Chapter 47 Forty Seven
DANIKA
The drive is a blur. I don't even remember how we got here, how the city lights turned into winding roads, or how the roaring engine drowned out the pounding of my heart. All I know is that when the car stops, I don't wait for him to open the door. I shove it open by myself and stumble out into the freezing night.
The moment my feet hit the gravel, I start walking fast. I don't care where. I just need space. I can't breathe around him.
Kaziel's house looms in front of me, the dark stone and glass glinting under the moonlight. It feels...different tonight. Colder. The air vibrates with an aura that makes the hairs on my arms rise.
I storm through the front door, barely hearing it slam behind me. My hands shake as I push through the hallway and into the first door I find. I slam it shut and lock it, my chest heaving.
My heart feels like it's going to explode. I press my back against the door, sliding down until I'm sitting on the floor, trembling.
What the hell just happened?
Kaziel—no, that thing—threw Tyler like he was nothing. His eyes were pitch black. His voice didn't even sound right.
The same man who always kissed my forehead like I was sacred had looked at me like I was betrayal standing in the flesh.
A sharp thud rattles the door. I jump.
"Danika," the rumble in his voice makes me feel sick to my stomach.
"Go away," I manage to say, my voice cracking. "I don't want to talk to you right now."
The knob rattles violently. "Open the door."
"No."
For a moment silence settles. And just when I think he's given up, a terrifying growl vibrates through the wood.
Before I can even move back, the door bursts open, the lock snapping with a sickening crack.
I scramble to my feet, trembling.
He stands in the doorway, his chest heaving. He still looks...monstrous.
I take a step back. "You're not in your right mind," I whisper. "Kaziel, you need to calm down."
He tilts his head, his voice dangerously low. "Calm down? You expect me to calm down when the moment I look away, you run straight into his arms?"
I stare at him in disbelief. "What are you talking about?"
He takes a step closer, each movement predatory. "Don't play dumb with me, Danika. I saw you. You had your hands all over him. You let him touch you."
I blink, stunned. "He was bleeding, Kaziel! He could barely stand! I was helping him!"
He lets out a cold laugh that doesn't sound human. "Helping him. That's what you call it?"
Anger flares inside of me. I straighten my spine and meet his blackened gaze head-on.
"I didn't know the great Kaziel could be this insecure," I spit, the words laced with venom. "You have power, strength, and immortality... yet one dying man is enough to make you lose your goddamn mind?"
His nostrils flare, his jaw flexing. The air between us tightens, his claws extending.
"Put them away," I utter in a low voice.
He doesn't move.
"I said, put. them. away." I hiss. "You don't get to come in here and act like this. Not with me."
For a second, something flashes in his eyes. Recognition and pain. It’s a sign that maybe the real him is fighting through.
But then it's gone, his eyes bleak once more.
He takes another step forward and I lift my chin higher, refusing to back down. I may be terrified, but I'll be damned if I let him see it.
"Danika," he says, his voice distorted. "You don't understand what you've done."
"I understand perfectly," I shoot back. "You're not you right now. I think...the Hollow's twisting you, and you're letting it win."
He growls, and the lights flicker. My pulse is thrown into a frenzy, but I don't move. Not even when he's close enough that I can see the creepy black veins crawling up his neck.
He reaches for me, and I slap his hand away, hard.
"Don't," I warn. "Don't you dare touch me until you're back to your senses."
For a split second, his entire body goes still. Then, impossibly, a crack forms in his expression. It's grief. His breathing falters.
"Dani..." he rasps, his voice suddenly his own, barely.
The curse has him in its claws now. What does this mean for us?
For a long, unbearable moment, neither of us moves.
I can see the war behind his eyes, him and the Hollow clashing for control inside the same body.
"Kaziel," I whisper, my voice softer. "Listen to me. You're stronger than this."
He flinches, his claws twitching.
"This isn't you," I continue, moving closer despite my instincts screaming at me to run. "You would never hurt me. You would never lose control like this. The Hollow is feeding on your anger, on your jealousy. But you're not it. You hear me? You're not it."
His hands tremble, his fingers curling inward as though he’s fighting himself.
"Dani..." His voice sounds broken. "Get away from me."
"I'm not leaving you like this."
The air thickens, pulsing with dark energy. Then suddenly, he grabs his head with both hands and lets out a hoarse cry. His knees buckle, hitting the floor hard.
All at once, the lights stop flickering.
He's shaking, gasping like he's drowning in his own lungs. And when he looks up at me again, his beautiful blue eyes are back. And they are bleeding with remorse.
"Danika..." he chokes, his voice cracking. "I'm sorry. I didn't…gods, I didn't mean to—"
I kneel down to meet his eyes, tears blurring my vision. "Don't," I whisper. "Don't say you didn't mean to. You weren't even here, Kaziel. You let that thing use you."
He bows his head, his shoulders trembling. "I tried to stop it."
"I know," I say, wiping my face with shaking hands. "But trying isn't enough anymore."
He looks up, his face contorted with pain. "Please, don't do this. Don't leave me."
"I need to," I whisper.
He reaches for me, his fingers hovering near my wrist. His gaze lingers on the cuts on my skin from his claws, and blood drains from his face.
"Danika, I’m sorry. I'll fix it, I swear—"
I shake my head. "No, Kaziel. You don't get to fix this in a night."
He exhales sharply. "Dani, please—"
"If you're really sorry," I say, forcing my voice to stay steady despite the ache tearing through me, "then give me space. That's how you prove it. You give me time."
He stares at me as if I’ve just stabbed him. "I can't—"
"You can," I cut in. "You just don't want to."
Tears slip down my cheeks, relentlessly. "When you've fought back that darkness…then you can come find me. Until then..."
I swallow hard, pushing to my feet. "...stay the hell away from me."
He stays on his knees, his head bowed. He’s breathing hard, like he's in pain just from existing.
"Danika—"
I turn away, my voice cracking as I whisper, "Don't make me hate you."
And before he can say another word, I walk out.
I don’t stop moving until I’m on the front porch. Finally, my feet halt, and the tears return with more intensity.
My chest tightens until breathing feels like punishment. I hate this…hate that even after everything, my heart still aches for him.
He's in pain. I know that. The Hollow is eating at him and twisting his mind. Staying away will destroy him, but staying close will destroy me.
I sink against the wall, pressing my palms to my face as sobs rip through me. Every part of me wants to go back in there, to wrap my arms around him and tell him we'll figure it out. But I can't.
I can't become the thing he breaks to feel whole.
Suddenly, my phone buzzes in my back pocket.
I almost ignore it.
There’s a new message from an unknown number.
‘Tyler isn't doing well. He might be dying. He's asking for you. I've attached the address.’
My blood runs cold.
The whole place tilts for a second, my knees threatening to buckle.
"Tyler..." I whisper, my voice trembling.
I glance back at the closed door, my heart thumping hard.
The universe really must hate me.
Because the moment I finally decide to walk away, it throws me right back into the fire.