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Chapter 17: A Razor Between Allegiances
Last Updated:
2025-03-04 00:14:23
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The Blood Bound Legacy Chapter 18: Identity, Poetry, and Suspense – The Price of Lies
I drove in silence. The weight of what I was about to do hung around my chest like a vice, each breath a little more difficult to take. It had been a straightforward plan—convince the Council that I’d killed Jameson without really doing it. But the execution? That was when things got dangerous.”Maxwell was sitting next to me, his jaw clenched, arms folded across his chest. He hadn’t spoken much since we’d left Jameson’s safe house, his silence weighing on me more than any fight we might have had.I was the one who finally broke the stillness. “Say something.”Maxwell didn’t look at me. “What do you want me to say, Lena? That this is a great plan? That I wouldn’t expect it to explode in our faces?”I seized the steering wheel more tightly. “We don’t have an alternative.”His laugh was grim and humorless. “We always have options. You just keep selecting the ones that might kill us.’”I sighed, the weight of the world settling deep into my bones. “I’m trying to protect him, Max. And mys
Last Updated : 2025-03-04The Blood Bound Legacy Chapter 19: Shadows in The Dark
The burden of my deception rested heavy in my breast, against my ribs like iron. Perhaps it was because I had walked away from the Council’s headquarters alive, but the truth was watching me everywhere, plowing its way towards its moment to unravel.Maxwell’s words reverberated in my brain. You’re not going to be able to run from this forever.He was right. But I wasn’t running. Not yet.What game was I playing where the only way to win was to last long enough to change the rules.The car ride back to the estate was quiet. Maxwell squatted in the passenger seat, arms crossed, his jaw clenched so tight that I feared he would shatter his teeth. He hadn’t said a word since we’d left the Council, and I didn’t know if that was because he’d been furious with me or afraid about what lay ahead.Eventually, I realized I could no longer bear the quiet.“Say it.”Maxwell didn’t move.“Max,” I pushed. “Just say what’s on your mind.”His voice was low, his fingers tightening against his biceps. “Y
Last Updated : 2025-03-04The Blood Bound Legacy Chapter 20: What You Pay for Betrayal Part 1
My father’s words loomed over me like storm clouds. Now, we wait. And we prepare for the moment the Council learns what you’ve done.”I wanted to think that I still had time — a couple of days at least, maybe weeks, before Elias or the others began suspecting the story I had fed them. But deep down, I knew better.I was not only playing with fire.I was on the edge of a blade, waiting for the surely inevitable slip.Maxwell walked back and forth across the length of the study, his agitation evident in each of his paces. My father was standing near the fireplace, arms crossed, eyes on me. My mother remained silent, her fingers clamped around the edge of the chair, her face unreadable.No one had said anything for a few minutes. The silence was suffocating.“Please move,” Maxwell spun, his voice serrated. “So what’s the plan, Lena?”I took a deep breath, trying to control myself. “We keep the lie alive. Until the Council is convinced Jameson is dead, we have the upper hand.”Maxwell gav
Last Updated : 2025-03-04The Blood Bound Legacy Chapter 21: What You Pay for Betrayal Part 2
Jameson’s words hung in a lead ball in my gut."They disappeared."I let my breath out and concentrated on holding my hands still. “So you mean to tell me the only person who ever tried to take down the Council is dead?”Jameson nodded. “Vanished without a trace.”I shook my head, the frustration simmering under my skin. “Then how do you know they existed at all?”Jameson leaned against the crates, arms crossed. “Because I knew them. And because they left behind something the Council couldn’t quite erase.”Maxwell, who had remained silent until this point, now broke her silence. “Which is?”Jameson shot a glance at him and then at me. “A journal. Notes. Plans. Everything they learned about the Council’s secrets before they vanished.”Inside me, hope flickered, momentary and brittle. “And you have it?”Jameson’s mouth shifted to a not quite smile. “Not exactly.”I narrowed my eyes. “Then where is it?”Jameson sighed. “That’s the problem. They hid it somewhere safe from the Council befo
Last Updated : 2025-03-04The Blood Bound Legacy Chapter 22: Into the Hollow
It was still dark when we left that morning.Jameson had given us just the barest facts — enough to reacquaint ourselves with the idea that Black Hollow was the kind of place you didn’t just pick off a map. It was a town erased from the record, that few spoke aloud, muttered between those who trafficked in secrets.A place of disappearance.Maxwell gripped the wheel tightly and set his jaw. He hadn’t said much since we’d made the decision to go, but I could feel his unease in the way he gripped the steering wheel, in the way his eyes flicked to the rearview mirror every couple of minutes, as though he was expecting something to be following us.Jameson sat in the back, his face a mask.I gazed out the window as the surrounding scenery faded from city streets to long stretches of highway lined with forest. The farther we traveled, the more the world began to dissolve around us, as if we were moving into something unreal.“How much farther?” I asked finally.Jameson glanced at his watch
Last Updated : 2025-03-04The Blood Bound Legacy Chapter 23: The Town That Watches
With each footfall, the burdens of Black Hollow weighed heavy on me.We walked back to the car without talking, all of us contemplating whatever went through our minds. The napkin Marion had handed me was weighed down with more than its size, holding an address that was a warning as much as a destination.I glanced at Maxwell. His shoulders were tight; his jaw was clenched. He had fought against coming here from the start, but now that we were in Black Hollow’s grip, I could see he was on edge in a way I’d never known before.Jameson walked a step behind, but his calm demeanor held deeper waters. He knew more than he had spoken. I could feel it.“We have to be careful,” Jameson finally said, his voice low. “The thing here… things don’t work as they should.”Maxwell scoffed. “Yeah, no kidding. The road moved to let us in.”Jameson nodded. “That was the easy part.”I paused in my steps and turned to him. “What aren’t you telling us?”Jameson paused and then released a sigh. “This town…
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A woman entered, her hood low over her face. She hurried, ghosting through the tables and slipped into the booth directly across from us.I didn’t even have time to respond before she talked.“You shouldn’t be here.”Her voice was low, rough. She pulled aside her hood to show sharp features, dark eyes with something unreadable in them.I studied her. She seemed young — late twenties, maybe — but there was an age to her gaze that belied her face.1“For you know who we are,” I said cautiously.She scoffed. “I know who he is.” Her gaze flicked to Jameson. “And if he brought you here, you’re desperate.”I clenched my jaw. “I need the journal.”She laughed briefly and without humor. “Of course you do.”Jameson exhaled. “Well, listen, we don’t have time for games. The Council—”“I know about the Council,” she said, her voice sharp as glass. “You think I’m not aware of why my parents went missing? Why did I have to spend my whole life running?”I hesitated. “Then you see why we need the jour
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The journal lay between us on the table. It was like the very weight of truth that it carried had kept pushing down on our chests, cornering us to a reality that we were not prepared for. The stakes had changed — this was no longer about battling for control. It was about survival. And we weren’t just battling the Council.Something much older, far darker, lay behind their power. Something that could rip the world apart if it ever escaped.The journal grew heavier in my instinctive grip, and it seemed as if the pages were whispering secrets to my soul. Secrets I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. But I couldn’t walk away now. Not after what we’d learned.Maxwell faced me, jaw set, hands on the lip of the table. His eyes were dark and intense. I saw the conflict swirling in them, the anger, the fear, the frustration. We were both hovering over something. And I didn’t know if either of us was ready to take that last step.“You’re sure about this?” he asked, his voice quiet, almost a whisper.
Last Updated : 2025-03-06
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The Blood Bound Legacy Chapter 125: The Mirror That Breathes
It was like stepping into water without getting wet—immersive, suffocating, impossible to define. The seal wasn't a place. It was a memory of a place. The edges of the space shimmered like heat mirages, reality curling and straightening again, refusing to settle.I stood on a stone bridge suspended over nothing. Beneath me was not darkness, but an absence of everything—sound, light, memory. Even the air held no scent, no temperature. It was pure sensation, stripped of identity. The only thing anchoring me was the key, still warm in my palm. And ahead, a figure waited at the other end of the bridge.She looked like me. Again.But not fractured. Not weaponized. This one was calm.Empty.She wore white. Hair down, eyes silver, not gold, not burning, not furious. This was the version of me that let go. The one who surrendered. The one who had said “yes” to silence because she was too tired to scream again.And as I stepped forward, she spoke first.“You’re late.”I paused. “What are you?”
The Blood Bound Legacy Chapter 124: The Seal Beneath Silence
The wind shifted first.It came through the treetops like a whisper laced in warning, curling between bodies and brushing through cloaks, making the gathered faction of rogue leaders, surviving witches, wolves, and ex-Guardians shiver as one. The key on the pedestal pulsed again—brighter, sharper—then dimmed, like a breath held in anticipation.I turned slowly, gaze sweeping across the people standing with me. Or near me. I still wasn’t sure which.“This is where I need your trust,” I said quietly, my voice steady despite the sudden tension in the air. “What we’re about to do won’t look like diplomacy. It won’t feel like an order. But I need you to hold the line until I come back.”“Come back from where?” Barin Aul stepped forward, brow furrowed. “You’re talking like we’re at the edge of war.”“We are,” I said. “But not with each other.”Elara crossed her arms. “And yet you’re asking us to follow you without knowing what door you’re about to open.”“No,” I replied. “I’m not asking you
The Blood Bound Legacy Chapter 123: The First Choice
It didn’t happen all at once. Some nodded stiffly. Some remained still, eyes narrowed, as if weighing every breath I took. But the energy shifted, undeniable and tense. Their hesitation wasn’t surrender—it was calculation. They were still watching me like I might detonate. But at least now, they were listening.Elara, ever the strategist, stepped back into the circle. Her face remained unreadable, the sharp angles of her features as inscrutable as ever. But there was something else there, a flicker of curiosity in her eyes as she studied me with an intensity that was hard to ignore."Then talk," she said, her voice cutting through the silence like a sharp blade. "If we’re here, and you’ve claimed the right to lead—or at least decide—what’s next?"I glanced at Maxwell, then at the key still humming faintly atop the beacon’s pedestal. “The last seal is unraveling. Slowly. But I can feel it now. It’s not going to break like the others. It’s waiting for the right moment, or the wrong one.
The Blood Bound Legacy Chapter 122: Those Who Answer
By the time the sun rose again, the air had changed.The beacon still burned through the morning mist, a slow, steady column of gold against a bruised sky. There was no crackling thunder, no apocalyptic wind—just a quiet tension that blanketed the valley, like the earth itself had noticed something ancient was waking up. I stood at the edge of the platform, watching the treeline, heartbeat steady, nerves anything but.“They’ll come,” Maxwell said behind me, arms folded, eyes scanning the horizon. “Some out of loyalty. Others out of fear. Some just to see if the stories are true.”“What stories?” I asked.“That you survived. That you’re walking around with the last key. That you’re not David’s widow or the Council’s orphan anymore.”I let the silence answer for me. The truth was, I didn’t know who I was to them. Not yet.The first to arrive was Elara Vale.She came alone, no guards, no ceremony. Just her and that calculating gaze that had made her infamous even before the Council fract
The Blood Bound Legacy Chapter 121: The Truth in the Key
“You think they’ll follow you?”“They won’t follow me. They’ll follow the truth.” I held up the key. “And I intend to show it to them.”Maxwell exhaled, then looked out over the distant ridge where the forest met the last trace of old civilization. “And if they try to stop you?”I looked him dead in the eye.“Then we remind them I’m not asking permission.”The words echoed louder than I meant them to, carrying across the crumbling walls of the Sanctum, bouncing off stone like a prophecy etched in defiance. For the first time in days—maybe weeks—I felt aligned with something deeper than survival. Something almost close to purpose.Maxwell didn’t respond right away. He just studied me, as if trying to figure out whether I was standing taller because of the key I held or because of the decision I’d finally made. Then he gave a small, tight nod—the kind that didn’t need explanation.We started walking.The path down from the ruins wasn’t the same one we’d taken up. I don’t know if the lan
The Blood Bound Legacy Chapter 120: The Threshold Between Worlds
I held the key in both hands, its weight more emotional than physical. Though it looked like it was made of woven light, it felt dense, anchored by every choice I had made, every fear I’d conquered, every version of me I’d resisted becoming. It pulsed in rhythm with my heartbeat, as if it were syncing itself to me, not the other way around.Maxwell stood across from me, arms crossed, jaw set. He hadn’t spoken since I lifted it."You’re waiting for me to say something," I said softly.His gaze didn’t move from the key. “I’m waiting for you to feel something. The kind of certainty you usually hide behind sarcasm or strategy. What do you feel, Lena?”I let the silence linger.“I feel... scared,” I admitted. “Not of the key. Not even what it opens. I’m scared of what it will ask of me once it does. Of what I’ll have to become to use it.”He nodded slowly. “Good. That means you’re still you.”“Still?” I gave a tired smile. “Do you think I’m changing?”He met my eyes now, gently. “I think y
The Blood Bound Legacy Chapter 119: The Hollow Below
The staircase swallowed sound. Each step down stripped the world of something familiar—first the light, then the warmth, then the sense of time. Maxwell moved close behind me, but even his breathing sounded distant, muffled by the oppressive weight of the descent.The deeper we went, the more I could feel it pressing inward. Like the walls weren’t made of stone at all, but of memory. Of something waiting.I touched the glyphs that flickered faintly along the tunnel’s edge, symbols glowing for only a heartbeat before vanishing. This wasn’t language. It was a warning. Or maybe confession.Maxwell’s voice was barely audible behind me. “Lena… if this place changes you…”I stopped and turned slightly, enough to catch his shadow. “You’ll remind me.”“I’ll drag you out.”I wanted to believe that was possible. I wanted to believe anything could drag me out if I stepped too far.After what felt like hours, the staircase ended in a wide, circular chamber. The floor was smooth, unlike the rest o
The Blood Bound Legacy Chapter 118: Ashes of the Old Tongue
By first light, we were already moving. The path to the ruins cut through dense, brittle woods. Nature had reclaimed much of the road, ivy curling up through cracked stone, tree roots splitting once-paved ground. But I remembered the way, at least what remained of it. I remembered walking it as a child, held by my father's hand, back when the Sanctum was still alive before the seals had started to hum. Before they began to break.Now, only one seal remained.And it was buried somewhere beneath the rubble we were heading toward.Maxwell kept pace beside me, silent but alert. He hadn’t said much since we left camp. Neither had I. There wasn’t much left to say that hadn’t already been whispered in firelight the night before. We both knew what this place meant, not just to us, but to the shape of everything still to come.When the Sanctum came into view, I felt the breath leave my lungs.It was worse than I remembered.The outer arch had collapsed. The great doors—once carved with runes t
The Blood Bound Legacy Chapter 117: The Fracture and the Fight
The path out of the chapel felt longer than the one going in. With each step, the world outside seemed more fragile, like reality itself was bruised, discolored by something unseen. Maxwell walked just behind me, quiet but watchful. He didn’t need to speak; his presence was enough—solid, grounding. Still, I felt the echo of the woman with my face in every shadow we passed.“Do you think she’s still watching?” I asked as we reached the treeline.Maxwell didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”I glanced back toward the chapel, half-expecting to see her silhouette in the stained-glass remnants, but the ruins stood empty. Still, the space didn’t feel abandoned. It felt paused.“You believe she’s waiting for me to break,” I said.“I think she needs you to,” he replied. “But I also think she underestimated you.”I smiled faintly. “She knows me better than anyone.”“Not better than me,” he said.That hit harder than I expected. I wanted to believe him. I almost did. But the version of me I had seen—fierce,
