Chapter 18 Chapter 19
Chapter 18 Chapter 19
Aveline’s POV
I don’t remember when the ground disappeared beneath my feet.
One second I was standing beside Fenrir, trying to steady my breathing, trying to make sense of the strange pull crawling under my skin… and the next—
Everything was gone.
The courtyard. The voices. The air.
Even him.
It was like something had reached into my chest and yanked me out of the world.
I hit the ground hard.
A sharp pain shot through my side, knocking the air out of my lungs. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. I just lay there, curled slightly, fingers digging into cold earth that didn’t feel like earth at all.
It was too smooth.
Too still.
Too quiet.
I forced a breath into my lungs and pushed myself up slowly, my head spinning.
“Fenrir?” I called out.
My voice sounded… wrong.
Like it didn’t belong to me.
Like it was being swallowed before it could go anywhere.
I looked around.
And my stomach dropped.
This wasn’t the pack.
It wasn’t anywhere I had ever seen before.
The sky above me was dark, but not like night. There were no stars. No moon. Just a heavy, endless stretch of black that pressed down like it had weight.
The ground beneath me stretched out in every direction—flat, pale, almost like stone—but not quite. It shimmered faintly, like something alive was moving beneath it.
There were no trees.
No buildings.
No sound.
Just… emptiness.
A slow, cold fear crept up my spine.
“Where am I…?” I whispered.
No answer.
Of course not.
I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly aware of how exposed I was. The white gown clung to me, the fabric too thin for whatever this place was.
I took a careful step forward.
The ground didn’t feel solid.
It felt like it was watching me.
I swallowed hard and kept walking.
Because standing still felt worse.
I didn’t know how long I walked.
Time didn’t feel right here.
My steps didn’t echo. My breathing didn’t change. It was like I was moving through something that didn’t want to acknowledge I existed.
Until—
A sound.
Soft.
Barely there.
Like a whisper brushing against my ear.
I froze.
“…veline…”
My heart stopped.
I turned sharply. “Who’s there?!”
Nothing.
Just that same endless, suffocating silence.
My pulse started racing.
“I’m not playing games,” I said, my voice trembling despite the effort to keep it steady. “Show yourself!”
A pause.
Then—
A laugh.
Low.
Faint.
Not human.
It slithered through the air, wrapping around me, sinking into my skin.
I took a step back.
“Leave me alone.”
“You don’t sound like you mean that.”
The voice was clearer now.
Still wrong.
Still… not right.
It didn’t come from one direction. It came from everywhere.
From the ground.
From the air.
From inside my head.
I pressed my hands against my ears. “Stop.”
“You called out first.”
“I didn’t call you.”
“You called someone.”
My breath hitched.
Fenrir.
The thought of him made something tighten painfully in my chest.
“He’s not here,” the voice continued, softer now. “No one is.”
“Good,” I snapped. “Then I don’t have to deal with you either.”
Silence.
Then another laugh.
This one quieter.
Amused.
“You’re angry.”
“I’m not afraid of you.”
“That’s not what I said.”
I clenched my jaw.
“Show yourself,” I demanded.
A pause.
Long enough to make my skin crawl.
Then—
The air in front of me shifted.
At first, it was just a ripple.
Like heat rising from the ground.
Then it started to take shape.
A figure.
Tall.
Vague.
Not fully there.
I couldn’t see its face.
I couldn’t even tell if it had one.
But I could feel it.
Watching me.
Studying me.
Like I was something it had been waiting for.
My fingers curled into fists.
“You took me,” I said. “Bring me back.”
It tilted its head slightly.
Almost curious.
“Back?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
The question caught me off guard.
“Because I don’t belong here.”
“Don’t you?”
I hesitated.
Just for a second.
And that was enough.
“You were never meant to stay where you were,” it said softly.
“That’s not your decision to make.”
“It already has been.”
My chest tightened.
“I have a life.”
“Do you?”
The way it said it—
It made something twist uncomfortably inside me.
Images flashed through my mind.
My mother lying weak and barely breathing.
My father’s cold, calculating eyes.
Jackson’s voice, dripping with disgust.
The crowd laughing as I was thrown out.
The dungeon.
The chains.
The pain.
I forced the thoughts away.
“That doesn’t mean I belong here,” I said sharply.
The figure stepped closer.
Or maybe it didn’t.
It was hard to tell.
Distance didn’t seem to work properly in this place.
“You don’t belong anywhere,” it said.
The words hit harder than they should have.
Because a part of me—
A part I didn’t want to acknowledge—
Recognized the truth in them.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “That’s not true.”
“Then tell me where you belong.”
I opened my mouth.
Then closed it.
Because the answer didn’t come.
Not immediately.
And that silence—
That hesitation—
It heard it.
It always heard it.
“Exactly,” it whispered.
Something sharp twisted in my chest.
“I have my mother,” I said, forcing the words out.
“Dying.”
The word landed like a slap.
I flinched.
“She’s still alive.”
“For now.”
“Stop it.”
“You left her.”
“I didn’t have a choice!”
“You always have a choice.”
My breath came faster now.
My hands trembled.
“I did what I had to do.”
“And look where it brought you.”
I looked around again.
At the empty, endless space.
The suffocating darkness.
My stomach twisted.
“This isn’t my fault.”
“Isn’t it?”
I shook my head violently. “No.”
The figure moved closer.
This time, I knew it had.
Because the air around me grew colder.
Sharper.
Like it was pressing against my skin.
“You made every choice that led you here,” it said quietly.
“I was forced—”
“You chose to survive.”
My voice caught.
“That’s not wrong.”
“I didn’t say it was.”
Silence stretched between us.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
Then—
“Tell me, Aveline,” it continued. “How far are you willing to go?”
My brows pulled together.
“What do you mean?”
“To survive.”
A slow, creeping feeling settled in my chest.
Uneasy.
Dangerous.
“I’ve already done things I’m not proud of,” I said.
“I know.”
“I won’t do anything worse.”
“Won’t you?”
Its voice dropped slightly.
Lower.
More intimate.
“What if I told you… you could save her?”
Everything in me stilled.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
My heart started pounding.
“How?”
A pause.
Then—
“Power.”
The word echoed strangely in the empty space.
“What kind of power?”
“Enough.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one you need.”
I stared at it.
My mind racing.
“You’re lying.”
“I don’t need to lie.”
“Then prove it.”
Silence.
Then—
The ground beneath my feet shifted.
Not violently.
Not suddenly.
Just… changed.
Images started to form around me.
Faint at first.
Then clearer.
I gasped.
My mother.
She was lying on the bed, just like I had left her.
Pale.
Weak.
Barely breathing.
The physician stood beside her, shaking his head slowly.
“No…” I whispered.
I stepped forward instinctively, reaching out—
But my hand passed straight through the image.
It flickered.
Distorted.
“She’s dying,” the voice said softly.
Tears burned my eyes.
“I know that.”
“And you can stop it.”
My hands trembled.
“How?”
“Accept what you are.”
I turned sharply.
“What does that mean?”
“You are not ordinary.”
“I never said I was.”
“No,” it agreed. “You didn’t.”
The image of my mother flickered again.
Faded slightly.
Like it was slipping away.
“Time is running out,” it continued.
Panic surged through me.
“Stop that,” I snapped. “Don’t take her away.”
“Then make a choice.”
My chest tightened painfully.
“What choice?”
“Power… or nothing.”
The words settled heavily.
Dangerously.
“And what do you get?” I asked.
It tilted its head again.
“Why does that matter?”
“Because nothing comes for free.”
A pause.
Then—
“You’re right.”
Something about the way it said it made my stomach twist.
Cold.
Uneasy.
“If I accept,” I said slowly, “what happens to me?”
Silence.
Then—
“You become what you were meant to be.”
That wasn’t reassuring.
“And if I refuse?”
The image of my mother flickered again.
Weaker this time.
“She dies.”
My breath caught.
Tears spilled down my cheeks before I could stop them.
“You’re forcing me.”
“I’m offering you a choice.”
“That’s not a choice!”
“It is.”
My hands curled into fists.
My nails dug into my palms.
Hard enough to hurt.
Good.
I needed the pain.
Needed something real.
“Say I accept,” I said. “Say I take your power… what happens after that?”
“You live.”
“That’s not enough.”
“You save her.”
“And then?”
A pause.
Longer this time.
Then—
“You become mine.”
The words echoed.
Louder.
Sharper.
Like they were meant to cut.
My heart pounded violently in my chest.
“What does that mean?”
No answer.
The silence itself was the answer.
And I didn’t like it.
Not one bit.
I shook my head slowly.
“No.”
The word felt heavy.
Difficult.
But right.
“I’m not giving myself to you.”
The air around me shifted again.
Colder this time.
Sharper.
“You already belong to me,” it said quietly.
“No.”
“You were chosen long before tonight.”
“I don’t care.”
“You will.”
“I won’t.”
Silence.
Then—
The image of my mother flickered violently.
Her chest rose once.
Then—
Barely at all.
“No!” I screamed.
I turned back to the figure, panic crashing over me.
“Stop it!”
“Choose.”
My breathing came fast and uneven.
My thoughts tangled together.
My heart felt like it was being ripped apart.
“I—”
The word got stuck in my throat.
Because no matter what I chose—
I was losing something.
My freedom.
Myself.
Or her.
And I couldn’t—
I couldn’t lose her.
Not af
ter everything.
Not when she was all I had left.
My vision blurred with tears.
“I…”
The figure waited.
Silent.
Patient.
Like it already knew what I would say.
And maybe it did.
Because deep down—
I already knew.
My hands trembled.
My chest ached.
And slowly…
I lifted my head.
“I—”
A sudden force slammed into the space around me.
The ground cracked.
The air shattered.
The figure recoiled sharply, its form distorting violently.
I stumbled back, startled.
“What—?”
Then I felt it.
A presence.
Different.
Familiar.
Strong.
My heart skipped.
No…
That wasn’t possible.
“Aveline.”
My breath caught.
That voice—
I turned sharply toward the sound.
And my heart nearly stopped.
“Fenrir…?”