Chapter 21
Lucian peeled the truck’s tires out of the Enchantresso parking lot, the image of Goldie’s tear-filled, resolute face burning into his memory like a brand.
He was so consumed by a toxic mixture of self-loathing and a blazing, white-hot fury toward Ellie that he barely noticed the familiar landscape of Pumpkin Hollow blurring past the windows.
Every mile felt like a lifetime of wasted seconds.
He pulled up to the familiar, sun-faded cream house, the engine cutting out with a final, ragged groan of worn suspension that mirrored the state of his own soul.
Ellie was standing there, near the front porch, framed by the deepening, bruised twilight.
She wore a tailored black coat and stood with a strange, unnerving stillness that made his skin crawl.
Lucian’s blood instantly ran cold. Her presence here, at his home, felt like an aggressive invasion of the only sanctuary he had left.
“Leave, Ellie,” Lucian ordered, his voice low and devoid of any compromise.
He didn’t even bother to climb out of the truck at first, staring at her through the windshield.
His jackal’s ear twitched in a violent, rhythmic protest, already scenting the cloying, fake sweetness of her generic perfume through the open window.
“We can fix this," Ellie whispered. “She never has to know. We can leave together. Start over somewhere new.”
Lucian just stared ahead refusing to make eye contact. “You’re insane.”
“Please,” she whined. “Just hear me out.”
His jaw tightened. “She spent ten years believing I hated her... because of you.”
She took a slow, deliberate step toward the truck, her expression one of wounded innocence. “I thought you’d be happy to see me, Lucian.”
Lucian laughed once, it wasn’t amused.
“I just gave you the one thing you’ve been chasing for ten years: the truth,” she said, her voice a practiced, melodic lilt.
He shoved the door open; the metal creaking in the silence.
“You didn’t give me the truth,” he snarled, stepping into her space with a predatory intensity that would have sent anyone else running.
“You gave me a poisoned lie that stole a decade of my life. Ellie, you manipulated my mind. You made me hate the person who truly loved me, all of me. I fucking trusted you!”
“Lucian—” Ellie started.
“No,” he said, cutting her off. The wild fury burning inside him sharpened into something colder, more dangerous as he glared down at her.
“Do you have any idea what you did to her? Every time I looked at her with disgust... every time I accused her... she carried the weight of it because of what you did to me. You turned me into a monster.”
“You should thank me,” Ellie said quietly, her eyes searching his face for a flicker of the old, manufactured affection.
Lucian frowned at the sheer audacity of the statement. “For what?”
Ellie smiled, a cold, empty curve of her lips that didn’t reach her eyes. “For showing you who you really are,” Ellie said. “Without me, you never would have known how much losing her hurts. I showed you how much you loved her by taking her away.”
Her justification was so warped it was dizzying.
Before he could react, Ellie’s hand snaked out and grabbed his forearm.
The contact was immediate and invasive. Every instinct in his body screamed to tear away before she could finish whatever she’d started.
A sudden, sharp pressure exploded behind his eyes—a familiar, metallic hum that he now recognized as the start of an illusion.
A wave of false, cloying warmth began to wash over his mind, trying to numb the jagged edges of his rage.
For one horrifying second, his anger dulled.
The fury, the betrayal, even the grief began to soften beneath the artificial comfort curling through his thoughts.
Forgive her, a voice whispered in the back of his mind, sounding terrifyingly like his own. She did it only because she loved you.
He snarled, shaking his head hard enough to make his vision blur. It was an accident of the heart.
He closed his eyes, his jackal clawing at his ears, telling him not to listen, but the words kept coming. You don’t want to be alone, Lucian. Ellie is safe. Ellie understands you. Ellie stayed.
But his jackal wasn’t fooled this time. His control splintered. Fur erupted across his forearms. A sharp crack echoed through his arm as bone shifted beneath skin. His jackal was clawing its way to the surface.
The feeling wasn’t real; it lacked the jagged edges of genuine emotion.
Real emotions had teeth. This one slid over his mind like silk, smothering everything that made him him.
It felt like someone else’s emotions were shoved under his skin.
The animal inside him itched and clawed at the mental fog, fighting the invasive magic with a primal, visceral rejection.
His ears rang, and a low, guttural growl that wasn’t entirely human vibrated deep in his chest. His jackal was screaming against the forced compliance, biting back at the threads of her spell.
With a violent jerk, he shoved her hand away.
The contact broken, the magical pressure receded instantly, leaving behind a bitter, metallic taste in his mouth.
This time, the truth stayed; every memory remained his.
“I said leave,” Lucian commanded, his voice a lethal threat that made the twilight feel cold. “And never come near me or Goldie again. If I see your face at Enchantresso or one of our homes, I won’t hold back my jackal.”
He didn’t wait to see the look on her face.
He climbed back into the truck and slammed the door shut; the noise echoing off the house like a gunshot.
The engine roared to life as he peeled out of the driveway, the tires spitting dirt and gravel, leaving Ellie standing alone.
Glancing up at the rearview mirror, Ellie remained exactly where she’d been, motionless beneath the old oak tree.
Watching him leave. She never waved. Never cried.
She simply watched him disappear into the gathering darkness.