Chapter 66 Secrets of the Goddess 🫦

Chapter 66 Secrets of the Goddess 🫦
I woke up choking on smoke.

Not real smoke. My room is cold. Stone walls. One candle burning low. But my lungs burn like I ran through fire. I sit up fast. My hands shake. My skin feels tight, like it does after I lose control.

Something is wrong.

I swing my legs off the bed. The floor bites my feet. I welcome it. Pain helps me focus. I grab my jacket and shove my arms through. My heart won’t slow down.

There’s a pull in my chest. Not fear. Not desire. Something older. Heavy.

I open the door.

The hallway is empty. No guards. No voices. The pack sleeps. That makes it worse. The pull tugs again. Down. Toward the lower tunnels.
The old ones. The ones no one uses anymore.

I tell myself not to go.But I still go anyway.

Each step feels like I’m walking into a memory that isn’t mine. My head aches. My fire stirs, restless. I keep one hand pressed to my ribs like I can hold myself together.

The tunnel mouth yawns open. Stone steps curve down. I hesitate. Then I hear it.

My name.

Not spoken. Felt.

I grip the wall and descend.

The air changes at the bottom. It smells clean. Sharp. Like rain before it falls. The chamber opens wide. Old markings cover the walls. Moon symbols. Blood marks scrubbed thin by time.

She stands in the center.

I stop breathing.

She looks like a woman. Bare feet on stone. Long dark hair. Pale skin that glows without light. Her eyes are silver. Not reflective. Alive.

I know her. I don’t know her.

I drop to my knees without deciding to. My body knows before my mind does.

“My lady,” I whisper. The words scrape out of me.

She watches me. Her face holds no warmth. No cruelty. Just truth.

“Stand,” she says.

Her voice isn’t loud. It fills the room anyway.
I stand. My legs shake.

“You called me,” I say.

She tilts her head. “No. You were ready.”

My chest tightens. “I don’t feel ready.”

A flicker passes through her eyes. Almost pity.
“You never do.”

I swallow. “Why now?”

“Because you are breaking,” she says. “And because the war has begun.”

My pulse spikes. “The rogue army?”

“Yes.”

“They know who I am.”

“They always did.”

That lands hard. “Then why hide me? Why let me live like this?”

She steps closer. The air presses in. My fire recoils, then bows.

“Because choice matters,” she says. “Even when destiny does not.”

Anger sparks. Real anger. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“It does,” she says. “You were never meant to be safe. You were meant to decide.”

I clench my hands. “Decide what?”

She lifts her palm. The air shimmers. Images crash into my mind.

Fire. So much fire.

A city burning. Wolves screaming. Blood soaking stone.

Me. Standing in the center. Older. Harder. My eyes empty.

I gasp and stagger back. “Stop.”

She lowers her hand. The images fade but the weight stays.

“That was your past life,” she says. “The first Slayer.”

I shake my head. “No. I don’t remember that.”

“You remember the fear,” she says. “The rage. The hunger to end it all.”

My stomach twists. “I died.”

“Yes.”

“And I came back.”

“You were reborn.”

“Why?” My voice cracks. “Why me again?”

“Because the war did not end,” she says. “It only slept.”

My hands burn. Fire creeps along my fingers. I fight it down.

“The rogue army,” I say. “Who leads them?”

Her gaze sharpens. “One who was spared.”

A cold spreads through me. “By me?”

“Yes.”

I think of faces I’ve burned. Enemies who begged. One man who smiled even as he fell.
My knees weaken. “I didn’t finish it.”

“No.”

“So this is my fault.”

“It is your responsibility,” she corrects.

That hurts more.

I look away. “Kael and Riven. Are they part of this?”

“They are bound to you,” she says. “As
protectors. As catalysts.”

I bark a laugh. It sounds broken. “They’ll die.”

“Perhaps.”

The word slices clean.

“I won’t let that happen.”

Her voice hardens. “You may not have a choice.”

I step forward. “Then tell me what to do.”

She studies me. Long. Deep. Like she’s weighing my bones.

“There are two paths,” she says. “One ends the war quickly. One spares what you love.”

My heart hammers. “And the cost?”

“Everything,” she says. “Either way.”

I shake my head. “That’s not a choice.”

“It is the only one you get.”

My throat burns. “If I embrace this. Fully. What happens to me?”

“You become what you were,” she says. “Feared. Obeyed. Alone.”

“And if I refuse?”

“The war spreads,” she says. “The packs fall. Your Alphas die fighting for you.”

Tears sting. I don’t wipe them.

“This isn’t fair.”.

She didn’t argue.

I whisper, “Do I get to love?”

Silence stretches. Heavy.

“Not safely,” she says.

Something in me cracks.

I think of Kael’s hands, steady and warm.
Riven’s sharp smile, the way his eyes soften only for me. The way they look at me like I’m real. Like I choose who I am.

I straighten. My voice steadies. “You don’t get to take that from me.”

Her eyes flare. “You would risk the world for love?”

“I would risk myself,” I say. “There’s a difference.”

She steps back. The chamber trembles.

“Then hear this,” she says. “The Blood Moon rises in three nights. When it does, your power will peak. So will theirs.”

“The rogue army will attack,” I say.

“Yes.”

“And my choice?”

“Must be made before the moon sets.”

The air starts to thin. Her form blurs.

“Wait,” I say. “If I choose myself. If I choose love. Can I still win?”

She looks at me one last time.

“You can survive,” she says. “Winning is something else.”

Then she’s gone.

The chamber empties. The pull vanishes. I sag against the wall, breathing hard.

My fire flickers. Unstable. Hungry.

Three nights.

Everything comes due.

I leave the tunnels before dawn. When I reach my room, I don’t sleep. I sit on the edge of the bed and stare at my hands.

I think about power. About cost.
And I know one thing for sure.
Whatever I choose will destroy something.

I just don’t know yet if it will be the world.
Or me.