Chapter 10 THE SHADOWS.
Venessa’s POV.
Falling into the Void didn't feel like a drop. It felt like being swallowed by an ocean of cold water.
One second, I was in Dante’s bedroom, staring at the terrifying glow on our chests.
The next, the floor was gone. Gravity didn't exist.
There was only a cold, suffocating weight that pressed against my lungs until I forgot how to breathe.
Then, my feet hit solid ground.
The impact sent a jolt of pain up my spine.
I stumbled, my knees hitting a surface that felt like cold glass.
I gasped, drawing in air that tasted like too much smoke.
"Dante?" I choked out.
"I’m here."
His voice was a low rasp right behind me.
A second later, his hand gripped my shoulder, pulling me to my feet.
Even through the fabric of my dress, I felt his down go down my spine.
It was the only thing that felt real in this nightmare.
I looked around.
We weren't in the Citadel. We weren't even on the mountain.
We were standing in a forest made of shadows. The trees were twisted, jagged things that looked like pillars of frozen smoke.
There was no sun, no stars—only a dark sky.
The ground was covered in a grey, ashy sand that didn't leave footprints.
"Where are we?" I whispered, my voice trembling.
Dante didn't let go of my shoulder, his eyes scanning the mist.
The mark on his chest was glowing so brightly it shone through his shirt, casting a violet light over the grey sand.
"The In-Between," he said. "The border of the Void. Silas didn't just want to kill us, Venessa. He wanted to use the bond to pull us here. We’re the bridge."
We started walking. There was no other choice.
Behind us, the darkness was so thick it looked like a wall of ink.
Ahead, the smoke-trees seemed to part, leading us deeper into the darkness.
"We have to close it," I said. The cold wasn't just in the air; it was in my soul.
I could feel the grey veins in my arms pulsing, trying to freeze my blood from the inside out.
"I know," Dante retorted.
He looked at me, and for a heartbeat, the ice in his eyes melted. I saw the man who had held me in the cellar.
"But to close it, we have to find the source. We are the anchors. As long as we’re together in this place, the door stays open."
"So we just... leave?"
"It’s not that simple. The Void doesn't let go of what it catches."
As we walked, the air grew heavier. The shadows seemed to reach for us, stroking the hem of my dress and the sleeves of Dante’s shirt. It felt like being watched by a thousand invisible eyes.
"Silas said the First King is waiting," I said. "He said he wants a vessel."
Dante’s grip on my hand tightened. "He won't have you. I’ll burn this entire dimension to the ground before I let him touch you."
Under any other circumstance, I would have rolled my eyes. But here, with the sky bleeding purple and the trees whispering my name, it was the only thing keeping me from screaming.
We reached an area where the smoke-trees fell away.
In the center sat a pool of water, perfectly still and black. It looked exactly like the basin in the secret library, but it was massive.
"The Well of Truth," Dante whispered.
As we stepped closer, the surface of the water began to shimmer. Images swirled like ink in milk.
I saw a man. He was huge, with hair as dark as Dante’s, but his eyes were empty pits of darkness.
He wore a crown of stone. The First King.
He wasn't a hero. He was a man who had sold his soul for power, and when the bill came due, he had tried to pay it with the lives of his people.
Then the image shifted.
I saw a woman. She looked like me—small, she was standing in front of the First King. She wasn't crying. She was glowing.
"The first Queen," I said.
She hadn't been a sacrifice. She had been a lock.
She had used the mate bond to trap the King in the Void, turning her own heart into the key that kept the door shut. But the image showed something else. It showed that the door only stayed shut as long as the King and Queen weren't together.
The curse wasn't a sickness. It was a separation.
"Dante," I said, looking at our reflections in the black water. "The Kings were cold to their mates because they had to be. If they loved them…if the bond became too strong, the key would turn. The door would open."
Dante stood behind me, his chest pressing against my back. "That’s why my father treated my mother like a stranger. He wasn't a monster. He was a jailer. He thought that by being a jerk, he was saving the world.”
I turned around in his arms. "And you? Is that why you treated me like a contract ? Because you were afraid that if you liked me, the kingdom would end?”
Dante’s face contorted.
He reached out, his thumb brushing my lower lip. "I didn't just like you, Venessa. That was the problem. From the moment you stepped out of that carriage, my wolf was going wild . I fought it every second. I hated you for making me feel things I wasn't allowed to have."
It was the most honest he had ever been. And it was the most dangerous thing he could have said.
Suddenly, the smoke-trees hissed.
The ground shook, and from the mist, creatures began to crawl. They looked like humans, but their skin was grey and translucent, their eyes glowing a milky white.
The Lost Souls.
"Stay behind me!" Dante commanded.
He couldn't shift into his wolf here—the Void was too heavy. But he fought like a demon. He grabbed a branch that had fallen from a smoke-tree, the wood turning to stone in his hand.
The creatures lunged.
He struck them down with a brutality that made my stomach flip. But for every one he destroyed, three more crawled out of the sand.
"There's too many!" I yelled.
I felt a sharp, stinging heat in my palms. The grey power. It was buzzing under my skin, begging to be let out.
I didn't think about the prophecy. I didn't think about the danger. I just thought about Dante being overwhelmed.
I stepped forward and shoved my hands out.
A wave of grey mist exploded from me. It wasn't like Dante’s violet light; it was a hungry, swirling vortex.
When it hit the creatures, they didn't just fall—they dissolved.
They turned into smoke and were sucked into my skin.
"Venessa, stop!" Dante shouted, his eyes wide with horror.
But I couldn't. It felt amazing. The more of the shadow I took in, the stronger I felt. The pain in my body vanished, replaced by energy.
I felt like I could tear the sky in half.
"I’ve got this!" I screamed.
I pushed the mist further, clearing the entire clearing in seconds. The creatures vanished into nothing.
I stood there, my chest heaving, my hands glowing with a pale light.
"Venessa, look at yourself," Dante said, his voice trembling.
I looked down. The grey veins weren't just on my arms anymore. They were moving up my neck. My fingernails had turned black. I looked like one of the creatures I had just destroyed.
"I... I was just trying to help," I whispered.
"The shadow isn't a tool, Venessa," Dante said, stepping toward me. "It’s a trap. Every time you use it, you become more like him. You’re turning into the Key."
The sky above us began to swirl.
A giant, dark eye seemed to open in the clouds, staring down at us. The First King was watching.
He was waiting for me to take just a little more power.
"We have to go," I said, panic finally setting in. "Dante, how do we get back?"
"The void brought us here," Dante said, looking at the marks on our chests. "But our mate bond is what’s keeping the door open. To go back and close the door... we have to break it."
My heart stopped. "Break the bond? You mean... we won't be mates anymore?"
"It’s the only way to lock the door from this side,"
Dante said. Tears were shimmering in his eyes—the first time I had ever seen them.
"If we stay mates, the First King has a permanent link to our world. He’ll use you to get out."
"But I love you," the words slipped out before I could stop them.
Dante choked back a sob, pulling me into his arms.
He held me so tight I could hear his heartbeat—the one that had been synced with mine since the wedding. "I love you too. That’s why I have to do this. I won't let you become a monster’s puppet."
"Dante, no—"
"I’m sorry, Venessa. For everything."
He reached into the golden space between us. I couldn't see it, but I felt it.
He grabbed the invisible cord that tied our souls together. He didn't use a knife; he used his will. He used all the coldness, all the strength, and all the sacrifice of the Kings who came before him.
He snapped it.
The sound was like a thousand windows shattering at once.
Agony ripped through my chest, so intense that my vision went black. It felt like my soul was being torn in two.
I screamed, but no sound came out.
The violet glow on his chest went dark. The marks on our skin faded into nothing.
Without the bond to anchor us, the In-Between began to dissolve.
The smoke-trees turned to ash, and the sky fell.
I felt a gut-wrenching tug at my navel. I was being pulled back.
"Dante!" I reached for him, but he was already a blur of grey and shadow.
Then, there was only darkness.
I woke up on the cold stone floor of the library.
The air was warm.
The smell of old books and dust filled my nose.
I was alone.
I sat up slowly, my head spinning. My body felt heavy with exhaustion.
I looked at my hands.
The grey was gone. My skin was pale and normal . The veins had vanished, leaving only a faint, silver line on my wrist, like an old scar.
I reached inside. I looked for the hum.
I looked for the heartbeat that had been my constant companion for the last few days.
Nothing.
My wolf was silent because of our broken mate bond.
It was like living in a house where all the lights had been turned off. I felt empty. I felt... normal.
I stood up and made my way up the stairs.
I pushed open the door to the King’s chambers, my heart thudding with a desperate, dying hope.
Dante was standing by the window.
He was dressed in a clean white shirt and black trousers.
He looked perfect.
The black veins were gone from his neck. He looked healthy.
He turned around when I entered.
I waited for the spark.
I waited for the look of possessive hunger, or even the cold anger.
I waited for him to call my name.
He just stared at me. His eyes were a beautiful, piercing blue. But they were empty.
"Venessa," he said. His voice was formal. Like he was talking to a distant friend . "The guards said you had returned. I am glad you are unharmed."
"Dante?" I whispered, taking a step toward him. "Do you... do you remember the Void?"
He tilted his head, a small, puzzled frown on his face. "The Void? Ah, the ritual Silas attempted. Yes, it was a close call. The Council has already handled the traitors. Silas is dead, and the threat to the pack is over."
"And us?" I asked, my voice breaking. "Dante, what about us?"
He looked at me with a blank expression. "We are married, Venessa. The treaty is secure. You will have your own suite in the East Wing, and I will ensure your family is well looked after. You have done your duty. You are the Queen."
He turned back to the window, dismissing me.
Our mate bond was dead.
When he snapped it, he hadn't just save us.
He had erased the part of himself that belonged to me.
He remembered the facts, but he didn't feel the fire.
To him, I was just a girl in a grey dress who had helped him come out of the void.
I stood there for a long time, waiting for him to turn back. Waiting for the "jerk" to come back, or the lover, or even the monster.
But he just stood there, staring at the mountains, a King without a mate.
I turned and walked out of the room. The sound of the doors closing behind me felt like a final breath.
I had saved him. We had saved each other.
But as I walked through the silent halls of the Citadel, I realized that the "Substitute" was finally exactly what everyone wanted her to be.
I was alone. And for the first time in my life, I wished the shadows would come back and take me.