Chapter 19: 19: Magnus’ Warning
The Shadow That Shouldn’t Be There
POV – Ava
I felt him before I saw him.
A slow, creeping awareness that crawled over my skin like a phantom’s touch. A whisper in the dark, an unspoken warning.
I turned, breath caught in my throat.
Magnus.
He stood at the edge of the forest, half-shadowed, watching.
The moonlight cast an eerie glow over his sharp features, his dark cloak barely rustling in the wind.
He shouldn’t have been able to get this close.
Not to Dante’s island.
Not to me.
And yet—he was here.
Waiting.
And I didn’t run.
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A Proposition in the Dark
POV – Magnus
She didn’t flee.
Interesting.
Ava had been marked by Dante, ruined by him.
And yet, she was still drawn to the unknown.
Drawn to me.
“You shouldn’t be here,” she said, her voice steady, though I could hear the quickened rhythm of her heart.
I smiled. “Neither should you.”
She stiffened, her fingers curling at her sides.
She was thinking about last night.
About the way Dante had taken her, claimed her, tried to erase the taste of Lucien from her skin.
But possession wasn’t love.
And she was starting to understand that.
I stepped closer, slow and deliberate.
“You want the truth, Ava?”
Her breath hitched.
She wouldn’t run.
Because deep down, she already knew Dante was hiding something.
She was just waiting for someone to confirm it.
And I would.
For a price.
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A Choice That Isn’t a Choice
POV – Ava
I swallowed hard, fighting the magnetic pull of his voice.
“Dante told me everything,” I said, forcing steel into my tone.
Magnus chuckled. “No, he told you what he wanted you to believe.”
I exhaled sharply. “Then tell me.”
His head tilted slightly, eyes gleaming with something unreadable. “Are you sure you want to know, little one?”
I wasn’t.
But I nodded anyway.
Magnus watched me for a moment, then sighed. “Dante’s curse isn’t what he claims it to be.”
I frowned. “Then what is it?”
He took a slow step forward, his presence a dark gravity that made it impossible to move.
“You are the key to breaking it.”
My stomach dropped. “What?”
He smirked.
“But to do so…” He reached out, fingers grazing my cheek.
“Dante must die.”
I flinched back as if he’d struck me.
“No.” I shook my head. “You’re lying.”
Magnus sighed, his expression almost pitying.
“Ava, you feel it, don’t you? The way he clings to you. The way he fights the inevitable.”
I clenched my jaw.
“Dante’s blood is bound to a cycle,” Magnus continued. “One that can only be broken with sacrifice.”
My chest tightened painfully.
“I don’t believe you,” I whispered.
Magnus smiled. “Then why are you trembling?”
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A Dangerous Encounter
POV – Dante
I had given her space.
I had let her breathe.
And this was how she repaid me?
With him?
I moved before I could think.
Fast. Silent. Furious.
I was on her in seconds, gripping her wrist, pulling her away from him.
“Ava,” I said, my voice low, controlled. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
She stiffened, but I felt the tremor in her pulse.
I turned to Magnus, my jaw ticking.
“You have no place here.”
Magnus smirked. “Neither does she.”
I saw red.
I slammed him against the nearest tree, my fingers tightening around his throat.
But Magnus just laughed.
“Kill me if you want,” he murmured. “It won’t change what’s coming.”
Ava let out a sharp breath behind me.
And fuck, I hated that she was listening to him.
That his words were seeping into her mind like poison.
“You think you can protect her from fate?” Magnus whispered, his voice a razor blade.
“She doesn’t need protection,” I growled. “She needs to be kept far away from you.”
He chuckled. “If only that were possible.”
Something inside me snapped.
I reared back and drove my fist into his ribs, savoring the crack of bone.
Magnus groaned, but his smirk never faded.
“Let’s see how long she believes in you,” he murmured, blood dripping from his lips.
I released him, shoving him back.
“Stay away from her.”
Magnus brushed the blood from his mouth, his eyes glinting with something dark.
“I would,” he said. “But we both know she’ll come to me soon enough.”
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The Shattered Trust
POV – Ava
The world felt unsteady beneath me.
Dante’s hand was still wrapped around my wrist, but suddenly, it didn’t feel like safety.
It felt like a chain.
I should have ignored Magnus.
I should have turned away, let Dante’s rage silence him.
But I couldn’t.
Because part of me—the part I had been trying to drown in Dante’s touch—was screaming that Magnus was telling the truth.
Dante turned to me, his blue eyes burning.
“You don’t believe him,” he said, as if daring me to argue.
I hesitated. Just for a second.
And that second was enough.
His grip on my wrist tightened ......................