rumble echoes closer, and this time the concrete barriers start to crack. Malrik’s power surges through like a toddler with a tsunami of a tantrum in aisle two.
Time’s up.
I move toward the rift, gather my power, as well as my courage, and step through.