LOGINKylanWhat am I doing here?“No,” I corrected. “What are you doing here?”Kaelis scrunched her nose, caught off guard.“I—”Her words got stuck, her expression flustered, like she hadn’t expected to be questioned. Suddenly, her eyes widened, and a gasp escaped her. Her head snapped toward Nate.She squeezed his hand, as if checking something, then exhaled deeply. “He’s finally sleeping,” she said, her lips curling into a soft smile.Sleep or asleep?I glanced at Nate again.No wonder he was so still.He was pretending, for her sake. I was sure we had the same thoughts. He also didn’t want her here.“You shouldn’t be here.”Kaelis looked back at me, an offended pout forming on her lips. “I’m his mate,” she declared, her voice firm despite how tired she looked. “He needs me. I’m staying here with him.”She didn’t waver. Same as when we visited the flower garden, there was something in her eyes that I hadn’t seen before. A determination.“I know Nate didn’t kill Chrystal,” she continued.
KylanVarius’s eyes bore into mine. “There is no clear timeframe,” he said. “It could be months…years…decades, but it will happen.”None of that helped at the moment.“That is why you must do it,” he added. “And you must promise me.” His eyes held mine. “For the world, for her.”I thought of Aelius. Back in the caves, he had once told me to worry about my own fate. Was this what he had been talking about?Because he must have seen this too. I let out an exhausted huff and just accepted whatever he was saying. “Sure. I promise,” I nodded. “And I also promise to get you out of here. All of you.”Varius’s lips curled into a small smile. “Do you think they do not deserve the fate that meets them?” he asked.I squinted. “No,” I said immediately. “Of course not.”What was he even asking me?If I thought they were innocent in all of this?His gaze stayed on me. “And what about the girl?” he asked. “Do you believe she deserves the fate you have chosen for her?”My brows pulled together as I t
KylanAll it took was a single look for me to feel sorry. Varius wasn’t supposed to be here, in a place like this, behind bars.And seeing him like that only made me think of the others, but I had to check up on him first. Violet cared about this man, and that was enough. She cared, so I cared.“Thorne seems to be doing well,” Varius said, nodding slightly at the raven on my shoulder. His voice was collected, basically untouched by everything around him.I glanced at Thorne before answering.“I try to do my best and take care of him.”He closed his eyes for a moment and took a slow breath, showing in his own way that that small piece of information mattered to him. Not too odd, considering he had been taking care of Thorne for a long time.Varius did not look at Kayden and didn’t acknowledge him. He seemed to hold some kind of grudge against him, and I honestly couldn’t blame the man.My thoughts drifted to the box he had given to us. The one we had lost. A quiet guilt settled in as I
KylanThe halls leading to the dungeons were narrow, the only source of light being the flickering torches across the stone walls.Although I had heard the stories, I had never visited, never bothered, because I hadn’t expected to ever have to. At least that was before the king decided to lock everyone away, from the people in the mountains to his very own Beta.He had truly lost his mind, and he wasn’t the only one. I walked slightly behind Kayden, making sure to keep my eyes on him.Once in a while, he would turn around with a tight expression, his gaze shifting from the path ahead to Thorne on my shoulder, and then back again.He didn’t fully know where to look or what to do with himself, and I couldn’t blame him. Everything had gone to shit, and part of that was on him. His jealousy, his greed…My thoughts drifted back to Violet. To the way she had looked before walking into that room. I should’ve been there, I was supposed to be there, but I knew exactly why the king wouldn’t wan
Violet“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”I tried to keep my voice just as strong as before, but failed miserably. Everything was shifting, and though I wasn’t panicking yet, I was getting pretty close to it.Elyx looked at me for several seconds, then released a quiet breath through his nose. “It would be better if you simply stopped pretending,” he said. “I suggest you reconsider before this reaches the courtroom.”I felt a lump in my throat. “This,” he continued, lifting his hand between us, “is the one secret that will stay with me.”He gave me a slight nod. “But I do not appreciate you making me look like a fool…when you’ve been walking around like a glowing orb with those eyes of yours, almost every day, doing as you please!”A short laugh escaped at his final words, and my thoughts stumbled over themselves.A glowing orb?Almost every day?That was not true…One thing closer to the truth was that he had just said he didn’t want to expose me, and for some crazy reason I a
VioletAs soon as the heavy doors slammed shut behind me, reality hit me like a ton of bricks. I was here, without Kylan, on my way to face the king. The best thing would have been to flee, but I knew I had to face this man one way or another, and today would be the day.A slow breath slipped past me as my eyes moved across the all too familiar room, taking everything in. The seats that had been filled by the council were all empty.There was not a single noble in sight, and not even a guard.Just…silence.The silence was so uncomfortable that even the sound of my own footsteps felt strange. I took a few careful steps forward, my gaze still flickering around.Where was he?What did he want from me?The question barely formed in my mind before I heard footsteps from above that could only come from one person. King Elyx.My head snapped up toward the staircase, to a pair of polished shoes as he came down.His steps were calm and controlled, making it clear that he had all the time in th
VioletKylan started laughing so loud for a second that I almost forgot where we were. He wasn’t wrong to laugh because it was indeed hilarious. In what world would Kylan and the king ever hold hands to save the witches?Just the thought of it was enough for a small laugh to escape from my lips as
KylanI waited for an answer, and could quickly tell that there wasn’t going to be one.Violet tried to smile through my words, but I saw a tiny falter in her eyes. I knew her too well to know it did bother her. She would hold onto it for a while, think it over, and because we talked about all of t
VioletI blinked a few times, hoping it would somehow make her forget what she had asked me in the first place, but it didn’t. Trinity was as sharp as ever.“The Varius guy,” she said again, her tone growing slightly impatient. “What did he want from you just now?”I pursed my lips, shaking my head
Kylan‘Only you can stop this…’We had been walking for a while again, but those were the only words running through my head. Even as I felt Dylan and Fergus watching me, still worried about the headache from earlier, I could only think about Violet.I didn’t want to play with fate. I didn’t even w







