My mother always said no one would ever get it. That if anyone saw the truth, they'd see a monster, not a girl just tryingto survive. But she was wrong. Because this time, someone saw it all—and didn’t run.
I squeeze her hand, the warmth anchoring me while tears cling to my lashes, refusing to fall. “Thanks,” I murmured. “For being my friend. And Drew—though God knows he doesn’t make it easy.”
We both laugh, quiet and shaky, clinging onto each other.
I steel my breath and lift my chin. “I want to save Darian… for you. So, I need you to look into my mind. I’m tied to all of it—Vespera, the darkness, our bloodline. There’s a chance you’ll see something. Maybe even the ritual they had to perform and how to undo it.”
Her smile fades. Her fingers slip from mine like she’s suddenly cold.I can’t. I don’t know how. And… wouldn’t it hurt?
I glance away, swallowing hard as I nod. “Yeah. It does.”
Pain, I can handle. I’ve made peace with it, stitched it into my skin like armour. What terrifies me is not doing anything.
I really don’t want to hurt you.
The wind stirs around us—gentle, sudden—tugging at her wild curls like it’s trying to soothe her. I don’t know if it’s just the spring or my power shifting the air without meaning to.
“I can take it,” I say, even as my voice cracks. “We have to try. She’ll be here in three days—God knows how many she’s bringing, and probably with Darian too. I’m not letting her twist him into something he’ll never come back from. I won’t.”
This is my family now, and I will do anything for them.
“We do it tonight, when everyone is asleep.”
What about Malrik and Ronan? They’ll know if you go.
That might be a problem. They’re both equally obsessed and protective.
“Leave that to me.”
The door creaks open beside us, but I don’t need to know that it’s Malrik. I feel it before his footsteps even land, the airthickening around us. He moves like death wrapped in shadows; every muscle coiled tight with purpose. Black leather clings to him like a second skin, and the silver daggers strapped across his chest catch the light. His boots make no sound, but those burning red eyes… they blaze with a fire only I know the cost of.
“Come with me.”
I arch a brow. “A please wouldn’t go amiss.”
Malrik doesn’t say a word, just shoots me that wicked smirk just before he swoops me up—bridal style, because being dramatic is his speciality.
I yelp—half surprise, half protest—but he’s already gone, the wind ripping past us as he blurs through the trees.
The world around me melts into streaks of green and gold, shadows and sunlight twisting into a dizzying whirl I can’t follow. I have no idea where we’re headed, but then I catch it—the steady roar of water, close and relentless. A river, maybe a stream, rushing wild and sure ahead.
Wherever he’s taking me, one thing is clear: he wants us alone. The world blurs again for a heartbeat before snapping still.
We stop.
The woods here feel older, somehow, quieter… sacred. A hush settles over the trees, like even the wind knows not to speak too loudly. But it’s the waterfall that steals my breath away.
Not just a waterfall—more like a living dream.
Silver ribbons of water spill from the jagged cliffs far above, tumbling over moss-covered stone that seems to pulse with a faint, otherworldly glow. The pool below is vast and impossibly clear, its surface dotted with petals—lavender, crimson, gold—floating like whispered incantations caught in a slow, sacred dance. Around the edges, smooth stones of every shape and shade frame the water.
“Wow,” I breathe out, suddenly feeling small beneath the weight of it all.
Malriks' low chuckle breaks the silence. He sets me down gently, and the grass beneath my bare feet feels like a soft, green carpet—woven by the forest itself. His heat lingers close against my skin, but all I can do is drink in the view, caught somewhere between awe and the quiet pull of him.
“I’m pissed at you.”
My pulse spikes. I glance up, scrunching my nose. “What now?”
