Chapter 19: Nineteen

Chapter 19

Ella’s POV

“Sam, no!”

My voice cracked through the smoke as I watched him stand between me and that… thing. The shadow that looked like my father wasn’t supposed to be here. He was gone. I saw him die. I felt him die.

Yet the darkness in front of me was real. Too real. The heat of the fire didn’t reach him, like even flames were too afraid to touch him.

Sam’s claws had already half-sprouted, his wolf threatening to break through. His growl vibrated through the air, low and dangerous.

“Ella,” he barked without looking at me, “get out.”

“I’m not leaving you!”

He turned slightly, eyes flashing gold. “I said go!”

I staggered backward, coughing as smoke filled my lungs. My body still ached from the collapsed beam, and my ribs screamed every time I tried to move, but I couldn’t just leave him. I pressed my back to the wall, trying to stay out of sight.

My father or whatever wore his face tilted his head, the red in his eyes pulsing like embers. “Still protecting her, Alpha? You really think she’s yours?”

Sam didn’t answer. He lunged.

The sound of impact was deafening claws meeting shadow, growl meeting laughter. Sam’s body slammed into the creature, but the shadow only rippled, shifting like smoke. It struck back, sending him crashing into a burning table. Wood splintered, sparks flying.

“Stop it!” I screamed, tears cutting through the soot on my face. “You’re not real!”

The shadow turned to me, grinning the same grin my father wore the day he chose his rituals over me. “Oh, but I am, little wolf. You carry me inside you.”

I froze.

“What do you mean?”

“Your blood,” he hissed, “is mine. And through it, I live.”

Something burned beneath my skin hot, sharp, crawling. I doubled over, clutching my stomach as a searing heat spread through my veins. My father’s laughter grew louder, echoing in my skull.

Sam roared and charged again, claws slashing through the darkness. “Stay the hell away from her!”

The shadow’s form rippled again, but this time, it didn’t dodge. It struck its hand through Sam’s chest, right over his heart. Sam gasped, blood spraying across the flames.

“No!” I screamed, pushing off the wall and running toward them.

Without thinking, I grabbed the only thing near me, a broken shard of glass from one of the lab vials. The edge sliced into my palm as I raised it and drove it into the shadow’s back. The contact burned, not it me. Pain exploded up my arm, white-hot and blinding.

The shadow shrieked, jerking backward. I fell to my knees, clutching my bleeding hand, trembling as black smoke poured out of the wound like venom. My father’s face twisted in fury.

“You shouldn’t have done that.”

Before I could move, something invisible slammed into me, sending me flying across the floor. My head hit the wall, and stars exploded behind my eyes.

“Ella!” Sam’s voice cut through the haze. He was staggering to his feet, his shirt soaked in blood. “Stay down!”

But I couldn’t. I forced my shaking body up. “Sam, it’s not just him. He's using me!”

The demon’s laughter roared around us, deep and echoing. The fire around him began to die down, sucked into his body like he was feeding on it. The room dimmed until only the red of his eyes lit the smoke.

Then his gaze shifted past me, toward the doorway.

Cole was there. His eyes widened at the scene of the fire, the blood, the shadow twisting in the air. “What in the hell ”

“Don’t come closer!” I yelled. “It’s feeding on energy in life!”

Too late. The shadow darted forward, lightning-fast, and slammed into Cole. He screamed as his body lifted off the ground, his veins turning black under his skin.

“Cole!” Sam roared, charging again. His claws slashed through smoke, barely touching the creature. Every strike just made it laugh harder.

I scrambled toward Cole, grabbing his arm, trying to pull him free. His pulse fluttered weakly beneath my fingers. “Don’t you dare die on me,” I muttered, tears mixing with blood on my face.

He opened his mouth and instead of words, black smoke poured out.

That’s when I realized the truth.

The shadow wasn’t just here to hurt us. It was trying to merge. With him. With me. With Sam. It wanted to return fully through us.

My father’s voice hissed in my ear. “You can’t fight what’s inside you, little wolf.”

“Watch me,” I whispered.

I pressed my bleeding hand to Cole’s chest. The same burning energy surged again, wild, raw, terrifying. But this time, I didn’t pull away. I pushed. Light burst out from my palm, bright enough to blind.

The shadow screamed, the sound rattling the walls. Its form twisted, breaking apart into tendrils that clawed at the air before vanishing into smoke. Cole dropped to the ground, unconscious but breathing. The fire roared back to life, filling the room with orange light.

My legs gave out. Sam caught me before I hit the ground.

His face hovered over mine pale, blood dripping from his mouth. “You’re insane,” he whispered hoarsely. “You could’ve killed yourself.”

I managed a weak smile. “You’re welcome.”

He let out a choked laugh, half relief, half disbelief, before his eyes rolled back and he collapsed beside me.

For a moment, the world was quiet again, no screams, no flames, no shadow. Just me, Sam, and Cole on the cold floor.

Then I heard it.

A whisper.

From the darkness where the smoke had cleared.

“This isn’t over.”

The lights flickered. Every hair on my body stood on end.

A

nd when I turned toward the broken mirror across the room my reflection wasn’t mine.

It was smiling.