my best shot

my best shot
I felt my body move on its own accord, looking at Aiden.
I squinted my eyes. ‘what the fuck was going on?’ i thought, looking at him.
He looked straight ahead, the shadow from earlier looking a bit…
“Caudly..” the shadowy figure called again, making me turn to look at it.
“i said… what do you want” Aiden said, for the briefest of minutes, i saw Kandlin in him. The way he would respond to seem infuriating, the way he would stand taller so that he could appear more intimidating.
“you are not the one i am looking for” it said again, shocking me to the core. It knew me. I felt its presence now, even more closely than before.
“well i am all you are getting” he said, his fangs dropping as he snarled, rushing past me in full speed.
In an instant, the figure solidified, giving me a better view of the figure.
He was strong. Nothing i would think would even exist.
He held Aidden my the throat, throwing him to the side as though he weighed nothing. “that may have worked on my stupid wife, but you would have to be a lot more practical than that” he said, looking at Aiden before he turned to look at me.
“Who would have thought, my wife actually did a good job. I have to say, i am impressed” i looked at the man who looked like a god and that was just not even an exaggeration. He was beautiful, like drop panties dead gorgeous and possibly, that would have been on my mind, if it was not for a fact that he was looking at me with this murderous look in his eyes.
“you are…” i said, looking at him, even though i wanted to check on Aiden, to see if he was alright, but then something about the man in front of me made it impossible to look any other place.
“well i am a lot of things darling” he said, looking at me with a smile, one too wide to be true “some know me as the fae king, but most times, i prefer to go for a more simple title.” he said, taking a few more steps my way. The women that were with me had long since scrambled away, leaving me alone to my fate, and Aiden most likely had passed out as he was not even moving
“what do you want from me?” i said, looking at him as my breath turned into short pants.
“how rude” he said, his mouth forming a playful pout. The look did not in anyway fit him. “i know your name and you are not even bothered to ask me of mine?” he said, throwing his head to the side in a way that his long white hair was difficult to ignore.
“are you… are you trying to play jokes on me right now? To mock me?” i said, looking around for an escape while i showed my displeasure clearly on my face.
“i would never do that” he said, taking a step further, then stopped. “i am Helios” he said with this smile on his face that suggested otherwise “and i am here to help” i actually snorted out in that situation.
“at least change your bloody tactics” i sneered, “you know this is the same thing your wife said! Same line, same everything” i screamed, looking at him as his face turned from playful to serious in a minute
The room fell into silence, so still that I could hear the faint crackle of the torches on the stone walls. My pulse echoed louder than the flames, thrumming in my ears as Helios stepped closer. His eyes, molten gold in the flickering light, never wavered from mine.
“Do you want to know the truth?” he asked, his voice low, steady, carrying a weight that pressed into me.
I swallowed hard, the question sinking deep, clawing at every corner of my mind. The truth. I had been chasing it for so long, stumbling through half-lies and whispers, carrying the pain of never fully belonging anywhere. The truth could set me free. Or destroy me completely.
Helios lifted his hand, palm open, steady between us. His fingers curled ever so slightly, as if urging me to place mine there. The air grew heavier with the gesture, as though the entire world held its breath, waiting for me to decide.
I stared at his hand. My own twitched at my side, aching to reach out, to bridge the distance. What if he held the answers to everything I had been denied? To who I really was? To why my name still burned like a curse in the mouths of those who spoke it?
But another thought coiled sharp and cold through my chest—what if the truth was worse than the lies? What if the moment my skin touched his, I would lose myself entirely?
His eyes softened, but his voice carried that same unyielding power when he whispered, “All you have to do is take it.”
I took a slow step forward. My heart pounded so violently that I could barely breathe. My fingers hovered above his, the space between us charged, alive, sparking with something I couldn’t name.
Every instinct screamed at me—half to flee, half to surrender.
“Advika” Aiden grunted, waking up with what i was sure was a concussion with how he grabbed his head. I flinched when I heard the low groan. The sound came from behind me, faint but ragged, and my heart lurched.
“Aiden.”
He was sprawled across the cold stone floor, his body still weak, his skin pale against the shadows. I had thought he was unconscious—maybe worse. But now his eyes fluttered open, glassy and pained, finding mine with a desperation that pierced straight through me.
I rushed to his side, kneeling, helios’ gaze burning through my head “Don’t move, you’re hurt.”
His hand shot out, trembling, but strong enough to catch my wrist. “Advika…” His voice cracked, raw with urgency. “Don’t—don’t go with him.”
I froze, his words slicing through the air like a blade.
Aiden’s grip tightened, though he was shaking. “It’s a trap. Everything he’s showing you, everything he’s promising—it’s all lies. He’ll twist you, use you, make you believe you’re his.” His chest heaved, every word dragging from him like it cost too much. “Please… don’t let him take you.”
My throat closed up. I wanted, no needed to know the truth and i knew he was not going to give that to me, helios was my best shot
I glanced at the shadows where Helios lingered, waiting, silent but watchful. His presence was a weight pressing down on my spine, his offer still lingering in the air like a poisoned fruit.
Aiden’s eyes burned into mine, desperate, vulnerable. “he is… “ he was cut of by a gruntescaping his mouth “he is lying”