Chapter 158 Hundred and sixty one

Chapter 158 Hundred and sixty one

“Don’t move.” Sienna’s voice cut through the cold air as Ryder tried , and failed , to push himself off the floor. He had collapsed sideways after the last surge of power, and now he was breathing like a man dragging air through broken glass. She knelt beside him fast, gripping his shoulders as he trembled violently, his muscles tightening and loosening in painful spasms. “Ryder, look at me.”

His head jerked, not quite a nod, not quite defiance. “I’m fine,” he forced out, though the words cracked with strain. “I just… need a moment.”

“You’re lying,” she whispered, brushing her fingers across the back of his neck where Lunaris’s shadow mark pulsed like a living wound. The skin was fever-hot, almost burning her fingertips. “Your body isn’t handling the shift.”

“It’s handled worse,” he muttered, though sweat dripped down his jaw and his hands clenched against the stone as if the earth itself could stop him from shaking apart.

“You’re not proving anything to me,” she said sharply.

“I’m proving it to myself,” he breathed, eyes closing as another convulsion dragged through his spine. His teeth clicked from the force of it, and he swallowed a groan that still escaped in fragments. “I said I would protect you.”

“You can’t protect me if you die.” She tightened her grip on him. “Ryder, stop pushing your body past what it can take.”

“You say that as if I have a choice.” His laugh was short, broken. “She’s pulling at me again. Like a hook in my lungs. Like she wants to drag me by the breath.”

Sienna felt her own pulse quicken. “The spirit realm.”

He nodded once, head dropping forward. “Every time you use your power… it slows her. Blocks her. But when it fades…” His jaw locked as another tremor hit him. “She yanks harder.”

“Then we keep training,” Sienna said quickly. “We keep stabilizing you.”

He shook his head once , barely enough to move , but enough to show he didn’t agree. “Sienna… you saw what you became. You’re not just channeling energy anymore. You’re drawing from the temple. From the goddess. From things older than this world. If you keep pushing that, you will burn yourself out.”

“And if I stop,” she whispered, “she’ll take you.”

His entire body jerked at the word take. For a moment, he bowed forward, pressing his forehead to the cold stone as if grounding himself. His voice dropped to a raw whisper. “I don’t want her to win.”

“She won’t,” Sienna breathed, sliding an arm around him to lift him slightly. “I’m not letting her.”

Another convulsion hit.

His spine arched sharply. His hands slammed against the floor. His ribs strained against his skin so violently she thought they might snap. A strangled sound tore from his throat , not a cry, not a roar, but something broken between the two.

“Ryder,” she gasped, pulling him against her, holding his head so he wouldn’t strike it. “Breathe through it. Stay with me. Stay right here.”

“I’m trying,” he choked. “She’s ripping at the mark , Sienna, it feels like, ” He curled inward, hands clutching his chest. “It feels like claws inside me.”

She pressed her forehead to his, closing her eyes as her power stirred. “Then let me silence her.”

“No.” His hand shot up, fingers trembling but firm on her wrist. “Not now. You’ll drain yourself. You already look pale.”

“I don’t care.”

“I care,” he snapped, voice rough with both agony and fear. “Sienna, listen to me. If you pour more power into me right now, you’ll collapse. You won’t be able to stand, let alone fight.”

She swallowed hard, throat tight. “Then what do you want me to do? Watch you die at my feet?”

His breath hitched, a low broken sound she hated with a burning intensity. “You won’t let that happen.”

“No,” she whispered fiercely, “I won’t.”

Another tremor wracked him, stronger than the last. His vision blurred as the edges of the world flickered. Sienna saw it , the moment he began to slip. His eyes unfocused, head dropping forward as if gravity itself was trying to pull him from the world.

“Ryder,” she said urgently, shaking him lightly. “Ryder, look at me.”

He forced his eyes open, pupils blown wide in pain. “It’s happening again.”

“Sienna, the, ” His sentence broke as he doubled over, convulsing so violently she had to wrap her arms fully around him to keep him upright. His breath came in ragged gasps, each one caught halfway.

“Ryder, breathe. With me.” She pressed her hand to his chest, feeling the curse pulsing against her palm. “In. Out. Come on, stay here. Stay here with me.”

“I can’t, ” he gasped. “She’s clawing at my lungs.”

Sienna didn’t wait.

She poured the faintest thread of her power into him , not enough to burn her, but enough to mute the sharpest edges of the curse. The convulsions eased slightly, enough for him to draw one full breath before his body lurched again.

He grabbed her cloak, knuckles white, voice shredded. “Don’t leave me.”

Her heart cracked.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she whispered fiercely. “You’re safe. I’m right here. I won’t move.”

He shuddered, trying to speak through clenched teeth. “It feels like she’s peeling me out of myself.”

“I know,” she whispered. “I know. Hold on to me.”

He did.

He held her like she was the only anchor left in a world dissolving beneath him. She pressed her forehead to his temple, letting her warmth bleed into him, whispering small reassurances he could barely hear.

She stayed that way through the longest wave of convulsions yet , minutes of agony that left Ryder trembling in her arms, sweat-drenched, barely conscious.

When it finally broke, he collapsed fully against her, breathing in shallow, rapid bursts.

Sienna tightened her hold. “Ryder, talk to me. Say something.”

His voice came out faint. “I’m… still here.”

She exhaled shakily. “Good.”

He tried to lift his head, but his body betrayed him, and he slumped again. “Sienna.”

“Yes.”

“If this keeps getting worse…”

“It won’t.”

“You don’t know that.”

Her jaw clenched. “I do.”

He swallowed hard. “You’re lying.”

“I am,” she admitted softly, brushing his hair back. “But I need you alive enough to call me out on it.”

A weak, breathless laugh escaped him , a sound made of pain but alive.

Then it hit him again.

His entire body seized, muscles tightening violently, his back arching. He bit back a cry, nails digging into the stone so hard they cracked. Sienna pressed both hands to his chest, pushing her power into him without hesitation this time.

Not stabilizing.

Shielding.

Blocking the curse from devouring him whole.

Ryder gasped sharply as the energy flooded through him. He sagged into her, head falling against her shoulder, panting as though breathing suddenly hurt less.

“Sienna,” he whispered, voice trembling, “that’s enough.”

“It isn’t.”

“It will break you.”

“Then I’ll break.”

He forced his eyes open , barely. “Don’t say that.”

“Ryder…” Her own voice trembled. “Look at you. Look at what she’s doing to you.”

He didn’t answer. He didn’t have to.

His shaking slowed.

His breathing steadied.

But only because of her.

Only because she was burning herself to keep his spirit tethered.

He exhaled, long and slow, face buried in her shoulder. “Sienna… I’m losing pieces of myself.”

She leaned her cheek against his hair. “Then I’ll hold the pieces together.”

He trembled.

Not from pain.

From the weight of her words.

Her fingers brushed the back of his neck where Lunaris’s shadow mark pulsed. Beneath her touch, the mark flickered, warping slightly, as though resisting her.

She ignored it, stroking gently. “You’re not going anywhere.”

He whispered something she could barely hear.

“What did you say?” she breathed.

“Don’t let me disappear.”

She closed her eyes, holding him tighter. “I won’t.”

His breathing slowed even more.

Not peaceful.

Not restful.

Weak.

Too weak.

Sienna’s heart hammered. “Ryder, stay awake.”

“I’m… trying…” His voice drifted, dissolving at the edges. “Just… keep talking.”

“You’re not allowed to die in my arms,” she said, voice shaking. “You hear me? You don’t get to leave me. Not like this. Not ever.”

He inhaled, breath thin. “Sienna…”

“Yes?”

“Don’t be afraid.”

“I am,” she confessed.

He moved his hand , barely , brushing her thigh. “Don’t be. I’m still here.”

His head dropped against her shoulder.

His breathing went shallow again.

Too shallow.

“Sienna…” His voice was fading. “Something is pulling at me again.”

Her grip tightened. “No.”

“It’s stronger this time.”

“No.”

“It wants me.”

“No!” She pushed more power into him, ignoring the burn spreading across her chest, ignoring the tremor in her arms. “You stay with me, Ryder. Stay, ”

A violent shudder tore through him.

His body jerked once.

Twice.

Then went frighteningly still.

“Ryder!” she cried, shaking him, voice breaking. “Ryder, look at me!”

He didn’t.

But his lips moved.

Barely.

Soft.

Slurred.

“Sienna… don’t let go.”

Her power surged desperately, flooding the ruins with silver light as she pulled him back from the edge.

But the shadow realm was already reaching for him.