Chapter 14: Bloodlines and Betrayals

The scent of smoke and moss hung in the air.

Ivy stirred, pain slicing through her ribs as consciousness returned in broken fragments. She was lying on damp earth, her hands bound in enchanted silver. The dagger was gone.

Above her, the sky churned with angry clouds, and the clearing was empty—eerily silent, as if the earth itself held its breath.

Her baby kicked gently, reminding her she was not alone.

“Ivy…” a voice whispered.

She turned her head weakly.

Aiden.

He was slumped against a tree, his face bloodied but alive. The chains were gone—but he could barely move.

“They took… your mother,” he rasped. “Killian… and someone else.”

Ivy’s throat tightened. “Someone else?”

Aiden nodded. “A woman… she looked like you.”

Ivy froze.

It couldn’t be…

Before she could ask more, the ground trembled.

A cloaked figure emerged from the forest, holding the glowing dagger in one hand—and a book in the other.

Not Killian.

This person moved with purpose, face hidden beneath a dark veil.

“Ivy Hale,” she said, her voice cold and smooth. “You were never supposed to survive. And yet… here you are.”

“Who are you?” Ivy demanded.

The woman lowered her veil.

Ivy gasped.

She was staring at her own face.

But colder. Sharper. A scar ran down her twin’s cheek like a lightning strike frozen in skin.

“I’m Isla,” the woman said. “Your real sister.”

Ivy’s mind spun.

“That’s impossible,” she whispered.

“No,” Isla said, “you were the mistake. I was raised in exile, trained to restore the bloodline. You were hidden like a cursed secret. But now? Now your child will give me what was stolen.”

“You’re insane.”

Isla knelt before her. “You think this is about you and Killian? He was just a pawn. The real plan was mine all along. Killian was never meant to win. I needed him to bring you here.”

“You used him,” Ivy breathed.

“I used everyone. That’s the difference between us.”

The dagger pulsed in Isla’s hand. “Your child will carry both our power. But only one of us deserves to raise it.”

“I’ll never let you near them.”

Isla smiled. “You don’t have a choice.”

Suddenly, a second figure stepped out of the shadows.

Lilith—bruised and bound, magic chains around her wrists.

Isla pressed the dagger to her throat.

“Give me the blessing,” she ordered. “Transfer the blood rite to me—or I’ll end her.”

Lilith looked at Ivy, her eyes filled with a message unspoken.

Don’t give in.

But Ivy couldn’t breathe.

She couldn’t lose her mother—not after just finding her.

“Ivy,” Lilith whispered, “the bloodline… only responds to love. Not fear.”

Isla laughed. “And yet love is what’s made you weak.”

“Wrong,” Ivy said, rising shakily to her feet. “It’s what makes me strong.”

She stepped forward.

A surge of energy exploded from her chest—light crackled at her fingertips, and the silver around her wrists shattered like glass.

The ground split.

Wind roared through the trees.

Isla stumbled back. “What… what are you?”

Ivy’s eyes glowed gold.

“I’m everything they feared I’d become.”

She lunged—and the dagger flew into her hand as if pulled by fate.

Steel clashed. Magic sparked. The forest screamed around them.

Ivy’s blade pressed to Isla’s throat.

But Isla only smiled. “You think you’ve won?”

A shrill cry pierced the air.

The baby’s heartbeat.

Louder than before.

Faster.

A pulsing rhythm.

“No,” Ivy whispered. “No, it’s too soon…”

Lilith’s face turned pale. “The child’s power—it’s surging.”

Isla laughed even as blood dripped down her throat. “You thought you were the heir. But your baby? They’re the true heir.”

The sky darkened.

The earth split again.

A crack of lightning hit the altar, splitting it in half—and from the ashes, a strange light pulsed upward, forming a circle of symbols around Ivy.

A voice—not human—whispered: “The heir has chosen. The reckoning begins.”

Then everything went white.