Chapter 27
DARIAN
Watching her walk away was harder than I ever let myself imagine.
My mind's a storm I can’t shut out, every thought hissing the same thing. Leave her. Let her bleed. Let them all die. The fury, the bitterness, the voices I've tried to ignore—they're tearing free, whispering that she's the fracture ripping everything to pieces.
But my heart—traitorous and aching—was at war with every cruel thought.
Because when I look at her, I don’t see danger. I saw the white-haired girl who talked too fast, laughed too loudly, and loved watching the stars. And for a moment, I wish I could hate her the way I pretend to, or think I do. But I never could. Not really.
I don’t have a lot of time before Vespera realises I am gone—but I couldn’t stay there and listen to Ronan’s and Kieran’s screams in her version of a dungeon.
I tried to help them, but something was stopping me.
No matter how hard I tried fighting with myself to stop her from hurting them, I couldn’t.
Then, when I saw her guards and some of the hunters leave, I knew they were heading for the twins.
I didn’t think. I just ran until Sera stopped me, with that smug expression and asking for a second round. The only fucking reason I ever touched her was to distract her from telling Vespera, but she still betrayed me.
Her loyalty was always to Vespera. Just like mine was. For years, I followed orders because my hatred for vampires was greater than anything else, and as much as I wanted her dead, there was no way.
Kill the witch.
The whispers were constant, but I forced myself to block them out. Drew moved forward, shouting her name, ready to run after her.
I get it. Because she mattered. She still does.
Freckles is the kind of light people don't realise they're starving for until it's gone.
She carried her own demons, no question, but even when she thought she was hiding them, I saw.
I always saw. That's what happens when someone means more than they should—you learn to read the cracks they try to bury.
And I fucking hate how well I understand it. I hate that I remember every little thing about her.
My arms clamp around him, iron-tight, as he thrashes and fights to break free. I can't let him go after her—not when she's already long gone, leaving nothing but the ghost of cherries and vanilla in the air and this crushing weight lodged deep in my soul.
I should’ve felt relief. Instead, it felt like drowning.
“She’s going to get herself killed, Dar! Get her back!” Drew yells, shoving into me, panic in his voice.
I snap, pushing him back harder than I intend, but I don't care. Nothing matters anymore, especially not her. Daleyza gasps softly behind him, flinching at the flash of violence, her eyes wide with something that hits me square in the gut.
It’s not fear. Only disappointment.
My gloved hands flex at my sides, the leather creaking under the strain as I look between them. “You know this is for the best.”
Her eyes narrow as she shakily signs in anger. Do you really believe that? Or are you just too much of a coward to admit that you care?
I didn’t answer straight away. Couldn’t. Not without lying.
“My priority is you,” I force out. “You. Drew. Ronan. Kieran.” My jaw tightens under her stare, but I don't look away. “That's why I let her go—because she's the only one who stands a chance of ending this. The only one who might actually survive it.”
“You really think she’ll survive?” Drew's voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper. “Even if it kills her, you’re okay with that?”
Yes. No. I don’t fucking know.
I swallow the thought of her dying and nod.
“She’s not a priority.”
“Bull. Fucking. Shit.” Drew snaps. “Wake the hell up, Dar. That girl cares about you. She loves Ronan and you—for some insane reason—and yeah, she gives a damn about Kieran, too. And I haven’t even met the crazy blood mage, but he’s going to rip you apart for letting her run off to get herself killed.
She didn’t have to come here. She didn’t have to save us.
But she did, and this isn’t the only time. ”
I know she did—that’s what twists the knife deeper.
It would be so damn easy to hate her if she didn’t care.
If she’d been just another reckless fool, thinking she was unstoppable.
But freckles, my freckles had a heart of gold buried beneath all that fire.
And that makes hating her impossible. It also makes losing her unthinkable.
I roll my neck, trying to shake off the tight knot of frustration inside me.
“That was her choice. I need to keep you two safe.”
I know they are all keeping secrets from me because of her, but I know she isn’t a low-level witch; she’s a lot stronger than she lets on and maybe just strong enough to save my family.
Vespera didn’t have friends. Didn’t have allies. Only pawns, bodies bent to her will, and leaders of fractured witch factions who knelt because the alternative is death. She’s turned Velmore into her personal fortress of fear, where power belonged to no one but her.
She loves him, Dar. And I think he loves her too. Don’t let him lose her. Don’t let her be alone anymore.
Her words hit harder than they should have, lodging somewhere deep in my chest. Heavy. Unshakable. The kind of truth you didn’t want to hear because once it's spoken aloud, you couldn’t ignore it anymore.
I just stared back at her, every muscle in my body pulled tight like a bowstring.
Kill her.
I blink, ignoring the whispers that trickled into my mind most days.
If freckles died out there… Ronan and possibly Kieran would never forgive me.
Drew would never look at me the same.
And me? I wasn’t even sure what the hell I’d feel.
Relief, maybe. Or guilt. Or that familiar emptiness I’d spent years burying under orders and silence. But the truth was, it would matter. It already did.
I exhaled hard, dragging a hand through my hair, my jaw locked so tight I thought it might crack. “She made her choice. If she dies… that’s on her.”
Even as I said it, the words tasted like ash.
Because it wasn’t really the truth, but it was easier than saying what I actually felt somewhere deep down inside me.
Daleyza’s expression darkened, her fingers curling into tight fists at her sides. She didn’t sign anything this time—she didn’t need to. The disappointment in her eyes said enough.
Drew let out a harsh laugh beside her, the kind that was more pain than amusement. “Are you even listening to yourself?” He moves forward. “That’s not on her. That’s on us. On you.”
I didn’t move.
“She didn’t go in there for glory, or because she had something to prove. She did it because she gives a damn. About Ronan, about Kieran. About all of us. And whether your pride will let you admit it or not—she would’ve done it for you, too.”
His words hit harder than any blow I’d taken.
And he wasn’t wrong. That was the damn problem.
Freckles had this habit of caring too much—of choosing others instead of herself. She loved like it was a curse she welcomed, even when it would break her. Even if it would kill her. That’s what she has done now.
And I’d let her walk away anyway.
She wasn’t like us. Like me.
She didn’t shut people out to survive. Didn’t choose cruelty just because it was easier. No—she stayed, even when she had every reason to run. And now she was walking straight into hell, alone, because she thought no one would come after her.
I turned toward the door, dragging in a breath like it might steady me.
“Get ready, we’re going after her.”
Drew didn’t need to be told twice. He was already moving, his shoes crunching over shattered glass as he passed.
Daleyza followed too, silent but swift, determination in every step.
I buckled my weapons to my side, the familiar weight anchoring me to what came next.
The blade at my back carried the heat of the last life it ended.
The sky stretched wide above, an endless expanse of sapphire, clear and untouched by even a wisp of a cloud.
Spring arrived like a breath held too long, bursting with colour and promise. Blossoms unfurled in wild abandon, their petals painting the wind with perfume, while the scent of rain on warm soil clung to the air like a memory.
Summer draped itself in gold—sunlight spilling like honey across the earth, the heat wrapping around our skin in waves, the bright sun in the sky always shone brightly.
Autumn whispered of ending, the breeze tinged with smoke and spice. Leaves ignited in hues of scarlet and amber, falling like firelight to the ground, each step a quiet crackle beneath your feet as the world exhaled into sleep.
Then came winter—silent, radiant, and breathtakingly cold.
Snow fell like whispers from the sky, gently covering rooftops and trees in a sparkling hush.
The ground shimmered beneath the moonlight, resembling crushed glass, and everything—the air, the stillness, the stars—felt sacred, as if it dared not move.
I skid to a dead stop. Drew crashes into my back with a curse, stumbling back before he rights himself.
“The hell, Darian—”
My focus was on Daleyza. “You can’t come with me. Drew, take her to the Whispering Woods.”
He blinked. “Absolutely not. That place is a walking nightmare. The trees whisper shit, bugs the size of my fist, and things that crawl sideways. Hard pass.”
For goodness’ sake, how are we related?
Daleyza just raised a brow at him like he was the idiot twin.
She’s not wrong.
“The witch has a hidden cottage deep in the forest,” I continued, ignoring Drew's dramatics. “No one knows it exists. You’ll be safe there. That’s where I need you to be.”
Drew opened his mouth again, but I cut him off before the sarcasm could spill out.
“This isn’t a damn debate,” I snapped. “I can’t watch your back and do what needs to be done. Go. Keep her safe.”