Chapter 27 Kael's Discovery

Chapter 27 Kael's Discovery
Sienna's POV

Silver light poured from Lily's chest.

I grabbed her from Kael. Held her against me. "Lily! Baby, look at me!"

Her eyes were rolled back. White. Empty.

The light burned my hands. I didn't let go.

"Do something!" I screamed at Kael.

He was already moving. Pulling equipment from his bag. A scanner. Something that beeped and flashed.

"Her vitals are crashing," he said. His voice was too calm. Too clinical. "Heart rate dropping. Brain activity spiking."

"What does that mean?"

"It means she's dying."

No. No no no.

I poured my power into her. All of it. Let it flow from my hands into her small body.

The silver light flickered. Started to fade.

"It's working," Kael said. "Keep going."

I pushed harder. My vision blurred. My legs shook.

Lily's eyes closed. The light disappeared completely.

She went limp in my arms.

"Lily?" I shook her gently. "Lily, wake up."

Nothing.

Kael pressed his scanner against her forehead. Checked the readings. His face went tight.

"She's stable. Unconscious but stable."

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Just held my daughter and tried not to fall apart.

Luna appeared beside me. "What happened?"

"Power surge," Kael said. He was tapping on his tablet. Pulling up more data. "But this doesn't match her previous episodes."

"What's different?"

"This one was triggered externally. Something pushed power into her. Overloaded her system."

He looked at me.

My stomach dropped. "I didn't mean to."

"I know." Kael sat back. Rubbed his face. "But that's the problem. You've been pouring power into her every time she has an episode. Trying to stabilize her. But it's making things worse."

"How?"

"Because your power and hers are linked. When you suppress yours, it creates pressure. That pressure transfers to her. When you release yours, it floods into her. Either way, she suffers."

Luna knelt beside Lily. Touched her forehead. "That's not possible. Moon witch power doesn't transfer like that."

"It does when they're blood relatives with active magic." Kael pulled up a chart on his tablet. Showed us. "Look at this. I've been tracking Lily's episodes since you arrived. Every single one corresponds to a moment when Sienna either suppressed her power or released it suddenly."

The data was clear. Undeniable.

I'd been hurting my daughter without knowing it.

"Why didn't you tell me?" My voice cracked.

"I just figured it out tonight. When I saw the pattern after you destroyed the cabin." Kael looked at Lily. "Every time you cage your power, she gets an episode. Every time you use it freely, she stabilizes. Your training with Luna has been killing her slowly."

I turned to Luna. "You knew this could happen."

"No. I swear I didn't." But she wouldn't meet my eyes.

"Moon witches have been passing power through bloodlines for centuries," Kael said. "It's in the old texts. The banned ones. Mothers and daughters. Sisters. The magic links them. Binds them together."

"Then why didn't Luna know?"

"Because the Assembly doesn't teach that history." Kael's voice was hard. "They teach suppression. Control. Caging. They don't teach balance or connection. They don't want moon witches understanding how powerful they really are."

Luna stood. Walked away. Stopped at the edge of the crater.

"You're saying everything I taught her was wrong," she said quietly.

"I'm saying suppression isn't the answer." Kael looked at his tablet again. "Medical science proves it. When you suppress supernatural energy in a linked system, it doesn't disappear. It transfers. It rebounds. It finds the weakest point and attacks there."

"Lily is the weakest point," I whispered.

"Yes."

I looked at my hands. Still glowing faintly silver. Still holding power I didn't know how to use right.

"So what do I do?"

"Stop suppressing. Stop caging. Learn actual control." Kael met my eyes. "Not control through holding back. Control through understanding. Through balance."

"Luna said balance gets moon witches killed."

"Luna taught you survival in a world that hunts you. But that world created a system that's killing your daughter." Kael's voice softened. "You have to choose. Survive their way and lose Lily. Or find a new way and risk everything."

Not a choice. Never a choice.

"Teach me," I said.

"I'm not a moon witch. I can't teach you magic."

"But you understand the science. The medical side. How the power works in the body." I grabbed his hand. "You said science and magic have to work together. So work with me. Help me figure this out."

Kael looked at our hands. At Lily unconscious between us. At the choice I was asking him to make.

"If I help you, I'm going against everything the Assembly teaches. Everything my profession stands for."

"I know."

"They'll strip my license. Destroy my career. Maybe kill me."

"I know."

He was quiet for a long moment. Then he nodded. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"I'll help you." He squeezed my hand. "Because you're right. Magic and science need each other. And because Lily deserves a chance to live without pain."

Something shifted in my chest. Something I didn't want to examine too closely.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"Don't thank me yet. This is going to be dangerous. For both of us."

Dr. Helena joined us. She'd been checking Orion. Now she looked at Lily with concern.

"How is she?"

"Stable. For now." Kael showed her his data. "But we need to run more tests. Understand the exact nature of the bond between her and Sienna."

"I can help with that." Dr. Helena pulled out her own scanner. "I've been researching supernatural genetics for years. If their life forces are truly linked, I should be able to map it."

She ran the scanner over Lily. Then over me. Her eyes widened.

"What?" I asked.

"This is remarkable." She turned her screen toward Kael. "Their energy signatures are identical. Not similar. Identical. Like they're sharing the same power source."

"That's not possible," Luna said from the crater's edge.

"It's happening anyway." Dr. Helena ran the scanner again. "When Sienna suppresses her power, look what happens."

The screen showed my energy dropping. And Lily's spiking.

"The power transfers to her," Kael said. "Because it has to go somewhere."

"Exactly. And when Sienna releases her power suddenly, it floods back. Overwhelms Lily's system. Causes the episodes." Dr. Helena looked at me. "You're not just linked. You're entangled. Your life forces are woven together."

My throat went dry. "Can we separate them?"

"I don't know. Maybe. But it might kill you both."

"Then what do we do?"

"You learn balance." Dr. Helena put her scanner away. "Keep your power steady. Not suppressed. Not explosive. Just steady. Flowing naturally. That's the only way to keep Lily stable."

"Luna's training teaches the opposite of that."

"I know." Dr. Helena looked at Luna. "Which means you need a new teacher."

Luna finally turned around. Her face was wet with tears. "I was trying to help."

"I believe you," I said. "But Kael's right. I need a different path."

"There is no different path. The Assembly's way is the only way to survive."

"Then I'll make a new way."

Lily stirred. Her eyes opened slowly. Brown eyes. Normal. Beautiful.

"Mommy?" Her voice was small.

"I'm here, baby."

"It hurt again."

"I know. I'm sorry. It won't hurt anymore. I promise."

"You can't promise that," Luna said.

"Watch me."

Lily reached up. Touched my face. "Don't hurt yourself for me. Please. It makes me sad when you hurt."

My heart cracked open. She knew. Somehow she knew what I'd been doing.

"I won't hurt myself anymore," I told her. "We're going to find a better way. Together."

She smiled. Closed her eyes. Fell asleep in my arms.

Kael stood. Offered me his hand. I took it. Let him help me up.

"We should get her somewhere safe," he said. "Run those tests. Figure out exactly how to stabilize the bond."

"Where? The cabin's destroyed. The Assembly is hunting us."

"My pack has a safe house," Daemon said.

I spun around. He was standing at the crater's edge. I hadn't heard him approach.

"How long have you been there?"

"Long enough." His face was grim. "We need to move. Now."

"Why?"

"Because I just got word from my scouts." He looked at each of us. "Vera escaped Assembly custody two hours ago. And she's not alone."