Chapter 37 #2
A figure bends over her, hair like liquid fire cascading down one shoulder.
For a moment, she's unfamiliar—but then it clicks.
It's her. The shifter who took me in when I fled Velmore all those years ago.
The one who taught me how to fight, who offered me a sliver of kindness when the world had none to spare.
Esme. She was my mother’s friend all those years ago.
The image fractures. Another intense pain tears up my leg, and I scream, the sound ringing in my ears, and then I find myself back in the forest.
“The blood of the heritage, bound and broken… a life taken with the blade that carved its name. The darkness is undone only by the one it calls.”
My hands press into the dirt as I drop to my knees, nails digging into the earth like I can anchor myself against the whispers. They wind in my skull, the darkness pressing in from every side, greedy and suffocating.
Flashes rip through me, my mother’s face in pieces of memory.
We’re stretched out on a blanket beneath a sky littered with stars, mugs of hot chocolate warming our hands.
Moonlight drapes over us, soft and silver, casting everything in a quiet glow.
Her laugh drifts through the air—light, unguarded, and entirely hers—and I can almost feel the weight of her arm across me, tethering me to this fragile, perfect moment.
The next one hits harder. I’m older now, terror ripping through me as a vampire pins me to the ground, its fangs inches from my throat.
Then she bursts through the trees, a wildfire of rage, eyes blazing with something untameable.
In a heartbeat, she tears the creature off me, and I can still see, still feel everything that happened that day.
Then we’re fighting in the next. I had slipped away into the forest without telling her. She hated when I vanished. I told myself she was overprotective. Now I know it was fear.
And then the one that tears me apart—me on the floor, holding her in my arms as her blood seeps through my clothes, warm and sticky against my skin.
My mother… lifeless. That was the night everything shattered.
The night I lost the only person who loved me fiercely, who sacrificed everything for me.
The woman who taught me to be brave, to find peace in the stars, who was my anchor and only constant—the only person I truly relied on.
It was also the night I had to walk away from Darian. My one and only friend. My first love.
I’m gasping for air, but it won’t come—my mind clouds over, tears streaking down my cheeks.
A voice calls out to me, distant and hollow, but something drags me deeper, the world blurring into nothing.
The dagger they cut themselves with now pulses with an eerie purple light, tiny stars flickering down its length.
“Bound by blood,
Life’s thread must sever,
Only in death's release
Can shadows break free.”
I claw at the dirt, fingers scraping the earth as if holding on could keep the world from falling apart. Then, in an instant, I’m pulled back, eyes snapping open to find Ronan leaning over me, his expression taut with worry.
“Hey… hey,” he murmurs, hands gentle but firm against my arms.
My lips tremble as he pulls me up, holding me close.
His warmth, the steady rhythm of his heartbeat beneath my cheek, and the familiar scent of him sink into my frayed nerves, pulling me back from the edge of panic.
I clutch him like a lifeline, desperate to stay here in his arms, to stay away from the nightmare clawing at my mind.
Daleyza is there too, eyes shining with tears. Malrik drops down beside me, silent but watchful, while Kieran and Drew stand close. I glance down and notice the ground is soaked—everyone is drenched to the bone. The fire's dead, its warm glow swallowed by the creeping cold.
Ronan pulls back but keeps his piercing blue eyes locked onto mine. “You, okay?”
I nod, barely. “Mind telling us what you were doing?” he asks.
My hands wobble, and Ronan catches them gently, rubbing his thumbs over my skin like he knows exactly how to soothe me.
“I asked,” I cleared my throat, trying to steady my voice. “I needed to know what ritual Vespera used to create the darkness… and how to destroy it.”
And now I know exactly what is needed from me.
Malriks' voice cuts in, rough and amused. “That still doesn’t explain why you knocked us all out.” He pouted. “Waking up with him pressed against my ass wasn’t exactly the dream I wanted.”
Drew chuckles, trying to hide it behind a cough, only to get a sharp elbow from Kieran.
“I wasn’t exactly thrilled either, you psycho,” Ronan shot back, and Malrik just winked.
“Liar.”
I can’t help but feel calm watching them get on, even if they are bickering.
Kieran grunted, arms crossed, eyes narrowed. “Whatever you were doing, it seriously messed with your magic. I woke up to thunder and rain pounding the windows, so… explain.”
I swallowed hard, fighting the sting behind my eyes when I met his gaze.
“If you really want to know,” I squeeze Ronan’s hands in mine. “I found a way to help Darian.”
“Great. How?” Keiran’s voice was blunt, no patience wasted. Ronan chewed on his lip, then glanced over his shoulder. “Chill the fuck out, man. Give her a minute.”
I caught sight of my dagger resting nearby.
“Watch how you talk to her, or you might find yourself without a tongue,” Malrik said smoothly, his hand sliding up my back. The cold rings on his fingers sent a shiver down my spine.
“There’ll be no cutting out tongues,” I tell him with a roll of my eyes.
Malriks' eyes narrowed like I’d just killed his family. “But it’s my favourite thing to do… besides eating your pussy.”
Drew muttered under his breath, “Fucking hell, man.”
I clamped my hand over Malriks' mouth and took a deep breath. “Look, it’s pretty simple to undo, but there’s only one person who can do it.”
Kieran’s gaze sharpened on me, his body stiffening. “I’m guessing it’s you.”
“Yes. I need the dagger, my blood, and a few other things Malrik can get from his… collections. Then I can do it. I just need Darian.”
I left out a critical detail, but they can’t know.
“Sounds simple enough,” Ronan said aloud.
Drew raised a hand, like a kid in class. “Question. If we need Darian, then wherever he goes, the bitch goes. That means the Veilguard. How the fuck do the four of us —”
“Four?” Kieran cuts in dryly because Drew wasn’t trained to kill like they were, and Daleyza can't get involved.
“Fine. Three of you, then,” Drew corrected with a sigh. “Because little red will be busy doing this ritual, but she will need protection.”
He makes a good point.
As they spoke among themselves, Ronan’s and Malriks' hands still lingering on me, I stole a glance at Daleyza.
Her eyes were heavy with sadness—she had seen everything I had.
When I focused, I could feel the weight of her knowing.
She understood what I had to do. What needed to be done to save Darian.
And that meant everything my mother sacrificed, every battle she fought to keep me safe—it might all be for nothing.
But I’d do anything for them. Even if it meant stepping into the darkness, I’d spent my whole life running from it. Even if it meant facing the monster I’ve always run from.
Because some debts are paid in blood—and love.