Chapter 68 Chapter 68
Harper arrived home just as the last traces of daylight faded from the sky, the house bathed in the soft glow of porch lights. She pushed open the front door, the familiar scent of dinner still lingering faintly from earlier, and stepped inside. The living room was dimly lit, and there, sprawled on the couch with his legs stretched out, was Kai. He was smiling down at his phone, thumbs flying across the screen in rapid, excited taps.
Harper’s lips curved into a mischievous grin.
She crept forward quietly, sneakers silent on the carpet, and snatched the phone right out of his hands before he could react.
Kai’s head snapped up, eyes wide with shock.
“Harper!” he yelped, lunging to his feet to grab it back. “Give that back!”
She darted away, laughing as she glanced at the screen.
The name at the top of the chat was “Lina” — a girl from their school, one of the quieter ones in the art club.
Kai chased after her, half-laughing, half-panicked.
“Harper, come on! That’s private!”
She weaved around the coffee table, holding the phone high.
“Who’s Lina?” she teased, dodging his reach. “Is she the reason you’ve been smiling at your phone like an idiot all week?”
Kai’s face flushed.
“Give it back, you little menace!”
He lunged again, this time catching her around the waist. The momentum sent them both tumbling onto the couch in a tangle of limbs. Harper landed on her back with Kai half on top of her, their faces suddenly inches apart. His breath brushed her cheek, warm and quick from the chase.
For a heartbeat, the air between them thickened.
Kai smirked, eyes sparkling with mischief.
“I’m not gonna kiss you,” he said, voice low and teasing.
He leaned down and pressed a gentle, brotherly kiss to her forehead instead.
Harper blinked, then burst out laughing.
“You have before,” she reminded him, still grinning.
Kai pulled back, helping her sit up as he snatched his phone from her loosened grip.
“That was a mistake, sister,” he said, emphasizing the word with a playful smile as he tucked the phone safely into his pocket.
Harper’s smile softened.
He had called her “sister” for the first time since they became step-siblings.
It felt… nice. Warm. Like something normal in the middle of all the chaos.
She thought about Koda — the real Koda, trapped somewhere inside The One — and wished he could be his own person again. She also wished The One could be his own person too, without the constant war inside one body. The two of them, separate but somehow still connected to her.
Kai noticed the distant look in her eyes.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked, nudging her shoulder gently.
Harper blinked, coming back to the present.
“Focus on texting Lina,” she teased, poking his arm as she stood up to walk away.
Kai gasped dramatically.
“You saw my chat!”
Harper laughed as she headed toward the stairs, but she stopped at the bottom step and turned back.
“You coming for the school trip, right?”
“Yeah, you?” Kai asked, looking up from his phone.
“Yes,” Harper replied. “But I don’t think you know who is coming.”
She meant The One, of course.
Kai raised an eyebrow.
“Well, it would be best if he doesn’t come, so he doesn’t ruin it,” he said, half-joking but with a serious edge.
Harper smiled faintly.
“Well, thanks, half-brother. That means so much.”
They both turned at the sound of footsteps.
The One stood at the entrance to the living room, dressed in his usual all-black clothes, the faint red glow at the edges of his eyes visible even in the soft lighting.
He leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, watching them with a calm, unreadable expression.
“Oh, you’re here, Koda.”
Kai turned, his gaze sharpening as it landed on him. “I mean—The One,” he corrected quickly.
The One let out a heavy sigh, the sound low and exhausted, like even breathing was irritating him.
He walked past them without another word. Harper watched him leave, the image of that single black tear sliding from his eyes still burned into her mind — thick, inky, unnatural.
“I’ll be back, Kai,” she said softly, already following after The One.
The corridor was dim and cold, the air heavy with tension. She caught up to him quickly, her footsteps echoing.
“The One, wait—”
He didn’t even slow down. “Fuck off, Harper.”
She grabbed his arm anyway. “Why are you being so rude? You know I’m just trying to help. You don’t have to talk to me like I’m some worthless piece of shit.”
He stopped abruptly and spun around, eyes blazing with pure disgust. “Help? You think you’re helping? God, you’re fucking delusional. I don’t need your pathetic little ‘help.’ I don’t need you at all. You’re just a clingy, annoying bitch who can’t take a hint. Look at you — following me around like a desperate dog begging for scraps. It’s disgusting.”
Harper’s chest tightened, hurt flashing across her face, but she lifted her chin and fired back. “Why are you acting like this? I know you’re hurting, but you don’t have to be so cruel. I care about you, even if you’re too much of an asshole to see it.”
He laughed — a cold, bitter sound that cut deeper than any insult. “Care about me? Save that weak shit for someone who gives a fuck. You’re nothing but a nuisance. A weak, emotional little girl throwing herself at someone who can barely stand the sight of you. Do you even hear how pathetic you sound? Keep this up and I’ll suck your soul out right here, drain every last drop until you’re just a hollow fucking corpse. Now get the hell away from me before I actually do it.”
Tears stung Harper’s eyes, but she didn’t back down. “You’re being such a rude bastard right now. I know there’s something more to this — that black tear, whatever’s happening to you. Why push me away when I’m the only one who—”
“Shut the fuck up!” he snarled, stepping closer, voice dripping with venom. “You think you know me? You don’t know shit. You’re just a stupid, lovesick fool who refuses to see how much I hate having you around. Leave. Now. Or I swear I’ll make you regret ever meeting me.”
Harper swallowed hard, voice shaking but still defiant. “Fine. If that’s how you really feel… I’ll leave you alone.”
She turned away, shoulders trembling as she started to walk off.
“Fuck.”
The curse ripped out of him, raw and furious.
His hand shot out like iron, fingers wrapping around her arm with bruising force. He yanked her back violently, spinning her around to face him. Before she could even gasp, he crashed his lips against hers in a savage, punishing kiss.
It wasn’t gentle — it was angry, desperate, filled with self-loathing and raw hunger. His grip on her waist was tight, pulling her body flush against his as if he hated how badly he needed this. The kiss tasted like darkness and rage, his teeth grazing her lip, the memory of that black tear still lingering even as heat exploded between them.
Harper’s hands fisted in his shirt, torn between the sting of his cruel words and the fire suddenly consuming her.
For one brutal moment, the venom disappeared.
There was only this — raw, messy, and all-consuming.