57

57
Thalia’s POV

The sound of my own breathing was what woke me—ragged, shallow, like I had run miles without rest. My sheets clung damp to my skin, and for a moment I couldn’t tell if I was truly awake or still trapped in that smoke-filled nightmare.
I lifted my wrist into the dim light of the still-burning candle. The mark was there. Not a bruise, not some fading dream-imprint, but a black ring etched into my skin, veins spreading like spiderwebs. When I touched it, a cold pulse traveled up my arm, searing not with fire but with a strange, hollow chill.
My stomach clenched. The shadows hadn’t been just an illusion.
Nyra should have been here. She had been right above me before the world burned. But the space beside my bed was empty, her presence gone. My chest tightened. If she had left, why hadn’t I heard the door?
I swung my legs off the bed, trembling as they touched the cold floor. My body felt heavy, my thoughts unsteady, like the curse had left pieces of itself lodged inside me.
The door creaked before I could reach it. Nancy stepped in, her face pale, her eyes darting instantly to my wrist.
“You saw it too,” she whispered, her voice fragile.
I froze. “You knew?”
She closed the door behind her and came closer, her usual boldness tempered with fear. “I didn’t want to tell you unless it happened. I thought maybe he would keep you out of it.”
“Jaden?” His name tasted sharp on my tongue.
Nancy nodded. “The curse has always belonged to him. But now it’s touched you.”
My throat tightened. “What does it mean?”
She hesitated, her gaze fixed on the black veins crawling over my skin. “It means you’re connected to him, whether you wanted it or not. His curse is binding itself into you.”
I jerked back, shaking my head. “No. No, this can’t—”
“Thalia,” Nancy cut in, her voice trembling. “If the shadows marked you, you can’t escape it anymore.”
I pressed my wrist against my chest, as if I could smother it. “Nyra said Jaden would keep me safe.”
Nancy’s lips thinned. “Nyra doesn’t know the whole truth. Or maybe she does and doesn’t want you to hear it.”
Anger flared hot in me, mingling with the cold pulse of the mark. Lies, secrets, whispers—always handed to me in fragments. I was tired of being left in the dark.
I staggered back to the bed and sat, my pulse hammering. “Then tell me everything. What do you know?”
Nancy hesitated again, and for once I saw her not as the bold, sharp-tongued girl who always had a comment, but as someone afraid. Truly afraid.
“I know the curse eats away at him every night,” she said slowly. “That the shadows burn through his body until he wakes bleeding. I know the only thing that holds it back is strength and fury, but those are fading. And now…” She gestured toward my wrist. “Now it’s reaching for you. Which means something has shifted.”
Her words sank deep, heavy and terrifying. “Shifted how?”
She swallowed. “It means the curse sees you as part of him. It’s binding you into his fate.”
My stomach knotted. I thought of the moment he’d thrown himself over me, the weight of his wolf shielding me, the silver blaze in his eyes. His voice still echoed in my head: You’re bound to me.
The room swayed. I buried my face in my hands, the truth pressing too close.
Nancy knelt in front of me. “You have to be careful now. Every choice you make will matter. If you step too close to him, the curse might drag you further in. But if you step away…”
Her words broke off, unfinished, but I understood. If I stepped away, the curse might not spare me either.
I dropped my hands and looked at her. “Why me?”
Nancy’s gaze softened. “Because he cares. The curse feeds on that. It always takes what you hold closest.”
Her answer struck deeper than I wanted. Jaden caring for me was a truth I wasn’t ready to face. And yet—when he shielded me, when his eyes found mine through the smoke—I had felt it too.
A sharp knock rattled the door. Nancy stiffened and stood, but before she could move, the door opened on its own.
Nyra entered.
Her eyes swept the room, finding me instantly. Relief washed over her features, followed by something else—unease. Her gaze landed on my wrist, and her smile faltered.
“You saw it,” I said flatly, raising my arm. “You know what this is.”
Nyra shut the door quietly, her movements careful. “Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?” My voice cracked, the weight of smoke and fire pressing into the words.
She walked closer, her steps slow. “Because you weren’t supposed to be part of it. I thought he would keep the curse away from you.”
My chest heaved. “Well, he didn’t.”
Nancy shifted uncomfortably, but Nyra ignored her, her eyes only on me. She reached out as if to touch the mark, then pulled her hand back. “This changes everything.”
Her calm tone was more frightening than Nancy’s trembling one.
“What does it change?” I asked, sharper than I meant.
Nyra finally looked at me fully, her expression grave. “It means you’re not just Jaden’s choice. You’re the curse’s choice too.”
The room fell silent, the candle flickering against the sudden weight of her words. My heart pounded, my breath uneven, but I held her gaze.
I wanted to scream that I didn’t ask for this, that I didn’t want the curse or Jaden or the bond twisting my fate. But deep inside, beneath fear and anger, there was something else. Something I couldn’t deny.
I remembered the way he shielded me, the way he fought like his life meant nothing compared to mine.
The curse might have chosen me. But a part of me wondered if I had already chosen too.